Who Needs The Peace Corps?

Hard to believe nobody here has pointed out the obvious: The song is about 1967's Summer of Love, particularly with regards to San Francisco. In the summer of 1967, hippies traveled to San Francisco as well as other cities to participate in communal living, music, free love, drugs, and other countercultural activities. This kind of crystallized the hippie movement. Anyway, Zappa had a jaundiced eye toward "flower power" and especially what he regarded as phony hippies who were just latching on to the latest trend. Zappa also thought drug use was stupid. Hard to believe such a creative freak disdained drugs and hippies, huh? Actually reminds me of the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne, who is very creative and freaky and also doesn't use drugs.

A clear skewering of the "flower power" movement. And no, I don't think it was an especially loving tribute, as TransparentSunChild seems to think. I think the whole album is pretty vicious.

frank zappa was a satirist, and this song is about phoy hippies in america who just sit around and smoke dope instead of acting on anything. he points out a problem about abusive police, and the hippies not doing anything about it...just loving each other and thinking everything is okay.

To me, "We're only in it for the money" is as important as "Sgt Pepper" in rock history. And really vicious, you said it, Comicstripper ! I was just asking myself : when you're completely "stoned", are you supposed to shout "Help, I'm a rock" ???

This song is hilarious, but it's also a brilliantly crafted tune. The lyrics may be outdated, but it's still an amazing song. It's a shame this song doesn't get much recognition.

...actually, Zappa wasn't fond of the Beatles. Not so much because he hated their music, but mainly their reception.

Sgt. Pepper's was considered "the first concept album", and by some people, the creative apex of the time. This was BS to Zappa, because he had released two "concept albums" in the past, and considered himself and his peers in the business to be eons more creative than the Beatles.

Basically, the whole album is a lash-out on popular culture and the autonomous thought, and isn't specific. But the Beatles were the symbol of 60's pop culture, a thing Zappa despised. If you read some of what he says in interviews and stuff, he was strongly against pop culture. This was not a "tribute", more like a scathing satire.

"okay idiots, once again i shall point out the obvious for you all.

"we're only it for the money" has nothing to do with Sgt Peppers besides them parodying the cover, thats it. the album is not a satire of the beatles in any way

it's more about the 70's AND the 60's, and the general purpose is to put shit on every single 'side' of the hippie movement, the police, the parents, the drugs, and the hippies themselves, and this is having a go at the idea of how cool it was to be an all loving hippe when you did'nt actualy have those views. it actualy contanes a large section where the character PLANS how the intend to become a hippie.

nothing to do with the beatles, it's just a funny cover. "

You're both a jackass, and wrong. "Absolutely Free" is an obvious parody of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, and this album came out in 1968... but you claim it's about the 70's?

I think Zappa kinda makes an ass of himself on this album. He's really not being that clever, the music is only OK, and he's excessively pessimistic for no reason. That being said, overall I do think Zappa is a great musician.

Well naturally you're ALL wrong and you're ALL idiots, and I'm an idiot too... but I don't see how "Absolutely Free" is a direct parody of Lucy in the Sky. I find it to be one of Zappa's most beautiful compositions and one of the most sincere moments on the album, as if he's saying, "Listen you fake hippie motherfuckers, I'm STONE COLD SOBER and this shit we're playing here is TRANSCENDENT!!!" Trans-fucking-cendent. But of course, being an idiot, I could be wrong...

So... I'm on this page because I had to go to the DMV on Fell St. today and realized I had $120 bucks of store credit at Amoeba, which is now over 5 years old because I never go into the city anymore since all I do is work and parent and co-manage a household and occasionally, for, like, fun, go trail running or drink heavily alone at home in the evening while my lovely and amazing wife and three adorable children are asleep.

I was a little early for Amoeba and killed time walking up and down Haight Street and had a real WTF moment: What is all this CRAP - tye-dye boutiques, the Jimi Hendrix house mural, various other stores capitalizing on some hippy-dippy vibed theme - still doing here in this day and age? What can 60s nostalgia mean now? What do the 60s themselves mean now that democracy is on the verge of collapse and the corporate game is the only one left in town, especially in this damn town? Even legal marijuana feels like less of a triumph of justice than just another thing commodified, so Anheuser-Busch can brew cannabis beer. Most of the old phony hippies sold out, and the ones that haven't sold out or died gotta admit now that their revolution failed. I wanted to grab people on the street and shake them and scream, "What the fuck does this all mean - what did it ever mean?" And then I got "Who Needs The Peace Corps" stuck in my head on an endless loop.

At Amoeba, the joy I once felt while shopping there was gone. I just stream shit on Spotify now. I almost bought the Louvin Brothers box set but I can stream those beloved hillbillies too. I have enough coffee mugs and the only two band T-shirts I own are Sonic Youth and Can and I couldn't think of how a third would fit. I looked at the books but I don't have much time to read and I mostly take shit out of the library. I ended up buying a stack of DVDs - John Carpenter, Coen Bros., Werner Herzog - that I can't stream for free on Amazon Prime or the Netflix account that we use but don't actually know who it belongs to. I only spent half of the money and left feeling agitated and unwell with my phone buzzing for a work-related crisis involving Serbia, and I couldn't even name a country that borders Serbia, because I'm a goddamn yuppie scum and I'm bringing the world down with me.

But I'm actually pretty happy in my little corner of this cesspool world. I love my kids and I tell them that every day. I'm glad that they can think.

Zappa fucking saw this all coming...

HOW COME NO ONE HAS POSTED A COMMENT ABOUT THIS SONG?! well it's pretty amazing to say the least. the whole cd (We're Only In It For The Money) is a parody of the Beatles Sgt. Pepper. They are basically making fun of it (when i say making fun, i dont mean they are putting the beatles down) it's as harmless as wierd al.

okay idiots, once again i shall point out the obvious for you all.

"we're only it for the money" has nothing to do with Sgt Peppers besides them parodying the cover, thats it. the album is not a satire of the beatles in any way

it's more about the 70's AND the 60's, and the general purpose is to put shit on every single 'side' of the hippie movement, the police, the parents, the drugs, and the hippies themselves, and this is having a go at the idea of how cool it was to be an all loving hippe when you did'nt actualy have those views. it actualy contanes a large section where the character PLANS how the intend to become a hippie.

nothing to do with the beatles, it's just a funny cover.