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Spider of Destiny: /* References to God in Zappa's lyrics */

2026-05-25T13:05:11Z

References to God in Zappa's lyrics

Spider of Destiny at 13:04, 25 May 2026

2026-05-25T13:04:10Z

Spider of Destiny: /* References to God in Zappa's lyrics */

2026-05-24T08:59:34Z

References to God in Zappa's lyrics

Spider of Destiny at 18:05, 23 May 2026

2026-05-23T18:05:41Z

Spider of Destiny: Created page with "God's hand depicted on the cover of ''One Size Fits All''. '''God''' is a recurring character in some of Frank Zappa's lyrics..."

2026-05-23T17:55:51Z

Created page with "400px|thumb|right|God's hand depicted on the cover of ''One Size Fits All''. '''God''' is a recurring character in some of Frank Zappa's lyrics..."

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[[File:One size fits all.jpg|400px|thumb|right|God's hand depicted on the cover of ''One Size Fits All''.]]

'''God''' is a recurring character in some of Frank Zappa's lyrics, despite the fact that Zappa was an atheist.

In the film ''[[The World’s Greatest Sinner (The Film)|The World's Greatest Sinner]]'' (1962), scored by [[Frank Zappa]], a man think he's God.

In the ''[[United Mutations]]'' fan club letter, ''"Who is God?"'' is one of the questions.

In ''[[The Real Frank Zappa Book]]'', Zappa printed quotes by Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Paine and George Washington who claim they don't believe in God or believe that Church and government should remain separate.

==References to God in Zappa's lyrics==

* [[Eric Clapton]] declares: ''"Beautiful! God! It's God! I see God!'' in ''[[Nasal Retentive Calliope Music]]''.
* On ''[[Uncle Meat]]'' the hymn ''[[God Bless America]]'' is covered.
* ''[[What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are?]]'': "''We wouldn't blow you just because you know God."''
* ''[[Strictly Genteel]]'': '"'Lord have mercy on the people in England for the terrible food these people must eat"'' (...) ''"God bless the mind of the man in the street"''
* Frank Zappa describes God being accompanied by [[Squat]] the magic pig and [[The Short Girl]] and [[Sofas|a sofa]] in the songs ''[[Divan: Once Upon A Time]]'', ''[[Magic Pig]]'', ''[[Divan: Sofa 1]]'', ''[[Divan Ends Here]]'', ''[[Once Upon A Time]]'', ''[[Sofa No. 2]]'' and ''[[Sofa (Fire!)]]'', where he puts a bit of flooring underneath it.
* In ''[[The Poodle Lecture]]'' God also creates man, the woman and the [[Dogs|poodle]].
* On the cover of ''[[One Size Fits All]]'' God's hand is depicted, smoking a cigar.
* ''[[Muffin Man]]'': "''Nothing so exalted on the face of God's grey earth as that prince of foods: the muffin!"''
* ''[[The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary]]'': ''"What had God wrought?"''
* ''[[Scrutinizer Postlude]]'': ''"Eventually it was discovered that God did not want us to be all the same. This was BAD NEWs for the Governments of The World as it seemed contrary to the doctrine of Portion Controlled Servings."''
* ''[[Dumb All Over]]'' and ''[[Heavenly Bank Account]]'': religious fundamentalists' interpretations of God are referenced throughout the song.
* ''[[Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk]]'': ''"Claims to be a man of God"''.
* ''[[The White Boy Troubles]]'': ''"I'm sure God has ways of punishing naughty little guys like that!"''.
* ''[[Promiscuous]]'': ''"In his phoney Doctor God get-up"''
* ''[[Texas Medley]]'': ''"It's the board from Assembly O'God"''.
* In ''[[Dio Fa]]'' a football God is a character. The title itself also means: ''God is a liar''.

==Frank Zappa about God==

''"God, in his infinite wisdom, has provided us with an endless supply of assholes. They're here to stay. The asshole is a natural phenomenon. All the epoxy in the world won't seal these assholes."'' - Quoted from ''[[He's Only 38 and He Knows How to Nasty]]'', Clark Peterson, [[Relix]] magazine, November 1979.

'''Journalist''': '''Is there a God?'''

'''Frank Zappa''': ''"What I wanna know is why would a person come HERE to ask this question?"''. - ''[[An Evening With Pierre Boulez And Frank Zappa]], October 1989.

'''[[Don Menn]]''': '''In 1988, you guys played "[[America The Beautiful]]", and I noticed that there was a short lyric change, which was: ''"The only place to be"'' instead of ''"God shed his grace on thee"''. What was the reason for that?'''

'''Frank Zappa''': ''"I'm not sure God did shed his grace on this country. (laughter)."'' - ''[[They're Doing the Interview of the Century, Part 1]]'', Den Simms, April 1990.

