Shoes

Close-up of Zappa's shoes circa 1968

Zappa made references to shoes and other types of footwear regularly in his work.

• Advance Romance: “Shoes is all wore.”
• America Drinks: “1, 2, buckle my shoe.”
• Be In My Video: “I’ll make you wear red shoes”
• Beauty Knows No Pain: "Beauty is a pair of shoes that makes you wanna die."
• Blue Suede Shoes
• Brown Shoes Don't Make It: "brown shoes don't make it" (...) "shining your shoes and cut your hair."
• Can't Afford No Shoes
• The Captain's Fat Theresa Shoes (by The GTO's)
• Carolina Hard-Core Ecstasy: “Then she gave a pair of shoes to me” (…) “I wonder what the shoes for?”
• Church Chat: "With a SHOE"
• Debra Kadabra: “Shoes are too tight and pointed”
• Dental Hygiene Dilemma: “Put it on your shoes, tie your bike with it.”
• The Evil Prince: “And also his shoes”
• Excentrifugal Forz: “Along a Hammond organism /underneath his shoes….”
• Father O'Blivion: “I brought you your snow shoes”
• Frank Zappa's Got Brand New Shoes
• Go Cry On Somebody Else's Shoulder: “I bought a new pair of shoes.”
• Goblin Girl: “Little green shoes”
• Hunchentoot: Oh me, oh my, I wasted forty pair o' shoes just-a walkin' that floor wit de HUNCHENTOOTIN' BLUES!
• Joe's Garage: "Got matching suits and Beatle boots"
• Magic Fingers “beat you with a pair of tennis shoes”
• The Mammy Nuns: “We got the talkin’ shoes”
• Mr. Green Genes: “Eat your shoes/don’t forget the strings.”
• Nanook Rubs It “with a lead-filled snow shoe.”
• Plastic People (1965 - unknown) “Their shoes are brown.”
• Plastic People (1966 - San Francisco): “Their shoes are brown.”
• Porn Wars: "Gold lamé hoof covers"
• Prelude To King Kong: "sneakers" "galoshes"
• Sinister Footwear
• Stink-Foot: “Get your shoes and socks on people…” “Bring the slippers…”
• Valley Girl: “And like all these really great shoe stores…”
• White Person: “Golf shoes”
• Willie The Pimp: “With my shoe shined black”
• Wonderful Wino: “Give me a five dollar bill and a Florscheim shoe.”
• A close-up of a shoe is also clearly visible on the cover of Over-Nite Sensation

Zappa also used shoes as a Secret Word once:

Den Simms: In Springfield and in Burlington you were poking fun at Eric because of his shoes. What's significant about Eric's shoes?

Frank Zappa:: "They're very, very large."

Den Simms: What size are they Eric?

Eric Buxton:: Thirteen.

Den Simms: Yeah, they are large, thirteens!

Eric Buxton:: Oh right, but I had lost them. I had left them at the hotel before that. That's what that was. I leave stuff all over the place.

- Frank Zappa, They're Doing the Interview of the Century, Part 1, Den Simms, Eric Buxton, Rob Samler, Society Pages, April 1990.