Zappa had an ongoing habit of sabotaging the beauty of his best music with ugly lyrics and titles. All because he firmly believed that music was not a vehicle for emotional expression. As his idol Stravinsky once said, and was something he deeply identified with; “Expression has never been an inherent property of music” [Miles p. 287] Frank didn’t do love, and his wife Gail was the first to support that claim. They rarely spoke to each other and his kids were always taught not to disturb him. He never saw what all the fuss was about and commented: “Along with all the love and admiration that’s going to come from the people that would keep you from being lonely, there is an emotional freight you have to bear from people who are wasting your time, and you can’t get that back. So when you’re lonely and all by yourself, guess what you have? You have all your own time. That’s a pretty good fucking deal ... every time you’re out being sociable and having other people be “nice” to you so you don’t feel “lonely” they are wasting your time.” [Miles p. 298]
As Miles points out this strong stance against love and sociability, along with a workaholic attitude, is a common barrier used by those with low self-esteem.
When his kids were fifteen Zappa took them out of school and made them take equivalency tests. He thoroughly believed that the school system dumbed you down into conformity. Taking it one step further, he decided that he wouldn’t pay for their college education, thus deterring them from going. Moon became a respected writer (acting didn’t work out), but she could have benefited from a degree. Dweezil immersed himself in music.
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