Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Pena

Trout Mask Replica is Captain Beefheart's masterpiece, a fascinating, stunningly imaginative work that still sounds like little else in the rock & roll canon. Given total creative control by producer and friend Frank Zappa, Beefheart and his Magic Band rehearsed the material for this 28-song double album for over a year, wedding minimalistic R&B, blues, and garage rock to free jazz and avant-garde experimentalism. Atonal, sometimes singsong melodies; jagged, intricately constructed dual-guitar parts; stuttering, complicated rhythmic interaction -- all of these elements float out seemingly at random, often without completely interlocking, while Beefheart groans his surrealist poetry in a throaty Howlin' Wolf growl. The disjointedness is perhaps partly unintentional -- reportedly, Beefheart's refusal to wear headphones while recording his vocals caused him to sing in time with studio reverberations, not the actual backing tracks -- but by all accounts, the music and arrangements were carefully scripted by the Captain (aided by John "Drumbo" French), which makes the results even more remarkable. As one might expect from music so complex and, to many ears, inaccessible, the influence of Trout Mask Replica was felt more in spirit than in direct copycatting, as a catalyst rather than a literal musical starting point. However, its inspiring reimagining of what was possible in a rock context laid the groundwork for countless future experiments in rock surrealism, especially during the punk/new wave era.

by Steve Huey
________________________________________

[conversation:]
don van vliet (captain beefheart): ah, ha, ha, ha...! fast and bulbous.
victor hayden (the mascara snake): fast and bulbous!
don van vliet: that's... (laughs)
frank zappa: hey, do it again.
don van vliet: i love that, i love all those words.
victor hayden: fast and bulbous!
don van vliet: that's right, the mascara snake, fast and bulbous.
victor hayden: bulbous also tapered.
don van vliet: yeah, but you got to wait till i say: 'also a tinned...: teardrop'.
victor hayden: (laughs) oh, christ!
frank zappa: alright, again. beginning...
victor hayden: fast and bulbous.
don van vliet: that's right, the mascara snake. fast and bulbous. also a tinned teardrop.
victor hayden: bulbous also tapered.
don van vliet: that's right.

pena
her little head clinking
like a barrel of red velvet balls
full past noise
treats filled her eyes
turning them yellow like enamel coated tacks
soft like butter hard not to pour
out enjoying the sun while sitting on
a turned on waffle iron
smoke billowing up from between her legs
made me vomit beautifully
and crush a chandelier
fall on my stomach and view her
from a thousand happened facets
liquid red salt ran over crystals
i later band-aided the area
sighed
o well it was worth it
pena pleased but sore from sitting
chose to stub her toe
and view the white pulps horribly large
in their red pockets
'i'm tired of playing baby,' she explained
and out of a blue felt box let escape
one yellow butterfly the same size
its droppings were tiny green phosphorus worms
that moved in tuck and rolls that clacked
and whispered in their confinement
three little burnt scotch taped windows
several yards away
mouths open to tongues that vibrated
and lost saliva
pena exclaimed: 'that's the raspberries'

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Captain
• Beefheart
• His
• Magic
• Band
• Pena
• Trout
• Mask
• Replica
• original
• studio
• version
• with
• lyrics
• high
• quality
• frank
• zappa

[eruption257]

That's right, the Mascara Snake! Fast and bulbous! Also, a tin teardrop.

[KingOfWhiteTrash1]

bulbous, also tapered!

[musiclover01ization]

Rock at it's most disturbing.

[DingoWalley01]

Oh my gosh! The Annoying Orange is at 0:53! I didn't realize he was alive back then!

Jk, Jk.

This certainly is a cool song :D

[TheSK2x]

@KingOfWhiteTrash1 That's right

[cew1965]

Me and two of my friends have heard this. Every time we see each other and we're feeling a link or something, we start repeating the fast n bulbous bit. Its gotten so far that on an assignment at school, I wrote in fast n bulbous when i was supposed to write a full sentence about someone's speech. And it has spread to where i use it in doing things such as eating, or taking a shower. We all call each other to say fast n bulbous! I love this album!

[jeboralatuyo]

why

[SchizoCE]

@KingOfWhiteTrash1 thats right.

[mokacoffee]

@MoralNihilism hey thanks. your suggestion actually help. i don't think i'll ever comprehend this fully but at least i can appreciate it.

[MoralNihilism]

@mokacoffee Listen to when depressed. This song is more about emotion than any 'formal' musical experimentation.

[pelicandrift]

sounds like Steve Urkel on vocals.

[MROUQUART]

@mokacoffee

listen to the album whilst playing guitar for a bush, if the bush does not react, eat a loaf of bread; start over the process