Brown Shoes Don't Make It

Infobox Song
Name=Brown Shoes Don't Make It


Caption=
Type=
Artist=Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
alt_artist=
Album=Absolutely Free
Published=
Released=
track_no=14
Recorded=
Genre=Experimental rock
Length=7:30
Writer=
Composer=Frank Zappa
Label=
Producer=
Tracks=
prev=Son of Suzy Creamcheese
prev_no=13
next=America Drinks and Goes Home
next_no=15
Misc=

Brown Shoes Don't Make It is a song from Frank Zappa's 1967 album "Absolutely Free". It is one of his most widely renowned works, declared by the "All music guide" as "Zappa's first real masterpiece" [cite web |title=Brown Shoes Don't Make It |url=http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:7hpyxd0bnold |format=song review |accessdate=2008-03-03] . It is also considered one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. [cite web |title=500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll A-C |url=http://www.rockhall.com/exhibithighlights/500-songs-by-name-ac/ |accessdate=2008-03-03]

The lyrics start off as a general attack on suburban American society: TV, greed and conformity are all mocked openly in the song. It then shifts in tone, dealing with a city hall official having sex with a thirteen-year-old girl.

The music itself makes several stylistic shifts, covering hard rock, classical, psychedelic rock, music hall and jazz. It is cited by allmusic.com as being a "condensed two-hour musical". The song lasts 7:30 and is the fourteenth track on Absolutely Free.

The title was inspired by an event covered by Time Magazine reporter Hugh Sidey in 1966. [cite web |last=Sidney |first=Hugh |title=The Meaning of the Cordovans |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,924245-1.00.html |format=web reprint |accessdate=2008-03-03] The reporter correctly guessed that something was up when the fastidiously dressed President Lyndon B. Johnson made the fashion faux pas of wearing brown shoes with a gray suit. LBJ flew to Vietnam for a surprise public relations visit later that day.

A live version of this song is featured on the album Tinseltown Rebellion.

References

External links

*Lyrics [http://www.davemcnally.com/Lyrics/FrankZappa/AbsolutelyFree/]