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
My attitude toward anybody’s sexual persuasion is this: without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.
Frank Zappa (1940-1993) American singer-songwriter
(Attributed)
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)
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.