ZAPPA & High School.

This is such a broad subject... There is so much to say about it that I don't even know where to start.

Reading from Barry Miles' book on Zappa, I was struck by the time he spent on describing and recreating Frank's early years of life. Why is it so important for us to know that he lived in Baltimore, in Florida, in California? Why is it important for us to know that he intended ten-ish schools throughout his youth?

Soon enough, you realize why it is so crucial. Soon enough, you understand why Miles spends so much time (and details) on this particular era of the composer's life...

Zappa became Zappa because he was shaped by these years of moving in and out, of having to adapt to new environments, friends, schools, teachers, neighbors, you name it. In fact, who wouldn't be drastically marked by that? Frank was to be permanently scared by this period and would evolve as a young adult and artist keeping these memories in head.

Consequences of his father accepting different jobs here and there in the country include many of the following: young Zappa was hardly able to make friends, he lost interest in school, he wouldn't have a "regular" teenage social life, and he would always be treated as the weirdo and different soul around by the other kids, etc. All of these are interrelated and led him to a certain degree of isolation and to a premature critical view of our society.

Now, I'm not trying to say that Zappa was not always a little cynical, bad-tempered or anti-social. Some traits belong to each of us as individuals and there's nothing we can do to change them. Although it is also true to say that life can sometimes bring you events and challenges that amplify certain personality traits of a human being. But I do think that what Zappa lived in this 10 or 15 years life-span was crucial to determine and accentuate these characteristics...

He often refers to his teenage high school years in later songs (a good example would be 'Status Black Baby' from Absolutely Free - 1967). From what we understand, Zappa never truly wanted to be accepted by the "cool gang" in high school. He already found them shallow and uninteresting... But there is also a sense of bitterness coming from him when he makes allusions to these years and people he use to frequent every day in school. As if being the loner all the time was a heavy burden sometimes which enhanced this cynical aspect of his personality.

It is also curious to think that such a brilliant mind barely finished his high school diploma. He wasn't stimulated enough with school subjects (except for his early affinity with music, naturally). The fact that his family moved around all the time certainly didn't help him to stay focused on his studying. Again, it was like society had failed him...

Estrangement and disappointment were certainly two important key words of Zappa's youth which became as equally important when he stepped into the real world a few years later to pursue his life-time goal: enlightening the American population by exploring different types of music and socially engaged lyrics, as well as being able to finance his own projects by himself (in other words, to make money) to create the music he really wanted to do.