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Strange Life

by Frank Zappia

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    Professionally replicated Compact Disc including 12 page lyric booklet and original artwork by Leti Prat.

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1.
Seven 07:41
lyrics
SEVEN These seven cylinders of steel Cold to the touch, holding images of trees Distorted and twisted, reflecting the horizon Revealing another state to be I place my hand upon your surface evoking harsh cold reality Sensual symmetry, You stir the warmth of my heart A reminder of the night he drained the trust from my sheath Skin of machinery Never breathe We don’t have to suffer anything Skin of machinery Never bleed Now you’ve shown me that we never have to suffer any... ...to be beautiful [Break: Icaros Magic Song] The raptor takes his perch upon your silver sheen Move in close and catch his predatory grin Captivated by a stare into the gleam He raises broken wing and washes clean those finger stains with seven drops blood then flies away [Break: The Call to Freedom] Rest now, my seven cylinders. Our time has come, moving in to the divine. Our world of completion, the power of creation, whole and complete. We are ready now, to make sacrifice to ourselves. A new state of being. Bathed and cleansed of society’s disease. Marching heads held up high, blow seven trumpets to the sky, in resounding resonance of our arrival. Free of abomination. These seven cylinders of steel Holding reverie in exanimate appeal Connecting to the ones who gaze upon your lead Taken to the state of evoluted empathy Skin of machinery Never breathe We don’t have to suffer anything Skin of machinery Now I see... ...that we never have to suffer any Never suffer anything... ...to be beautiful
2.
Breakin' Out the Bad Man 04:11
lyrics
BREAKIN' OUT THE BAD MAN Raise your hand, block out my sun Cut me loose now or give me the gun Turn it around I prayed for you from the start Ooohhh you look so good Left me down in the park Thought you’d covered up what wouldn’t be found I’m breakin’ out the Bad Man Did you get your kicks playin’ around on me I see you’re pissed I know your tricks and I won’t breakdown Hiding in lies in lines, but truth penetrates “The love of my life” he says to put up the stakes Thought you’d covered up what couldn’t be found Now I’m breakin’ out the Bad Man Didn’t hurt that much (I’m sorry, I love you) Maybe I’m sensitive (I’m sorry, I love you) Maybe I talk too much (I’m sorry, I love you) I’ll be more attractive (I’m sorry, I love you) I really used to love you but you never gave a fuck about me (This will never happen again) Explanation, a root for a cause Absolution with my back to the wall Disengagement before it’s too late Bona fide position with promise of fame Thought you’d covered up what wouldn’t be found I’m breakin’ out the Bad Man Used up all your luck, now you’re talk of this town I’m breakin’ out this bad, Bad Man Bad Man I’ll break you (yeah, I’ll break you) Bad Bad Man
3.
Make It Real 08:50
lyrics
MAKE IT REAL Righteous Man closing in on our evolutionary distance How have we come to this? What we do to survive so we don’t have to die Extending our existence No mythology or lore could have identified the time Brave New World Experiment and sow, test what we can grow in our neo Garden of Eden Take a dream to the highest homo sapien He’ll find a reason to believe and make it real Take the dream into the 22nd century Man’s apotheosis He’ll redefine mortality and make it real A life well lived is lived a little longer A life well lived is lived a little longer A life well lived is lived a little longer Not every question has an answer, does it? Host of parts Oh, so lucky he made the cut to keep me alive Take my order let’s begin Mice and men and hair and skin pigmenting blood with blood, modified So personalised I wonder will his thoughts be carried on with mine? Take a dream to the highest homo sapien He’ll find a reason to believe and make it real Take the dream into our 22nd century Man’s apotheosis He’ll redefine mortality and make it real [Future man and present man reprise] A life well lived is lived a little longer Not every question needs an answer, does it? We know that we’re selected Our common deficiency Turn to the sick and broken Turn blind from obligation Affecting consequence Take a dream to the highest homo sapien He’ll find a reason to believe and make it real Take the dream into the 22nd century Man’s apotheosis He’ll redefine mortality and regulate his own way We regulate our own way We regulate our own way So we don’t have to die
4.
How We Take Our Honey 04:02
lyrics
