The Mammy Nuns

Lyrics

THING-FISH (& MAMMY NUN ENEMBLE):
We got de talkin' shoes! (We de MAMMY NUNS!)
Dominose Vobiskmmmmm!
We is important news! (We de MAMMY NUNS!)
Et cum spear a tu-tu Ohh!
We destroy de blues! (We de MAMMY NUNS!)
'Sho' am, y'all! MAMMIES, step faw'd 'n express yo'sevs!

We sho can dance 'n sing! (We's a lot o' fun!)
D'ja get any on ya down dere?
We's doin' everything! (We's a lot o' fun!)
How'd you like to use my nakkin'?
We's doin' de buck 'n wing! (We's a lot o' fun!)
(We's offa de wall!)
(pointing to his skirt) Fo' those of you unfamiliar wit de' nakkin, dis be de nakkin'!

(On Broadway)
On Broadway it's a new day!
(It's a new day)
Dat's right! Dat's what I say! Oh yeah!
(When we say...)
You 'bout through wif my nakkin'? Whoo-hoo!

We is de ones dey be callin' de "MAMMY NUNS"!
We ugly as sin! (We de MAMMY NUNS!)
We be lookin' good wit de nakkin' on!
We gots a nasty grin-n-n-n-n! (We de MAMMY NUNS!) We be lookin' good wit de nakkin' on!
(pointing to HARRY) We sho' ain't ugly as him! (We de MAMMY NUNS!)
Lawd, Lawd, Lawd,
Lawd, Lawd, Lawd,
Lawd, Lawd, Lawd,
We de Mammy Nuns!

THING-FISH:
Step right up, folks, 'n meet de MAMMY NUNS! You two ugly white folks hafta excuse de Sisters, as what dey put in de mash potatoes have rendered dem incontinent! Anyhow, ovuh heahhhh, de scintillating SISTER OWL-GONKWIN-JANE COW-HOON; and de delectable SISTER GHENGHIS-ADONIS-OSMOSIS; 'long wif SISTER POTATO-HEAD BOBBY BROWN; and de ever-popular SISTER ANNE DeDEVINE; an' howsabouta heart-warmin' welcome fo' SISTER JASMINE NOXEMA-TAPIOCA; an' her unscrutable companium SISTER OB'DEWLLA X; an' I's yo host: de THING-FISH!

THING-FISH (& MAMMY NUN ENEMBLE):
(On Broadway
It's a new day
When we say...)

We is de ones dey be callin' de "MAMMY NUNS"!
(We is dressed to kill!) We be lookin' good!
Oh yeah! Ah-heh-heh-heh-heh!
(We gives you quite a thrill!) We be dancin' good!
Whom a ninny? Him? Him a ninny! Hah! Whom a ninny? You'm a ninny! Haw!
(Wit de dancin' skill!) Wit de nakkin' on!
Lawd!

Players On This Song

• FZ guitar
• Steve Vai guitar
• Arthur Barrow bass
• Chad Wackerman drums

• Thing Fish: Ike Willis
• Mammy Nun Ensemble: Ray White et al.

Records On Which This Song Has Appeared

Zappa Albums & Side Projects

• Thing-Fish
• You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 1 (instrumental)

Tribute & Cover Albums

• The Muffin Men: Muffinz

Notes About This Song

"The "Thing-Fish," right. "Thing-Fish" was the actual title of it. It was a six-sided album. That was basically done off of all live recordings I had made in the truck. But then we over dubbed some different lyrics and different vocals and stuff in the studio. So that was kind of interesting, because we had enough isolation. As a matter of fact, the whole thing starts out, the whole "Thing-Fish" album starts out with the song "The Mammy Nuns," and it's a guitar that Frank had during a soundcheck in the Sportehalle in Vienna. Which is this huge place that if you drop a chair, it would last for eight seconds. He did a little guitar segment during rehearsal. And Frank used to love the sound of the room when it was empty, when there were no people in it. And I had PCM microphones up on the stage, facing out toward where the audience would be, so you would hear the whole room. And he started a little guitar thing and put it in a loop, and set it down, and it was just looping. The whole start of that album is basically that live track of him just playing it during the soundcheck, which is how the album started out. We started doing things like that. We started recording things during sound checks just for the,"OK, let's put this down on tape and then later on maybe we'll use it on something." That got to be a lot of fun, because that's when we started experimenting with taking live stuff, segueing it into whatever we did in the studio, spicing stuff in the studio, and back and forth. And doing edits and cuts to other live shows." - Mark Pinske 2003 Mix Interview

This song was originally a guitar solo. Lyrics were added for Thing-Fish.

CC Clues In This Song

• The line "Dominus vobiscum et cum spiritu tuo" was spoken earlier in Father O'Blivion.