"Sofa" is a composition by American musician

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 ...

, released in 1975 on ''

One Size Fits All "One size fits all" is a description for a product that would fit in all instances. The term has been extended to mean one style or procedure would fit in all related applications. It is an alternative for "Not everyone fits the mold." "Tool ta ...

''. In 1993, the year of Zappa's death,

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

covered "Sofa" for Zappa's

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

'' Zappa's Universe''. The cover won a

Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance was an honor presented to recording artists for quality instrumental rock performances at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958, and ended after the 2011 award, and or ...

in 1994. This was Vai's first of three Grammies.

Appearances

Originally, "Sofa" was only performed in concert and was part of a longer composition around the Flo and Eddie era of Zappa's music, when

Mark Volman Mark Randall Volman (born April 19, 1947) is an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with his bandmate and friend Howard Kaylan, a member of the 1970s rock ...

pretended to be a sofa. In 1975, Sofa made its first album appearance on Frank Zappa's album ''

'' as an instrumental version and a vocal version ("Sofa No. 1" and "Sofa No. 2"). There is a huge sofa in the center of the album cover for ''One Size Fits All'', and the album's initials, "OSFA", can be re-arranged to spell "SOFA". In the same year, "Sofa No. 2" was released as a single in Germany and referred to as "''Du bist mein Sofa''". The same track as "Sofa No. 1", now only titled "Sofa", appeared on the 1976 live album '' Zappa in New York''. On the album ''

You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1 ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1'' is a double disc live album by Frank Zappa released in 1988 (see 1988 in music) on the Rykodisc label. It was the first of a series of six double CDs of live performances spanning Zappa's career. ...

'', "Sofa #1" contains the vocals and "Sofa #2" is the instrumental. On both ''One Size Fits All'' and ''You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 1'', "Sofa No./#1" is track 3, while "Sofa No./#2" ends each album. It was also referred to as "Divan" on the album ''

Playground Psychotics ''Playground Psychotics'' is a two-CD live album by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. It was originally released in 1992 through his mail order label, Barking Pumpkin, and was re-released in 1995 through Rykodisc. The album features re ...

''. "Sofa" is one of the most referenced Zappa songs throughout his discography.

Lyrics and meaning

The vocal version of "Sofa" contains lyrics in both

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

. According to critics, because it contains German it stood out the most on the album. The English lyrics sing about being various parts of nature (the heavens, the water, the clouds), while the lyrics in German explain how they are "the sofa's chrome dinette" and "all days and all nights". "Sofa" was a result of Zappa's fascination with the German people as he toured in Europe.

Ya Hozna

"Ya Hozna", from the 1984 album ''

Them or Us ''Them or Us'' is the 40th album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in October 1984 by Barking Pumpkin Records. Album content Its opening and closing songs were not written by Zappa: "The Closer You Are", was written by Earl Lewis and M ...

'', includes vocal parts "Sofa No.2" played backwards. It also contains parts of "Lonely Little Girl" (from ''

We're Only in It for the Money ''We're Only in It for the Money'' is the third album by American rock music, rock band the Mothers of Invention, released on March 4, 1968, by Verve Records. As with the band's first two efforts, it is a concept album, and satirizes left-wing po ...

'') and unused material from "

Valley Girl A valley girl is a socioeconomic, linguistic, and youth subcultural stereotype and stock character originating during the 1980s: any materialistic upper-middle-class young woman, associated with unique vocal and California dialect features, f ...

" (from ''

Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch ''Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch'' is the 35th album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in May 1982 and digitally remastered in 1991. It features five tracks composed by Zappa, and one song, "Valley Girl", co-written with ...

'') played backwards.

Single track list

7" A. "Du bist mein Sofa" - 2:38
B. "Stink-Foot" - 4:25

References

{{Frank Zappa 1976 songs Frank Zappa songs Songs written by Frank Zappa Song recordings produced by Frank Zappa Warner Records singles