Hey, you know something people?
I’m not black
but there’s a whole lots a times
I wish I could say I’m not white.Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
“Trouble Every Day” (1965)
(Source)
Zappa wrote the song during the Watts Riots of August 1966. It was released (as "Trouble Comin' Every Day") by Zappa's group, "The Mothers of Invention," on their debut album, Freak Out! in 1966.
Quotations by:
Zappa, Frank
Communism doesn’t work because people like to own stuff.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
(Attributed)
There’s a big difference between kneeling down and bending over.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
(Attributed)
Stupidity has a certain charm — ignorance does not.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
(Attributed)
I wrote a song about dental floss but did anyone’s teeth get cleaner?
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
(Attributed)
on the influence of music on behavior
There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something, we’d all love one another.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
(Attributed)
Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
A Day with Frank Zappa, Part 5, documentary, dir. Roelof Kiers, VPRO-TV (1971-02-11)
Widely attributed to Zappa in various forms, but with very few actual citations.
The Kiers documentary gave the quotation twice. First (Source, Video):Well I think that progress is not possible without deviation. And I think that it's important that people be aware of some of the creative ways in which some of their fellow men are deviating from the norm, because in some instances they might find these deviations inspiring and might suggest further deviations which might cause progress, you never know.
Second (Source, Video):KIERS: What kind of influence did the Mothers [of Invention] have, you think?
ZAPPA: Well, we had some, but not very much, because of the size of our audience was so small.
KIERS: But, what kind of influence?
ZAPPA: Well, I think we perhaps inspired some of the people who liked what we do to get a little bit looser and a little bit more devious, and as I said before about progress not being possible without some sort of deviation. We need a few deviants.
A variant of this quote shows up in a photo essay titled "A Quarter Century of Gay Life in New York," New York Magazine (1994-06-20). It is attributed to Zappa (who had died the previous December), and is dated (without citation) to 1966:My attitude toward anybody's sexual persuasion is this: without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
The quotation also shows up in Leigh Rutledge, The Gay Book of Lists (1987) and his Unnatural Quotations (1988).
Rosemary Silva's Lesbian Quotations (1993) mentions this latter Rudtledge book as a citation, but gives a date on the quote as 1980.
I have not been able to find an earlier source of this variant.
Another use by Zappa can be found in his autobiography, The Real Frank Zappa Book, ch. 8 "All About Music" [with Peter Occhiogrosso] (1989):One of the things I've said before in interviews is: "Without deviation (from the norm), 'progress' is not possible."
In order for one to deviate successfully, one has to have at least a passing acquaintance with whatever norm one expects to deviate from.
The section this text begins is titled "Deviation from the Norm" -- Zappa is speaking here about music, "radio music norms," and enjoying "nuking those norms" when prepping touring arrangements. (He also gives a lengthy critique of the classical / symphonic music realm and their rigid adherence to their norms).
See also Shaw (1903).
Every major industrialized nation has A BEER (you can’t be a Real Country unless you have A BEER and an airline — it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need A BEER).
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
The Real Frank Zappa Book, ch. 12 “America Drinks & Goes Marching” (1989) [with Peter Occhiogrosso]
(Source)
More discussion of this quotation: You Can’t Be a Real Country Unless You Have a Beer and an Airline – Quote Investigator
If you wind up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mother, your Dad, your priest, to some guy on television, to any of the people telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
The Real Frank Zappa Book, ch. 13 “All About Schmucks” (1989) [with Peter Occhiogrosso]
(Source)
Frequently quoted with variations (perhaps from other occasions when Zappa said it), e.g.,:If you end up with a boring, miserable life because you listened to your mom, your dad, your teacher, your priest, or some guy on television telling you how to do your shit, then you deserve it.