u/SeventhWalkinDude

There are some curiosities about this song. On a first listen it comes across as some trollish nursery rhyme he wrote on acid followed by some freaky tape loops. Self-indulgent nonsense, nothing to see here.

But it's a little bit mysterious why he put it through a few edits, was apparently pleased with it and wanted to release it either on an album or a single with You Know My Name (Look Up the Number).

So I was curious about what he saw in it, whether he intended it as more than gibberish. Well, it occurred to me that it's very odd that Mary Jane is married to Yeti, who is grooving kooky spaghetti, and she taste like Mongolian lamb. Could there be some kind of sci-fi theme? Surely not.

Well, some websites have the lyrics:

>She looks as an African queen,
She eating twelve chapattis and cream,
She tastes as Mongolian lamb,
She coming from out of Bahran.

Actually it's "She coming from Aldebaran". That's unmistakably what he says in the vocals.

This makes a HUGE difference in the interpretation because Aldebaran is a distant star.

This unmistakably gives the song a sci-fi flavour.

"Pain at the party" now starts to look very unsettling. Sure enough, in take 4, "pain at the party" is followed by a weird-ass sci-fi sound effect.

Then Yoko is faintly screaming "What a shame!" in the background, sounding like she's inside something.

John's voice goes sinister after he says, "All together now!".

There is even more going on. Overall, far too much care has be given to this song, for it to be just some random stream of consciousness.

It's not really "music" so what does he like about it? I think he likes that it has a bizarro sci-fi theme, that it hints at weird events happening to Mary Jane. This is only "song" they did that does anything like this, so it is unique, very cool, and I can now see why he was pleased with it and wanted to release it to the public.

I'm trying to get into Zappa's music; I really admire much of what I've heard, but on too many occasions the experience is marred by Zappa's vocals.

He puts on what sounds like he's trying like a deep, sexy voice ... and being straight, I'm quite unmoved. I even find it off-putting. Almost always I prefer his music without the vocals.

It almost sounds like a parody. Like, the Beatles do a sexy voice in You Know My Name (Look Up the Number), but they are joking whereas Zappa appears to be serious because it occurs in a big percentage of his songs.

I think he's an excellent composer when it comes to the sounds, but he seems to lack emotional intelligence, doesn't read the room effectively. I agree with most of his criticisms of society, from what I have heard him say; I'm not using his unconventional opinions as evidence.

Another thing I find off-putting about him, is that he appears to have a bit of a superiority complex and sense of his own infallibility. He makes questionable artistic decisions, like the one I mentioned, so I don't find him to be infallible. He comes across as very bitter about his own lack of mainstream success. But one big reason for his lack of mainstream success, seems to be his personality. Creative success isn't as simple as you pull off some complex technical feat, therefore you expect to be hailed by the public as a great artist. There is a lot more going on and it is not as simple as "people are dumb". I mean, they are, but there are other things going on too.

I got into John's solo music this year. I think every one of his albums is a masterpiece. Even Sometime in New York City. (Some people don't like political songs, but I think it is an entirely valid musical genre. Also, Qué pasa New York?)

But I get really sad listening to the later stuff and thinking about what could have been. He had a strong sense of his identity by that time, perhaps for the first time ever. He was obviously enjoying the music and he was full of projects. He got his confidence back after finding his way back at sea – an event which inspired "Borrowed Time". He was talking about making the disco style of "Walking on Thin Ice" the new musical direction for him and Ono. I think if he had lived we would have had some incredibly pioneering music, maybe a new disco-like genre that doesn't exist now. Michael Jackson might be the closest equivalent to what Lennon was intending since "Thriller" is reminiscent of "Walking on Thin Ice". But Lennon's music was layered with meaning in a way that Jackson's never was.

I think if John with his caustic personality but deep sense of humanity, had survived to the age of social media and woke identity politics, you would have had one of the most powerful and public critiques of identarian therapy speak ideology from the left. Lennon had such fame and such a knack with words, it could have even been a political game changer and maybe the Democratic Party would have gone in a different direction. Maybe the fascist backlash doesn't happen.

I mean, I think this stuff is not just possible but likely if he had survived. John was the rare type of genius that would never get washed up, but he would always reinvent himself and become relevant again.