Page type: lyric reference
Artist: Frank Zappa
Canonical path: /frank-zappa/brown-shoes-don-t-make-it
Related lyric paths: 6
Video embedded: yes
Lyric guide
Brown Shoes Don't Make It
Read Brown Shoes Don't Make It lyrics by Frank Zappa on LyroVerse, with linked artist context and related song paths.
person
Curated by Ethan Walker
LyroVerse team
Reference snapshot
The page facts to cite before the commentary
Use this page for the lyric text, linked artist context, and any LyroVerse editor's note attached to the song. Listener comments remain user-generated and should not be treated as the primary source.
Lyrics
Brown Shoes Don't Make It
The lyric stays readable and compact here; the note and related paths sit nearby so you do not lose the song while looking for context.
Brown shoes don't make it
Brown shoes don't make it
Quit school, why fake it?
Brown shoes don't make it?
TV dinner by the pool
Watch your brother grow a beard
Got another year of school
You're OK, he's *too weird*
Be a plumber He's a bummer
He's a bummer every summer
Be a loyal plastic robot
For a world that doesn't care
Smile at every *ugly*
Shine on your shoes and cut your hair
Be a jerk and go to work Be a jerk and go to work
Be a jerk and go to work Be a jerk and go to work
Do your job, and do it right
Life's a ball! (TV tonight!)
Do you love it, do you hate it?
There it is, the way you made it (WOOOooow)
A world of secret hungers,
Perverting the men who make your laws
Every desire is hidden away,
In drawer, in a desk,
By a Naughahyde chair
On a rug where they walk and drool
Past the girls in the office
You see in the back, of the cynical mind
The dream of a girl about thirteen
Off with her clothes and into a bed,
Where she tickles his fancy all night long
His wife's attending an orchid show
She squealed for a week to get him to go
But back in the bed his teenage Queen
Is rocking and rolling and acting obscene
Baby! Baby! Baby! Baby!
And he loves it! He loves it! It curls up his toes!
She bites his fat neck, And it lights up his nose,
But he cannot be fooled, Old *City Hall Fred,*
She's nasty, she's nasty, She digs it in bed!
Do it again, and do it some more!
That does it, by golly, it's nasty for sure!
Nasty-nasty-nasty! Nasty-nasty-nasty!
*(Only thirteen, and she knows how to NASTY)*
She's a dirty young mind. Corrupted, corroded...
Well she's thirteen today, And I hear she gets loaded
If she were my daughter I'd...
*What would you do, Daddy?*
If she were my daughter I'd...
*What would you do, Daddy?*
If she were my daughter I'd...
*What would you do, Daddy?*
Smother my daughter in chocolate syrup,
And strap her on again, *Oh baby!*
Smother that girl in chocolate syrup,
And strap her on again!
She's a *Teenage Baby,* and she turns me on,
I'd like to make Her do a *nasty*
On the White House Lawn!
Going to smother that daughter in chocolate syrup,
And boogie till the cows come home!
Time to go home, Madge is on the phone
Gotta meet the *Guerneys* And a dozen gray attorneys
TV dinner by the pool I'm so glad I finished school
Life is such a ball I run the world from City Hall
Quick answers
What this page can answer fast
Who performs "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"?
Frank Zappa performs "Brown Shoes Don't Make It", and this lyric page sits inside the Frank Zappa catalog on LyroVerse.
Are there related songs to explore after "Brown Shoes Don't Make It"?
Yes. The related section below points to Dong Work For Yuda and St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast with a short reason for opening each page next.
Where can I find more songs by Frank Zappa?
Use the artist link near the top of the page or the related paths section below to keep moving through Frank Zappa's lyric pages.
Song Room
Open Song Room
Interpretations, questions, and corrections for this song
Interpretations, questions, memories, and correction notes live together here. The room stays noindex while the best insights are reviewed.
Listener comments
What people are saying
No listener comments on Brown Shoes Don't Make It yet.
A strong comment here is specific: the phrase you keep hearing, the mood you come back for, or the reason this song stays in rotation.
Sign in to post the first listener note. Reporting stays open to everyone.