==See also==
* [[Squat]], the Magic Pig
* [[The Short Girl]]
* [[The Devil (CC)]]
* [[Sofas]]

[[Category:Conceptual Continuity]]
[[Category:Religious leaders and characters]]

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 * ''[[What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are?]]'': "''We wouldn't blow you just because you know God."''
 * ''[[Strictly Genteel]]'': ''"Lord have mercy on the people in England for the terrible food these people must eat"'' (...) ''"God bless the mind of the man in the street"''
-* * In ''[[Zappa's Latest Box Of Tricks]]'' (Interview by Steve Peacock, Sounds, 27 November 1971), Zappa talks about a never-produced film project, ''[[Billy The Mountain]]'', which starts off with a maroon sofa floating in the sky, observed by God. Frank Zappa describes God being accompanied by [[Squat]] the magic pig and [[The Short Girl]] and [[Sofas|a sofa]] in the songs ''[[Divan: Once Upon A Time]]'', ''[[Magic Pig]]'', ''[[Divan: Sofa 1]]'', ''[[Divan Ends Here]]'', ''[[Once Upon A Time]]'', ''[[Sofa No. 2]]'' and ''[[Sofa (Fire!)]]'', where he puts a bit of flooring underneath it.
+* In ''[[Zappa's Latest Box Of Tricks]]'' (Interview by Steve Peacock, Sounds, 27 November 1971), Zappa talks about a never-produced film project, ''[[Billy The Mountain]]'', which starts off with a maroon sofa floating in the sky, observed by God. Zappa describes God being accompanied by [[Squat]] the magic pig and [[The Short Girl]] and [[Sofas|a sofa]] in the songs ''[[Divan: Once Upon A Time]]'', ''[[Magic Pig]]'', ''[[Divan: Sofa 1]]'', ''[[Divan Ends Here]]'', ''[[Once Upon A Time]]'', ''[[Sofa No. 2]]'' and ''[[Sofa (Fire!)]]'', where he puts a bit of flooring underneath it.
 * In ''[[The Poodle Lecture]]'' God also creates man, the woman and the [[Dogs|poodle]].
 * On the cover of ''[[One Size Fits All]]'' God's hand is depicted, smoking a cigar.

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 ==References to God in Zappa's lyrics==
-* [[Eric Clapton]] declares: ''"Beautiful! God! It's God! I see God!'' in ''[[Nasal Retentive Calliope Music]]''.
+* [[Eric Clapton]] declares: ''"Beautiful! God! It's God! I see God!"'' in ''[[Nasal Retentive Calliope Music]]''.
 * On ''[[Uncle Meat]]'' the hymn ''[[God Bless America]]'' is covered.
 * ''[[What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are?]]'': "''We wouldn't blow you just because you know God."''
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 * ''[[Muffin Man]]'': "''Nothing so exalted on the face of God's grey earth as that prince of foods: the muffin!"''
 * ''[[The Adventures Of Greggery Peccary]]'': ''"What had God wrought?"''
-* ''[[Scrutinizer Postlude]]'': ''"Eventually it was discovered that God did not want us to be all the same. This was BAD NEWs for the Governments of The World as it seemed contrary to the doctrine of Portion Controlled Servings."''
+* ''[[Scrutinizer Postlude]]'': ''"Eventually it was discovered that God did not want us to be all the same. This was BAD NEWS for the Governments of The World as it seemed contrary to the doctrine of Portion Controlled Servings."''
 * ''[[Dumb All Over]]'' and ''[[Heavenly Bank Account]]'': religious fundamentalists' interpretations of God are referenced throughout the song.
 * ''[[Jesus Thinks You're A Jerk]]'': ''"Claims to be a man of God"''.
@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 * ''[[Promiscuous]]'': ''"In his phoney Doctor God get-up"''
 * ''[[Texas Medley]]'': ''"It's the board from Assembly O'God"''.
-* In ''[[Dio Fa]]'' a football God is a character. The title itself also means: ''God is a liar''.
+* In ''[[Dio Fa]]'' a football God is a character. The title itself also means: ''"God is a liar"''.
 ==Frank Zappa about God==

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 * On ''[[Uncle Meat]]'' the hymn ''[[God Bless America]]'' is covered.
 * ''[[What Kind Of Girl Do You Think We Are?]]'': "''We wouldn't blow you just because you know God."''
-* ''[[Strictly Genteel]]'': '"'Lord have mercy on the people in England for the terrible food these people must eat"'' (...) ''"God bless the mind of the man in the street"''
+* ''[[Strictly Genteel]]'': ''"Lord have mercy on the people in England for the terrible food these people must eat"'' (...) ''"God bless the mind of the man in the street"''
 * Frank Zappa describes God being accompanied by [[Squat]] the magic pig and [[The Short Girl]] and [[Sofas|a sofa]] in the songs ''[[Divan: Once Upon A Time]]'', ''[[Magic Pig]]'', ''[[Divan: Sofa 1]]'', ''[[Divan Ends Here]]'', ''[[Once Upon A Time]]'', ''[[Sofa No. 2]]'' and ''[[Sofa (Fire!)]]'', where he puts a bit of flooring underneath it.
 * In ''[[The Poodle Lecture]]'' God also creates man, the woman and the [[Dogs|poodle]].
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 ''"God, in his infinite wisdom, has provided us with an endless supply of assholes. They're here to stay. The asshole is a natural phenomenon. All the epoxy in the world won't seal these assholes."'' - Quoted from ''[[He's Only 38 and He Knows How to Nasty]]'', Clark Peterson, [[Relix]] magazine, November 1979.
 '''Journalist''': '''Is there a God?'''