HOW WE TAKE OUR HONEY I see our Donnie in the clouds I wonder if he be, if he be our shroud? and on a dark and rainy day is it his wet that’s dripping down onto our heads? Into our hearts and on our heads He says it’s overcast We say it’s partly sunny I guess that all depends on how, how we take our honey If I open up the brood box would you taste what’s made within? Would you fly off with the Queen Bee or have dinner with the King? We honour our defences and stay captive to our fear Together we can work away the augury until the sky is clear Sweet... I pray the wise wind comes and blows our Donnie away before you leave... Wonder will he see us through another year again? Tarry the winter on the cheer of a good friend and will we smell the rain when air rises to cool Hope dear Don adjudicates the weatherman a fool, sees the sun shinin’ through and the weatherman a fool He says it’s overcast We say it’s partly sunny I guess it all depends on how, how we take our honey He says it’s overcast We say it’s partly sunny I guess that depends on how, how we take our honey How we take our honey How we take our honey, honey
5.
Great Big Hole 05:26
lyrics
GREAT BIG HOLE I see you’re a little green from the rain Only took a few more years and tears runnin’ through into our veins Still they make a man grow like the wild weeds down in the valley We were undercover of fog but then the storm came with the wind Us like birds flying next to waterfalls blown into a spin We’d been leaning on the shoulders of the sky only to slide down on peak to slope Had no time to fly the in-between Swallowed deep and low into this great big hole Thought we were so secure strong and so intimidating like giants standing tall Can’t move a mountain I recall With our egos up in the heavens and our heads in the clouds not even the eagle could see an emptiness so deep Desolation forming Running downstream to a new misery We’d been leaning on the shoulders of the sky only to slide down on peak to slope Had no time to fly the in-between Swallowed deep and low into this great big hole Like wildflowers our seed is sown, not to design Songbirds and butterflies secrete addiction to desire Hanging in, Gravity He waits on wilted stems We can’t escape the cavities until we see that the light is bent We’d been leaning on the shoulders of the sky only to slide down on peak to slope Had no time to fly the in-between Swallowed deep and low into this great big hole Into this great big hole
6.
One In A Billion 04:35
lyrics
ONE IN A BILLION One in a billion won’t you connect with me You’ll see me in my best light Comin’ out of your C.R.T. I don’t like bars, run down my battery Follow me hard I promise I won’t waste you It doesn’t change the way I love Still I want it Put my happy on and hope the one will come along and like it It’s easy to express, put on my smiley face Go undercover agent and watch your page I know where you’re going might see you there It doesn’t change the way we love Still we find it Put my message out and hope that I’m still good when we’re alone It doesn’t change the way we love Still we make it Carry off and tell our friends all we’ve done before we take it My one in a billion I’ll be your history Running through your machine (secretly) for all to see
7.
Strange Life 04:27
lyrics
STRANGE LIFE Uncover up and settle in pour yourself another drink we move in, pull up close and reminisce on the things we did How the years go by they went so quick From that Tuesday I felt like I was in the thick of it take a blink and here I sit When I stop and think on what I feel in this strange life This strange life All it takes is you telling me it's gonna be alright, be alright The times I worry on what tomorrow brings Time is the master but only if I let him, let him win Plans they follow through yeah, it’s not just when it’s up to you I guess I’ll learn to take the rain when pain and love can feel the same Is it that we’re favoured by the ones that run the show? Oh heaven knows that we should never be alone Hand me over to uncertainty and let my angel walk with me This mystery unravelling With a just a smile he brings me home sweet home When I stop and think on what I feel in this strange life This strange life All it takes is you telling me Please tell me one more time It's gonna be alright It’s gonna be alright
8.
String 04:12
lyrics
STRING Run it through our fingers and our thumbs Hold it up, examine what we done to it Stretch it out at both ends We wrap it 'round our hearts Tying us together Will this be forever? If we can't tell how long it is, I guess we'll just have to sit with it You think we're hangin' by a thread I say it's a stretch Wire and twine I hope we never get them crossed again Borrowed time will it suspend the inevitability of even the strongest rope wearing thin and if we can't tell how long it is, I guess we'll just have to sit with it and if we can't tell how long it is, I guess we'll just have to sit with it and if we talk on our tin can telephones would you hold the line until we're home Home again We open up our palms and lay a piece of string along our lifelines Yours next to mine and measure the length Forming our conceptions of the inextensible Until then, we'll just stay the link and if you can't tell how long it is, I guess we’ll just have to sit with it and if we can't tell how long it is, I guess we'll have to sit with this and if we can't tell how long it is, I guess I'll just have to sit with this and if we can't tell how long it is, I guess I'll just have to sit with it until we're home until we're home
9.
Hangman 03:56
lyrics
