"Let's Make the Water Turn Black" is a patter song which first appeared on the 1968 Mothers of Invention album '' We're Only in It for the Money'' and later on the 1995 compilation album '' Strictly Commercial''. An uptempo instrumental version is featured on the 1991 live album '' Make a Jazz Noise Here''.

Background

"Let's Make The Water Turn Black" tells the true story of brothers Ronald and Kenneth Williams (referred to as "Ronnie" and "Kenny" respectively), neighbors of the song's composer

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

in the early 1960s, when he was living in

Ontario, California Ontario is a city in southwestern San Bernardino County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles and west of downtown San Bernardino, the county seat. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire metropolitan area, it lies ...

. It says that while their father, known as "Daddy Dinky" (Dalton Williams), was away at work "selling lamps and chairs to San Ber'dino squares" and while their mother (Signa), worked "feeding all the boys at Ed's Café" (on Holt Blvd. in Ontario, Ca.), the brothers occupied their after-school time with such activities as igniting each other's flatulence. In the original release, a reference to their mother "in her apron and her pad" was cut from the record; although the reference was about an order pad, a record executive thought it was a veiled reference to a sanitary napkin. Further references can be found in the opening line of the chorus: "Whizzing and pasting and pooting through the day". "Whizzing" referred to Kenny's need to

urinate Urination is the release of urine from the bladder through the urethra in placental mammals, or through the cloaca in other vertebrates. It is the urinary system's form of excretion. It is also known medically as micturition, voiding, ure ...

in jars because he and Mothers of Invention

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

player Jim "Motorhead" Sherwood were living in a garage on the Williams property, one which lacked plumbing. The results were "Kenny's little creatures on display", a reference to what Zappa described in a 1987 interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' as "mutant

tadpole A tadpole or polliwog (also spelled pollywog) is the Larva, larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully Aquatic animal, aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial animal, ...

s" which had appeared over time in the urine and could be seen swimming in it. "Pasting" is a reference to another part of the song which states that Ronnie saved his "pneumies" on a bedroom window, described rather bluntly in the song as "

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

green". During the aforementioned ''Rolling Stone'' interview, Zappa related how the mess was soon discovered by the boys' mother. So thick was the dried mass that removal required "chisels and

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". "Pooting" refers to the act of flatulating. The song's final verse includes references to the boys' adulthood, namely how Ronnie had joined the military, Kenny was "taking pills" and how they both yearned "to see a

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

burn". This may have a double meaning both as a reference to the burgeoning movement against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and as a reference to an African-American nickname for an exceptionally large marijuana cigarette. The final line, "Wait 'til the fire turns green," may be a final reference to igniting each other's flatulence. While the song itself is up to interpretation Frank Zappa discusses the song in detail in the book by Frank Zappa and Peter Occhiogrosso titled ''The Real Frank Zappa Book''. The song title and lyric "Let's make the water turn black" are in reference to Ronnie and Kenny's procedure for producing alcohol from raisins. The lyric "Ronnie helping Kenny helping burn his poots away" is a reference to lighting farts. Ronnie would light Kenny's poots on fire, "wait till the fire turns green," then use the burning plastic as a heat source to heat the raisins prior to the fermenting process. It ends when recording engineer Dick Kunc opens the talkback line to the recording studio to introduce "a little bit of vocal teenage heaven right here on earth". What follows are several seconds of backwards, distorted, guttural vocalizing by Ronald Williams himself. The next song on the album "The Idiot Bastard Son" revisits the story of the Williams brothers in a more sedate style.

Background

References

Further reading