1981: Essentially performed as on FZMTMOP, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. In my opinion, this is the highlight of the tour, and the definitive version of this song. Without the annoying distraction of vocals, Zappa cuts right to the chase, digging into the guitar solo almost immediately. With no message delivered by the lyrics, Frank must rely on his guitar to get the message across. The message of bitterness and frustration, underlined with a resilient sense of hope. Frank's view of America is capsulated in this solo- his sense of disappointment and despair in a system gone wrong, balanced by his pride in a country that is America, where he can do the things that he does. Both depressing and uplifting- an almost perfect song.
1982: Essentially performed as on YCDTOSA Volume V, with the standard deviation coming in Frank's solo. While this version is infinitely better than the '84 and '88 versions, the performances from the '81 tour- which were strictly instrumental- still manage to make all other versions pale mightily in comparison. As great as Frank's guitar playing is on this tour, this song became a little too polished this time out, and thus Frank's soloing lost a lot of the edge that it had on the previous tour. I attribute this to the addition of the vocals, which gave the tune a "cute" personality, and caused Frank's passionate guitar playing to lose its sense of bitterness and frustration.
1984: Essentially played as on "Does Humor Belong in Music?", with the standard deviation coming both in Frank's solo and in his vocal asides during the choruses. Like "Drowning Witch", this was another tune that the '84 band did a very good job with, but like DW, Frank also never managed to whip out a truly jaw-dropping, goosebump inducing solo like he quite frequently did on the previous two tours. Quite a shame.
1988: Essentially performed as on DHBIM, allowing for obvious differences in instrumentation, and with the standard deviation coming in the occasional horn solo, and in Frank's solo.
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