Protest song, Trouble Everyday, Frank Zappa

Alexandre RICHARDEAU, Margaux KEMER

Frank Zappa in Hamburg in 1973.

Take a look on this:

Frank Zappa an emblem for intellectuals against the current

Hello Zappa's lovers or whoever is brought to read these lines voluntarily or purely by chance! This article will be an analysis of a great song to me, written by the artist Franck Zappa: Trouble Everyday. But first, let me give you the identity of the song:

Frank Zappa – Trouble Everyday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=girnJH7tvpM link to enjoy the song!

Name: Trouble Everyday

Date: 1966

Album: Freak Out!

Genre: Electric/Blues

Band: The Mothers Of Invention

Composer: Frank Zappa

Producer: Tom Wilson

Number in the Album: 12

Lyrics here, more below:

Well I'm about to get sick
From watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean to say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friend
Is anybody's guess

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day

Wednesday I watched the riot . . .
Seen the cops out on the street
Watched 'em throwin' rocks and stuff
And chokin' in the heat
Listened to reports
About the whisky passin' 'round
Seen the smoke and fire
And the market burnin' down
Watched while everybody
On his street would take a turn
To stomp and smash and bash and crash
And slash and bust and burn

And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day

Well, you can cool it,
You can heat it . . .
'Cause, baby, I don't need it . . .
Take your TV tube and eat it
'N all that phony stuff on sports
'N all the unconfirmed reports
You know I watched that rotten box
Until my head begin to hurt
From checkin' out the way
The newsman say they get the dirt
Before the guys on channel so-and-so

And further they assert
That any show they'll interrupt
To bring you news if it comes up
They say that if the place blows up
They will be the first to tell,
Because the boys they got downtown
Are workin' hard and doin' swell,
And if anybody gets the news
Before it hits the street,
They say that no one blabs it faster
Their coverage can't be beat

And if another woman driver
Gets machine-gunned from her seat
They'll send some joker with a brownie
And you'll see it all complete

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day

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

Well, I seen the fires burnin'
And the local people turnin'
On the merchants and the shops
Who used to sell their brooms and mops
And every other household item
Watched the mob just turn and bite 'em
And they say it served 'em right
Because a few of them are white,
And it's the same across the nation
Black and white discrimination
Yellin' "You can't understand me!"
'N all that other jazz they hand me
In the papers and TV and
All that mass stupidity
That seems to grow more every day
Each time you hear some nitwit say
He wants to go and do you in

Because the color of your skin
Just don't appeal to him
(No matter if it's black or white)
Because he's out for blood tonight

You know we got to sit around at home
And watch this thing begin
But I bet there won't be many live
To see it really end
'Cause the fire in the street
Ain't like the fire in the heart
And in the eyes of all these people
Don't you know that this could start
On any street in any town
In any state if any clown
Decides that now's the time to fight
For some ideal he thinks is right
And if a million more agree
There ain't no Great Society
As it applies to you and me
Our country isn't free
And the law refuses to see
If all that you can ever be
Is just a lousy janitor
Unless your uncle owns a store
You know that five in every four
Just won't amount to nothin' more
Gonna watch the rats go across the floor
And make up songs about being poor
Blow your harmonica, son!

The historical and social context of the song:

Analysis his protest song passes by knowledge of the context. The America (like all the developed countries at this time) knew a phase of growth unsurpassed: The Thirty Glorious. Between 1945 and 1973 the volume and the number of all international trades tripled. The richest countries and main actors were Europe and Japan, but these economic powers are especially led by the United States. It permits them to secure a leading position since the end of the World War II. It is as well during the post-war booms as the increase of the consumption society worldwide that the US establishes its economical domination.

The trebling of the purchasing power and the incentive role of the advertising in the decision-making process of consumers modifies the household finances in countries developed in favor of the domestic equipment. Automobile and education changed the same. During the 60s, facing these important changes in the American society, a big protest movement emerges. Motived by the protest of the consumption society and concerned as well with the termination of this society as world of the insignificance, the racial segregation or still the social ladder. Intellectuals strongly influenced this movement where the students were committed. The form of contesting action was general strikes (like May 68 in France, a protesting and rioting student movement).

Trouble Everyday was written as a straightforward rock song, its message being more important at first than its musical value.