HANGMAN Today I wear the chains these shackles bound to my name Carry the weight of another man one who struggled in vain If I say it out loud is it any more real? If I say it strong will it shake me still Recounting the tale animated, an actor in a play Take this tallow, for you I made hold it dear, closer to the flame If I say it out loud is it any more real? If I say it strong will it shake me still Standing behind Running beyond Wayward intention Can’t settle the answer Set back and set in with a maddening cry No longer can this wait Ghost it beckons consummation of my fate While we gasp for breath we cannot sing Call out the Hangman and take him to the gallows If I say it out loud Is it any more real? If I say it strong Will it shake me still If I say it out loud Is it any more real? If I say it strong Will it shake me still Today I wear the chains
10.
Feel the Wind 04:20
lyrics
FEEL THE WIND If you feel it in the wind don’t forget to feel and follow It might show you how to win Kiss your finger and hold it up to the sky Blow a breath of life into the dandelions sending seeds of life across the sky Watch them fly to where the beauty of it all comes to life If you feel it in the wind run ahead, don’t look over your shoulder It might give your head a spin Fly your kite and then let go of the string Watch the colours rise up to meet the rainbow reaching for the sky to greet the angels Seasons can turn and wind can burn Blowin’ fires across the Earth Save your pennies and build your walls a better tomorrow for us all it makes our world turn Believin’ if we build on solid ground our world will turn (oh we just keep makin’ up what we want) our world will turn (and feel so good about what we done) Believin’ if we build on solid ground our world will turn (oh we just keep makin’ up what we want) our world will turn (and feel so good about what we done) If only our world would turn to the wind If you feel it in the wind If you feel it in the wind
11.
Close To You (Ventimiglia) 04:40
lyrics
CLOSE TO YOU (VENTIMIGLIA) The stories that you told me over black coffee come to life before my eyes Walking through your history meeting all the family my heart opens wide Now you’ve shown me how our spirit can fly Over mountains and oceans wide Looking back now at your life through mine I’m feeling close to you I know you better now Close to you I know you better You were only 19 running through the cobbled streets within the old town walls Down the stairs at number 8 memories and friends are made and your sisters live up on the hill Now you’ve shown me how our spirit can fly bound together through the passage of time Took me to your home, connecting the line and I feel so close to you (vicino a te) I know you better now Close to you (vicino a te) I know you better [Spoken] Mia madre sole, con il tuo spirito dentro di me abbiamo viaggiato insieme dall'altra parte del mondo a casa tua alle tue sorelle al punto di partenza alle nostre linee di sangue collegate Taken by the lights below up high from Castel D’Appio I watch the sun set to the sea and I feel you with me... ...and I light a candle for you (accendo una candela) I light a candle for you (accendo una candela) I light a candle for you (accendo una candela) We light a candle for you
12.
Building Blind 08:02
lyrics
BUILDING BLIND 66 million years Took that long to get us here Why do I feel so sick? How’d we even get to this? They say hindsight is a beautiful thing Now I’m looking back at where we’ve been You and me so simple then Scared to see how this all ends Please... give me a warm hand to hold Look me in the eyes and remind me what it’s like to feel I’m in control Building blind on our history Yesterday’s now tomorrow’s dream They were calling out the turn and we turned away Maybe we were just afraid of something we might learn that day See this damage that we done Reckless living, had our fun Scientific evidence Think we overstepped the precedence Please... Give me a warm hand to hold Our world is getting older The stories we were told when we were young Now they’ve taken form So many tried to warn us only to be ignored We been building blind on our history Yesterday’s now tomorrow’s dream They were calling out the turn but they were turned away Maybe they were just afraid of what they had to advocate Wonder should we say a prayer Take the Yahweh, get us there Devils draped in purity Deliver us Humanity

about

Frank's second album as a singer/songwriter.

credits

released December 21, 2019

All songs written, recorded and produced by Frank Zappia.

Michael Slater features on electric guitar for "String".
Ivan Skrtic features on finger clicks for "String".
Mark Braham features as the voice of future man on "Make It Real".

Cover art by Leti Prat.

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Frank Zappia Canberra, Australia

Frank Zappia is a piano player, composer, singer/songwriter from Canberra, Australia. Frank showcases his gentle musical style, melodically and dynamically through his original songs, pop covers and instrumental piano compositions.

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