Torture Never Stops

Frank Zappa

About Torture Never Stops

"The Torture Never Stops" is a song by Frank Zappa from the 1976 album Zoot Allures. Other versions appear on Zappa in New York, Thing-Fish, You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1, You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 4, The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life, FZ:OZ, Cheap Thrills, Buffalo, Philly '76, and Hammersmith Odeon. Zappa played "The Torture Never Stops" in concert from 1975 to 1978, in 1981 and again in 1988. The song debuted in 1975 as "Why Doesn't Somebody Get Him a Pepsi?" though few of the instrument parts were similar to the album version. Critics have written that while performing the song, Zappa comes off as calm yet passive-aggressive. Michel Delville, in his essay Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and the Secret History of Maximalism contrasted the tone of "The Torture Never Stops" with Brian Eno's album Ambient 1: Music for Airports. 


9:45

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Flies all green and buzzin'
In this dungeon of despair
Prisoners grumblin
Piss they clothes
Scratch their matted hair
A tiny light from a window-hole
Hundred yards away
That all they ever get to know
'Bout the regular life in the day
'Bout the regular life in the day

Slime and rot and rats and snuck
Vomit on the floor
Fifty ugly soldier men
Holdin' spears by the iron door
Stinks so bad, stones are chokin'
Weepin' greenish drops
In the den where
The giant fire puffer works
And the torture never stops
The torture never stops, torture
The torture never stops
The torture never stops

Flies all green and buzzin'
In this dungeon of despair
An evil prince eats a steamin' pig
In a tumbers right near there
In the chambers right near there
He eats de snouts an trotters first!
The loins and the groins are then dispersed
His carvin' style is well rehearsed
He stands and shouts
All men be cursed (4x)
And disagree it, well no one durst
He the best of cause of all the woist
Best of cause of all the woist

He stinks so bad his stones been chokin'
Weepin' greenish drops
In the room with the iron maiden
And the torture never stops, torture
Torture never stops
Torture never stops, torture
Torture never stops

Flies all green and buzzin'
In dungeon of despair
Who are'll those people
That is shut away down there
Are they crazy
Are they sainted
Are they heroes someone painted
Someone painted
Are they -isms
Later ornated
Once they come they have been tainted
Once they come they have been tainted
Never been explained
Since at first it was created
But a dungeon and his kin'
Require naught but lockin' in
Of any anything that's been
Could be a her but it's probly a him
Could be a her but it's probly a him
Its what's the deal were dealin' in
Its what's the deal were dealin' in
An he stinks so bad it's hurt
To the pearl and the piles of blast
Any dungeon have a trailer
Were the torture never stops, torture
Torture never stops
Torture never stops, torture
Torture never stops
Torture never stops, talkin' to you
Torture never stops

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Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American composer, singer-songwriter, guitarist, recording engineer, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. Zappa produced almost all of the more than 60 albums he released with the band The Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. While in his teens, he acquired a taste for 20th-century classical composers such as Edgard Varèse, Igor Stravinsky, and Anton Webern along with 1950s rhythm and blues music. He began writing classical music in high school, while at the same time playing drums in rhythm and blues bands… more »

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Written by: Frank Vincent Zappa

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind


11 facts about this song

Song Origin
"Torture Never Stops" is a song by Frank Zappa which originally appeared on his 1976 album "Zoot Allures".
Lyrics
The song’s lyrics are grim and revolve around the theme of torture, where various forms of criminal activities are being described metaphorically.
Album Performance
"Zoot Allures", the album featuring "Torture Never Stops", reached #61 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
Noteworthy Variations
The song has several versions, as performed by Zappa multiple times, all ranging in performance length. One of the longest versions is around 20 minutes long as seen in the "Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life" album.
Album Theme
"Zoot Allures", though largely varying in musical style and instrumentation, has an underlying theme of sexual pervertism and predatory behavior, echoed in "Torture Never Stops".
Zappa's Musical Style
As with much of Zappa's work, "Torture Never Stops" displays a complex arrangement and a genre-blending mix of rock, jazz, and pop.
Instrumental Complexity
The song is known for its long instrumental sections, an aspect that showcases Zappa's prowess as a composer and the band's instrumental virtuosity.
Live Performances
"Torture Never Stops" was a staple in Zappa's live performances. Different versions of the song can be found in various live albums, all with slight variations in lyrics or instrumental arrangements.
Guest Musicians
Captain Beefheart, a longtime collaborator with Zappa, contributed vocals and harmonica to a version of "Torture Never Stops" in their 1980 European tour.
Song Reception
Although not a chart-topping hit, "Torture Never Stops" has been praised by critics and fans alike for its musical complexity and dark lyrical content, embodying Zappa's distinctive musical style.
Posthumous Release
A version of "The Torture Never Stops" was included in "Zappa's Universe"—a tribute album released in 1991, following Frank Zappa’s death in the same year.

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