"A Token of My Extreme", by

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

, is a song on the 1979

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

Joe's Garage ''Joe's Garage'' is a three-part rock opera recorded by American musician Frank Zappa in September and November 1979. Originally released as two separate studio albums on Zappa Records, the project was later remastered and reissued as a triple a ...

'' 'Part II'' The main character from this triple-album rock-opera has his mind messed-up by Lucille then "finally does something smart" and "pays a lot of money to L. Ron Hoover and the First Church of Appliantology."

Plot

Appliantology is shown as an insincere religion, which cooperates with a "malevolent totalitarian regime." This is an apparent reference to Scientology and its founder

L. Ron Hubbard Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986) was an American author, primarily of science fiction and fantasy stories, who is best known for having founded the Church of Scientology. In 1950, Hubbard authored '' Dianetic ...

. Joe, doubting his sanity, asks 'mystical advisor' L. Ron Hoover what his problem is and is told that he is "a latent appliance-fetishist." Joe asks if it is time "to come out of the closet," and is told that he should "go into the closet". "The Closet" turns out to be a bar in Los Angeles, where he can have "a lot of fun" achieving sexual gratification using machines. The "machines" at The Closet are household appliances with

marital aids A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate human sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibrating ...

stuck all over them. Joe is informed that the best appliances speak foreign languages, which leads to the next song, "Stick It Out". This song derives from another piece called "Tush Tush Tush" from 1973.

Analysis

This song was analyzed in ''Zappa'', and also in ''Academy Zappa''. In their study of Zappa published in the journal ''Studies in Musical Theatre'', Carr and Hand mention that the song is "a satire of L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86) and the Church of Scientology". They described the work as "an ironic precursor" to Carlton's '' Return to the Forbidden Planet''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Token Of, A 1979 songs Songs critical of religion Frank Zappa songs Scientology in popular culture Songs written by Frank Zappa Song recordings produced by Frank Zappa

Plot

Analysis

See also

References