The song describes the Watt's riots. Before the Civilian Rights Act from 1964, which declared as illegal, the racial segregation in the United States, a politic fight against racial discriminations was not even organized. In this hot context, black people rebelled their selves after few problems, like housing, unemployment and global poverty.

Without forget harassment of law enforcement. In 6 days, 34 people were killed, 1,032 injured, and 3,952 arrested. Estimates of cost of damages ran to $40 million. LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department), Police Chief William Parker learned that, when faced with a rioting population, the thing not to do is release a press statement calling the rioters "monkeys in the zoo." This led to increase and inflame rioters.

An image about Watts Revolt. (1965)https://www.pinterest.com/BoganMovies/the-streets-burned/

Throughout this event, Americans got a very telling example of the effects of media on riots. The TV news showed up and covered the story, sensationalized it, and rioters saw themselves on TV and were inspired to ever greater acts of violence, which fed back to the TV news anchors who gleefully pounced on the story to drive their ratings up even further. It was not until the 1992 Los Angeles riots (known as the Rodney King riots) that news media outlets would finally get the hint and start toning down their coverage of events, presenting them in a calmer, less sensationalistic view.

Racial riots, tensions and discrimination were denounced in Zappa’s Trouble Everyday music.

It was neither the first time a song speaks about racial tensions and violence.

Zappa wrote a charge against media too, and the ways the media treat this type of news, more sensational than informative.

The song's meaning:

He wrote in, "Every time I hear 'em sayin' that there's no way to delay that trouble commin every day”: The media doesn’t denounce the fact, just say that life is a fatality or normal fact instead of showing solutions or alternatives.

Musically speaking, the song alternated between verses and short guitar solos coated with an intense harmonica during 6 minutes. Frank Zappa started writing this song when he was watching the TV, hear and see the riots in Watt. He reported that the journalist at this time said “The get the dirt before the guys on channels so-and-so”, or “If the place blows up, the will be the first to tell”. In fact, the journalist has no consciousness of the severity of it. Zappa said as well that some people don't think it was because rioters and injured are color people, they only refer at it as “violence”.

In the second verses, he claims to have seen in TV, market's burning out, fire and smoke, a lot of police officers, and other degradation, all because of the riots. He denounces everybody smash, burn and stomp all the things, they want destroy everything.

After the third time he sings the verse, the author addresses directly the speaker with "hey, you know something people?”.What Zappa denounces was ever true, and racial tensions were not done. Consider the line, "I'm not black, but there's a whole lots-a times I wish I could say I'm not white."

That's a gutsy thing to say and even if it less important in our contemporary time, this is in my humble opinion still true today. This was 1965.

“Cause the fire in the street ain't like the fire in the heart”. He compares anger in people with the states of the things (of the street), and denounces that. It can be in another city, in other place, if a clown decides it's time to fight, for some ideal he thinks it's right, and if one million people was agree, the country could not be considered as free.

But who was Frank Zappa?

Frank Zappa was born in Maryland in 1942. His parents were Italian (Franco-italian for his mother). The young artist grows up in California and gets musically influenced by Edgard Varèse or Igor Stravinski.

In parallel, his career started with his integration within different groups as a drummer. Engaged with a group of Rhythm and Blues of his town named “The Mothers of Inventions”, Zappa brought out in 1966 the album “Freak Out!” This is the second double-album of rock's history and it was considered as one of the more influent rock album ever brought. The magazine “Rolling Stones” decided to put it in to the «500 better albums from all time». “Trouble Everyday” is part of this masterpiece.

In a general way, Zappa was an opponent of censorship. Committed politically, it is however hard to assign him to an ever-changing political scene.

Indeed, he fought against the religion because he believes that religion is anti-intellectual and that it promotes ignorance. He as well fought against the political; he described himself as a Practical Conservative, meaning he wanted small government and lower taxes.

He was supporting wealthy distribution for a free society or each would benefit from the same rights. Little anecdote, on the index card which we fill in the birth of our child, in the compartment «Religion of the parents», Zappa put “music”.

He died from a prostate cancer in 1991 at the age of 52.

During his career he released at least 60 albums, so it's difficult to represent itself as a whole style. His productions were often parodies, but musicianship there were so well built that they were appreciated by the criticism and broadcast.

For sure, a committed artist...:

Frank Zappa testifies before the US Senate, 1985

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXuNyrrAhQo

Alexandre RICHARDEAU, Margaux KEMER