Matter Like Zappa

I watched a BBC 4 documentary about Frank Zappa last night. It was a revelation, because I have been quite ignorant of his music, though well aware of his name and reputation.

What stood out for me, aside from the wonderful compositions, was the relentless commitment Zappa had to his art and his own singular vision. It completely overwhelmed anything and everything in his life.

And it is probably that extreme commitment which produces the kind of genius that can never be replicated. Not by you or me.

So where do the rest of us stand? Those of us who love our music (or whatever it is we do) but don’t have THAT level of intensity and passion. I know I don’t. Should we just stand back, forget about creating anything, and let those who are REALLY good get on with it?

Well clearly that doesn’t happen anyway, and nor should it. It was good to hear that Zappa himself thought that his only chart hit, Valley Girl, which came as a complete surprise to him, mattered as much as the more complex, more obviously unique music that he created.

And our “three chords and the truth”, or “simple hooks and a beat” or “funky grooves and a tune” matter too. We almost certainly can’t and won’t reach the heights of composers like Zappa. We probably can’t even aspire to their levels…we simply stand in awe and admiration.

But someone (maybe lots of someones) might still love our musical equivalent of a Big Mac or Beans on Toast. We can’t deny our own urge to make something. Because there is room for a multitude of creations in this huge universe we inhabit. And we can, in our own way, inspire other people too.

Like Zappa, we matter. What we do matters. Like Zappa, we should continue to get the work out of our heads and into the world. And because of Zappa, or whichever genius might provide our own personal inspiration, we try to do work that is a little bit better. Next time.