"Advance Romance" is a

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of A ...

song originally from his live album with

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...

, '' Bongo Fury''. Other versions of the song can be found on ''

You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3 ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 3'' is a double disc live album by Frank Zappa, spanning from December 10, 1971, to December 23, 1984. It was released in 1989 (see 1989 in music). "Sharleena" had been previously issued as a flexi di ...

'', ''

You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore, Vol. 5 ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 5'' is a double compact disc collection of live recordings (except for "German Lunch" and "My Guitar" which are studio recordings) by Frank Zappa. Disc one comprises performances by The Mothers of Invent ...

'', and ''

Make a Jazz Noise Here ''Make a Jazz Noise Here'' is a live double album by Frank Zappa. It was first released in June 1991, and was the third Zappa album to be compiled from recordings from his 1988 world tour, following '' Broadway the Hard Way'' (1988) and '' The Be ...

''. It is a humorous parody of typical

love song A love song is a song about romantic love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. A comprehensive list of even the best known performers and composers of love songs would be a large order. ...

s and is sung by

Napoleon Murphy Brock Napoleon Murphy Brock (born June 7, 1945) is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums '' Apostrophe (')'', '' Roxy & Elsewhere'', '' One Size Fits All'', ...

with

George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...

. The song was played from 1975 to 1976 and from 1982 to 1988 making the song one of Zappa's most performed. Almost all of Zappa's lineups after its release on ''Bongo Fury'' played this song in concert.

Lyric

The song describes a low-life world of poverty, heavy drinking ("No more credit from the liquor store"), promiscuity / prostitution, and theft. It features a girl who is very good at pleasing the singer in bed, though she takes advantage of his

lust Lust is a psychological force producing intense desire for something, or circumstance while already having a significant amount of the desired object. Lust can take any form such as the lust for sexuality (see libido), money, or power. It ca ...

for her and takes all of his money. It is implied that she is

promiscuous Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by many ...

: "The way she do me boy, she might do you too." She takes advantage of the singer's friends as well, such as the mentioned "Potato head Bobby" (which references the main character in another Zappa song, "San Ber'dino") and George Duke with the lyrics "Took George's watch like they always do. (It was a Timex too!)"

Solos

In the Bongo Fury version, Denny Walley's slide guitar solo is followed by Beefheart's sinuous harmonica licks and a lengthy Zappa guitar solo. The simple structure of the song allowed a lot of

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

, so a solo from almost any instrument would fit in well. One solo was named " Jim and Tammy's Upper Room" and was put on Zappa's 1988

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instr ...

album ''

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

''.

Original personnel

– guitar, backing vocals *

– harmonica, backing vocals, madness *

– vocals, saxophone *

– keyboards, vocals *

Denny Walley Denny Walley is an American guitarist who was born in Pennsylvania 4 February 1943. He is known for working with Frank Zappa in the 1970s and '80s. Career Denny Walley spent much of his childhood in New York City before his family moved to La ...

– slide guitar * Tom Fowler – bass *

Terry Bozzio Terry John Bozzio (born December 27, 1950) is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Pers ...

– drums *

Bruce Fowler Bruce Lambourne Fowler (born July 10, 1947) is an American trombonist and composer. He played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart and in the Fowler Brothers Band. He composes and arranges music for movies, a ...

– trombone

References

{{authority control Songs about prostitutes Frank Zappa songs 1975 songs Songs written by Frank Zappa Captain Beefheart Song recordings produced by Frank Zappa