"Bobby Brown (Goes Down)" is a song 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 ...

released on his album ''

Sheik Yerbouti ''Sheik Yerbouti'' is a double album by Frank Zappa, released in March 1979 as the first release on Zappa Records (distributed by Phonogram Inc.) It is mostly made up of live material recorded in 1977 and 1978, with extensive overdubs added i ...

'' in 1979. One of his best known songs, it was hugely successful in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. It was a number-one-hit in Norway and Sweden and placed at number 4 in the German charts, where it sold more than 250,000 units. This song was more successful in Europe than America (the song's pervasive sexual content made it unfit for broadcast on U.S. radio) and this is why it is only featured on the vinyl and European CD version of Zappa's best of compilation, ''

Strictly Commercial ''Strictly Commercial'' is a compilation album by Frank Zappa. It was released in 1995, two years after his death. The album was named as part of a 2011 lawsuit by Gail Zappa towards Rykodisc, claiming the label released several vault masters with ...

''.

Synopsis

The song describes a wealthy,

misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women. It is a form of sexism that is used to keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the societal roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practiced fo ...

student named Bobby Brown, "the cutest boy in town", whose life is the archetypal American Dream until a traumatic sexual encounter with "Freddie", a dyke involved in the

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

, leaves him questioning his sexuality. Bobby transforms into a

leisure suit A leisure suit is a casual suit consisting of a shirt-like jacket and matching trousers (pants)"Leisur ...

-wearing

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender and other (LGBTQ+) people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and human ...

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

working in radio promotions; by the end of the song, he and "a friend" (later implied to be his boss, as he will " do anything to get ahead", which also has a double meaning, i.e. getting head) have become self-described "sexual spastic(s)" involved in

golden showers Urolagnia (also urophilia, and, more colloquially, a golden shower or watersports) associates sexual excitement with the sight or thought of urine or urination, and may also refer to such behaviours or acts. It is a paraphilia. The term has o ...

and S&M, for which he thanks Freddie.

Track listing

Version 1: A."Bobby Brown" – 2:43
B."Baby Snakes" – 1:50 Version 2: A."Bobby Brown" – 2:43
B."Stick It Out" – 4:33

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control Frank Zappa songs 1979 songs 1979 singles Songs written by Frank Zappa LGBT-related songs Songs about BDSM Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Norway Song recordings produced by Frank Zappa Satirical songs CBS Records singles