ARF: Notes and Comments: WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY: Let's Make The Water Turn Black

WE'RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY

Let's Make The Water Turn Black

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Now believe me when I tell you that my
song is really true
I want everyone to listen and believe
It's about some little people
from a long time ago
And all the things the neighbors didn't know

From: Mr_Gigabyte@mindlink.bc.ca (Mike Quigley)
There was an explanation of Let's Make The Water Turn Black in Rolling Stone of August 27th, 1987, where We're Only In It... was named one of the best 100 albums of the last 20 years:

In addition to lambasting hippie culture, Zappa also sought to immortalize some of his more bizarre childhood acquaintances -- in particular, two brothers named Kenny and Ronnie, who featured in the song "Let's Make the Water Turn Black.''

"Ronnie had been busted for bootlegging," says Zappa. "He used to make raisin wine and sell it to kids in junior high school. Ronnie saved snot on a window in his room. He had gotten into this syndrome of flipping boogers. One day his mother went in there and started howling because she couldn't see through the window -- it was all green. They had to use chisels and Ajax to scrape the stuff off. This is absolutely true."

Kenny, the other brother, lived in a garage in back of the house with Mothers sax man and roadie Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood. Since there was no plumbing in the garage, they began urinating in some Mason jars Kenny's mother kept for canning, then in the earthenware crocks that Ronnie had used to concoct his raisin wine. They covered the crocks with a board. "One day," says Zappa, "just out of curiosity, Kenny lifted the board to see how the whiz was doing, and there were these >things< swimming in it -- like some mutant tadpoles that had been brewing in there. The father found out and made them flush it all down the toilet. So whatever was living in the jars is now probably eleven feet long and living in the sewer system in California."

And the song's concluding line, "Wait till the fire turns green"? "When they weren't pissing in jars and saving their snot on the windows," says Zappa, "they were lighting each other's farts. So there it is. It's like a folk song."

Early in the morning Daddy Dinky went to work
Selling lamps & chairs to San Ber'dino squares

* And I still remember Mama with her *	Censored out on
* apron & her pad *	the original vinyl
* Feeding all the boys at Ed's Cafe! *

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(Ronnie helping Kenny
helping burn his poots away!)

From: John Wittenberg <johnw@cruzio.com>
'Poots' are more commonly called 'farts', and are reputed to produce a green flame when ignited.

From: fnord@panix.com (Cliff Heller)
The process known as pyroflatulation.

From: Gregorie@LFGMS.logica.com (Martin Gregorie)
Fartuous info: They burn with a nice orange flame, but are difficult to light unless you use a diffusor (ie underpants) . This also prevents brush fires starting in tender places!

Ronnie saves his numies on a window in his room

Seems to be something you could drag out of your nose :-)

From: John Henley <jhenley@mail.utexas.edu>
Right - boogers.

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Whizzing and

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pasting & pooting through the day...

From: GWORSHAM@ix.netcom.com (Gary Worsham)
Whizzing = pissing.

Pasting = interesting mucus experiments.

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