Introduction
Frank Zappa is a well known individual mainly because of his artistic character and his contribution in the art and music industry. He was born in 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland and died in 1993 at the age of 52 years. He had a lot of interest in music from his early age and engaged in more serious music as time passed by and became acquitted in the field of music. During his time, he was very popular for his artistic work most especially music. He was also a social critic because of his influence to the society through his motivational and informative music. He was the most competent composer of his age and had the capability to bridge different genres without any difficulties for instance classical, jazz, rock. He was able to produce and record a total of 60 musical albums hence having a lot of impact on the society.
Ways through Which Frank Zappa’s Art and Work Appeared Emblematic of His Time and the Socio-Political Aspects
Frank Zappa can be viewed as a lens through which the socio-political issues of his time can be well understood since he touched on the social and political aspects through his art and music. He concentrated on various aspects in the social and political spheres in his writings and songs. Although Frank Zappa used most of his time composing, recording, editing and even performing his musical work, he engaged himself in other aspects of life most especially social and political happenings. In his music ventures, Frank Zappa was involved with various collaborations and therefore joined various groups such as the Mothers of Invention whose members were very unconventional in their procedures including their dress code and quality of music they produced.
Frank Zappa intention while in the group was to make it proactive and controversial and more so courageous to face the consequences of their actions and deeds. Zappa brought about a lot of positive changes in the music industry by improving the music quality through incorporation of various aspects that make music appropriate and attractive to the majority of people in the society. He also expanded the field of music through recruitment of adventurous and notable musicians, for instance, guitarist Steve Vai and keyboardist Duke George.
Frank Zappa was a very influential artist in his time due to his initiatives in fighting for what is right for the majority as opposed to just following the law blindly. He for example viewed most of the American systems to be ineffective and to be based on fallacies rather than facts and realities e.g. the moral code and hence viewed the codes to be insufficient to the society at that time as they seemed outdated. He tried to put sense into the minds of the people that they should live real lives and stop living in hypocrisy while at the same time they suffered inwardly from following the codes which instead of strengthening them morally ended up crippling them. He emphasized on freedom of the people and was against any oppression and discrimination of the minority at the expense of the few people who have powers.
Frank Zappa was politically engaged during his entire adulthood although his political activism underwent some changes over the years. He was for instance arrested in 1962 for obscenity and pornography as it was seen as a sign for his distrust for the existing system. His search for liberalization is also seen through his quest to acquire complete control of his creative art and music work. He specifically targeted the then US government, the cultural stereotypes, religion and the spirit of totalitarianism.
Frank Zappa brought out the political issues differently in his different artistic works, for instance, the issue of suppression of free thought and expression is well represented in his album entitled “Joe’s Garage” which shows the seriousness of lack of freedom among the citizens to an extent that music and other forms of creative arts are deemed to be illegal and hence forbidden as opposed to being supported and encouraged as an industry that is essential to the economy. It was in the 1980s that Frank Zappa became more politically active following the presidency of Ronald Reagan. He specifically tailored his artistic work towards the president and the people involved in administration during his period, the religious organizations, the labour unions, censorship and political correctness among others. He was involved with the production of more political oriented songs.
As years went by, Frank Zappa became more and more political in his ventures. He was even a reporter with the financial news network. The collapse of the Soviet Union gave Frank Zappa the motivation as he was now aware of his influence as a cultural image especially to the people of the former soviet bloc. He also became interested in other socio-political issues like abortion, poverty, immigration, and environmentalism. These issues are all tackled adequately and included in his final album, The Yellow Shark, which was released in 1993. Frank Zappa was very determined to make the nation better and continued to perpetrate his political activism despite the fact that his health was deteriorating.
In his work, Frank Zappa concentrated on making sure that the ‘big’ people did not oppress the others through their dirty and unconventional deeds for example he targeted the politicians that were corrupt and exposed their evil private lives with an aim of enlightening the society and making the politicians change their ways to the better. He also touched on the crooked systems like the labor force and the education systems among others. Zappa appeared to be ahead of his time through the many changes he brought to the art and music industry for instance in the groups that he joined like the Mothers of Invention which had been there long before he indulged in music making him well known as his efforts surpassed those who had been in the music industry long before him. His utilization of music talent in the political arena is also a point of concern.
The Power of the Society to Shape Artists
The power of the society is unmistakable in the lives and work of artists since the artists usually concentrate on the aspects that either concern or affect the society. We find most artists singing and performing about things that entail the lives of people in the society for instance love issues, the prevalence of crime, corruption in the government and other institutions, forms of discrimination and suppression among other things. It is the experiences that the society goes through that the artists draw their content of whatever they are involved in and hence without the society support their efforts would not be successful.
The societies shape the artists as they determine what they are to produce or record for instance an artist has to consider what is appropriate for the society or what could attract attention from the society and keep that in mind. Failure to do this will make them ineffective in their work as they will make little or no impact to the society at all. The labels of Frank Zappa Brown Shoes Don’t make it and Trouble every day for instance was drawn from what he had observed in the society about racial discrimination and the people were deemed to support him due to his efforts of fighting for their rights (equality and justice for all).
The Power of Art in Challenging Social Norms
The art especially music have got a lot of power to challenge the social norms through the influence it has on the lives of individuals and groups of people in the society. This can for example be seen clearly from the life of Frank Zappa in the music industry and how he was able to tailor his music and art performance towards a given aspect in the society such as racial discrimination and hence make notable changes that are beneficial to the entire society. Frank Zappa participated in making the politics better, for instance, through confronting those involved in corrupt dealings through his labels and recordings. It was through his insightful songs that changes were initiated in the political and social systems. He for instance mocked the middle class traditions through his record, “Brown Shoes Don’t make it” and “Trouble every day” in which the words touched on climate and also the racial inequality that existed in the society with an aim of making things better through elimination of discrimination on the basis of race.
Frank Zappa equated political power of the time with personal immorality. Art brought to the society through the artists’ various means for instance songs and writing also influence the societal norms as it allows the people to take a much critical view of the world around them as they become enlightened. Artists are considered to be the mouth piece of the society as they convey information that would otherwise not be known to the people. They are however viewed to be dangerous hence their regulation by various governments. This is because they have the ability to evoke and influence the society through touching on their emotions, ideas and thoughts and in the event of misusing these powers; they can lead to dangerous happenings due to lack of control of the members of the society as a result of being provoked.
Conclusion
It is evident that art or artists and the society are independent of each other. Music is also a basic element through which a variety of life issues can be relayed to those in authority like politicians for them to take the necessary actions apart from being an inspiration and motivation tool to a majority of people. Frank Zappa was a very productive and resourceful artistic who used his talent to fulfil different purposes for instance those of personal, social, and even political nature. His legacy still lives to present especially for those involved in the jazz and rock music industry due to his fame as the most original composer and even guitarist of his time.