Mo yama

[bertanya]

Here's the words for mo yama, which i think is on the subject of finding the balance between going out into the world, and staying safely away from the world, when both are minefields of anguish.

And here's the arf notes, which interestingly suggest that it is autobiographical.

I kinda think the last lines offer a warning regarding the consequences of taking a wrong course of action, to both the outside world, and the safe world too, before finishing this pandora's box of a song with what seems to be a note of hope.

bertanya

Fact of the day:
Managua is the capital of nicaragua.

[Bob Again]

bert,

Thanks for this post.  The best part of reading these forums is rediscovering old favorites and learning more about them as if for the first time.  (If only I could meet a woman like one of Frank's songs...but I digress.)  I hadn't listened to this for years!

[Bob Again]

...as I listen to this again (again), I am reminded of the little hole I used to live in at the time, a tiny little studio apartment full of welfare folks and some students for balance.  Gawd, what an awful place.  Complete lack of privacy - the sounds of domestic disputes, rage, frustration, despair and otherwise petty disagreements - a soundtrack for the United Nations, to be sure...

...add to this the sounds of the newly acquired vinyl Sheik Yerbouti played over an outstanding STEREO worth two years' rent drowning out all other ambient sound...

...maybe you should stay with yo' mama...

...oh, how my neighbors despised my taste in music!  Those were the days...

[guacamole]

If this song was about Tommy Mars (real surname Mariano),
was his family from Managua?

I read somewhere that Tommy Mars was quite into jazz noodling and that FZ went berserk at him during rehearsals for doing this sort of stuff. I think FZ was reported to have said something along the lines of "I don't pay you guys to have a jam-session"

So perhaps that's where the pyjamas connection comes in
(po-jama people - the boring musos from the wazoo period who would rather play chess or read a book than go out and have some fun).

[Lonesome Cowboy Squirt]

was his family from Managua?

With a name like Mariano, I'd say he's another great Italian!  If I read correctly, it looks like his family from the Hartford, Connecticut area.

where the pyjamas connection comes in

I interpreted that part as FZ being condescending, offering his own form of motherly advice.  A mother of invention doesn't sugar coat anything.

...as I listen to this again (again), I am reminded of...

Nice anecdote.  I really enjoy reading those kind of stories.

I kinda think the last lines offer a warning regarding the consequences of taking a wrong course of action, to both the outside world, and the safe world too, before finishing this pandora's box of a song with what seems to be a note of hope.

Astute observation, Bertanya.  Seems to me you hit the nail on the head.

Managua is the capital of Nicaragua.

Do you think there is some connection to Manuel Noriega?

[guacamole]

Ben Watson (oh lawdy!, yes, for it is he!) asserts on p362 of NDOPP that "Yo Mama (is) a song dedicated to a road manger who did not make the grade".
Now, he doesn't name this road manger, but in his opinion it seems fairly clear that it was not Mr Mars.

As for Mr Noriega, wasn't it a bit early ('78-'79) ?

[Lonesome Cowboy Squirt]

As for Mr Noriega, wasn't it a bit early ('78-'79) ?

Oh, yes, I guess I overlooked that.

[MentalTossFlycoon]

Managua is the capital of Nicaragua.

Do you think there is some connection to Manuel Noriega?

Noriega was El Presidente de Panama...

In the 1970s, there was a big stink about pajamas that were made of hideously flammable materials, and how parents shouldn't buy them. I figure this is likely where Frank got the idea for that line.

As for Managua, it's the only word I can think of that even comes close to rhyming "pajamas," so it may be as simple as that. Of course, I'm no Ben Watson.....

[Lonesome Cowboy Squirt]

Noriega was El Presidente de Panama...

Aw, poop!  I blew that one!  I mixed him up with Ferdinand Marcos.  That's who I was on about.  Is everybody happy?  Oh, never mind...

Anyway, thanks for the info about the pyjamas.  I distinctly recall as a kid having "flame retardant" pyjamas.  "Stop, drop and roll" was a popular phrase going around those days.

[bertanya]

Aw, poop!  I blew that one!  I mixed him up with Ferdinand Marcos.  

er, Ferdinand Marcos was the president of the Phillipines.  

Fact of the day:
Phillipines was conquered by america in 1902, and ruled as a colonial power for over 40 years, 'comparatively benevolently'.

[Chris]

Then the Beatles snubbed the Queen, who was robbing her people blind, and the rest is history.

(At least, I think it's history of some sort...that country's still around somewhere, isn't it?)

[MentalTossFlycoon]

Then the Beatles snubbed the Queen, who was robbing her people blind, and the rest is history.

(At least, I think it's history of some sort...that country's still around somewhere, isn't it?)

And Ferdinand Marcos tried to bully the Beatles, which ultimately went a long way toward their decision to stop touring (the Beatles Anthology tells quite a bit about their harrowing adventures in the Phillipines)...

Isn't conceptual continuity great?

[Lonesome Cowboy Squirt]

er, Ferdinand Marcos was the president of the Phillipines.  

Or was it Idi Amin?  Pol Pot?  Genghis Khan?  (BTW, Bertanya, I love how tactful you can be!)

Isn't conceptual continuity great?

Yes, and it's great how just a little misinformation can stir up enough folks to state solid facts, especially ones you don't expect.  Hehehe...Thanks, guys.

Okay, in 1979 Daniel Ortega and the left-wing Sandinistas assumed office and started warring against U.S. backed rebels.  He stayed in power for a little while, but lost to the right in following elections.  I was wondering if anyone thought maybe Managua line in "Yo Mama" had any implication toward the claim that Communism is a failure.  Consider the line "if you play the game, you will get beat."  Are we talking the game of Monopoly?  Maybe the person in question had leftish ideals and didn't fit in with the American scheme, and perhaps going back to his mama would be a better alternative.

Or maybe I'm just blowing smoke out my ass.....  

[guacamole]

Just togently redirect the matter back to the subject - hope I'm not making a Billy out of Roy Estrada here -
I think the music is the most striking thing about Yo Mama;
those towering keyboards, the excoriating filth of the guitar the crescendo, excuse my tmesis, absofuckinlutely wonderful !