"You Are What You Is" lyrics
Straighten up in dat chair and pay ATTENTIUM! People, dis is fo yo' own good! Do YOU know what YOU ARE?
Do you know what you are?
Dat what I ast ya!
You are what you is
You is what you am
And DAT de trufe!
A cow don't make ham
I meant dat now!
You ain't what you're not
Not even hardly...
So see what you got
And you got a lot o' lookin' t'do, junior!
You are what you is
Dat entirely TOO CORRECT!
An' that's all it 'tis
Uh-HUHHHH!
A foolish young man
Bring dat dummy ovuh heah 'n show it to 'em!
Stashed away in SAN QUENTIM
Ate de mys'try potatoes
Told ya 'bout dem 'taters!
EVIL PRINCE was inventin'
Now he talk like de THING-FISH
("Hmmmm, Saffiiiee! ")
An' he look like a MAMMY!
(Manipulating the dummy)
("See de mammy, now! See de mammy, now! ")
His fav'rit CO-LOG-NUMM...
Smell like...
Sister Potato Head Bobby Brown, Sister Ghenghis Adonis Osmosis, Sister Jasmine Noxema Tapioca:
CHITLINS!
Is de one dey call 'SAMMY'!
One-Adam-Twelve... see de mammy...
He finally layin'
Armed 'n dangerous, reproach with cautium!
De whole thang down
'Cept de NIVEA LOTIUM!
Rub it on good, now!
An de ROYAL CROWN!
Take good care o' dat "ASH"!
Do you know what you are?
You's a wimp... she's a shrew!
You are what you is
Got dat?
You is what you am
One-Adam-Twelve, see de mammy agin'!
A cow don't make ham
And it never will...
You ain't what you're not
Unless SCIENCE do somethin' 'bout it!
So see what you got
I KNOW dey woikin' on it...
You are what you is
Underneath VIRGINIA!
An' that's all it 'tis
BOOG-BOOGMMM, Dano... "MAMMY ONE"!
A foolish young man
Of de Negro Persuasion
Devoted his life
To become a caucasian
He stopped eating pork
He stopped eating greens
He traded his dashiki
("Uhuru! ")
For some Jordache Jeans
He learned to play golf
An' he got a good score
Now he says to himself
"I ain't no..."
"NIGNINT!"
"No more!
Hey! Hey! Hey!"
One-Adam-Twelve, see de "NIGNINT" with knife... proceed wif cautium... knife may be open...
BWANA MA-COO-BAH
All Right! Let's go!
MERCEDES BAINNNNNNNZ
Who is who
I don't know
'N what is what
Somethin' I just don't know
'N why is this
Tell me now
Appropriot
That's a funny pronunciation
If'n ever I heard one
If you don't like
Where'd you get that word?
What you has got
Appropriot? The word is not
Drop it in the dirt
Drop it, yeah
'N let it rot
I can smell it now
Someone else
Here de come, here de come
Will surely come
I told you he was comin'
'N pick it up
Yeah, that's right!
'Cause he wants some
An' he wants it for free
And when one day
There will come a day
You wonder who
I wonder too
You used to was
Who I was anyway
'N what you do
I used to work at the post office
You'll scratch your head
But I don't wanna un-do my doo
'N look around
To see what's goin' on
But what you lost
Can't seem to find it
Will not be found
A Mercedes Benz
Do you know what you are?
I know
You are what you is
I'm the kinda guy
You is what you am
That ought to be drivin'
A cow don't make ham
A four-fifty SLC
You ain't what you're not
A big ol' red one
So see what you got
With some golf clubs stickin' out de trunk
You are what you is
I'm gwine down to de links on Saturday mornin'
An' that's all it is
Gimme a five-dollar bill
You are what you is
And an overcoat too
An' that's all it is
Where's my waitress? Yeah
You are what you is
Robbie, take me to Greek Town
An' that's all it is
I'm harder than yer husband
Harder than yer husband
You are what you is
I'm goin' down to White Street, to the Mudd Club, y'all
An' that's all it is
I'm goin' down 'n work the wall
'N work the floor
You are what you is
'N work the pipe
'N work the wall some more
An' that's all it is
Do you know what you are?
Dat what I ast ya!
You are what you is
You is what you am
And DAT de trufe!
A cow don't make ham
I meant dat now!
You ain't what you're not
Not even hardly...
So see what you got
And you got a lot o' lookin' t'do, junior!
You are what you is
Dat entirely TOO CORRECT!
An' that's all it 'tis
Uh-HUHHHH!
A foolish young man
Bring dat dummy ovuh heah 'n show it to 'em!
Stashed away in SAN QUENTIM
Ate de mys'try potatoes
Told ya 'bout dem 'taters!
EVIL PRINCE was inventin'
Now he talk like de THING-FISH
("Hmmmm, Saffiiiee! ")
An' he look like a MAMMY!
(Manipulating the dummy)
("See de mammy, now! See de mammy, now! ")
His fav'rit CO-LOG-NUMM...
Smell like...
Sister Potato Head Bobby Brown, Sister Ghenghis Adonis Osmosis, Sister Jasmine Noxema Tapioca:
CHITLINS!
Is de one dey call 'SAMMY'!
One-Adam-Twelve... see de mammy...
He finally layin'
Armed 'n dangerous, reproach with cautium!
De whole thang down
'Cept de NIVEA LOTIUM!
Rub it on good, now!
An de ROYAL CROWN!
Take good care o' dat "ASH"!
Do you know what you are?
You's a wimp... she's a shrew!
You are what you is
Got dat?
You is what you am
One-Adam-Twelve, see de mammy agin'!
A cow don't make ham
And it never will...
You ain't what you're not
Unless SCIENCE do somethin' 'bout it!
So see what you got
I KNOW dey woikin' on it...
You are what you is
Underneath VIRGINIA!
An' that's all it 'tis
BOOG-BOOGMMM, Dano... "MAMMY ONE"!
A foolish young man
Of de Negro Persuasion
Devoted his life
To become a caucasian
He stopped eating pork
He stopped eating greens
He traded his dashiki
("Uhuru! ")
For some Jordache Jeans
He learned to play golf
An' he got a good score
Now he says to himself
"I ain't no..."
"NIGNINT!"
"No more!
Hey! Hey! Hey!"
One-Adam-Twelve, see de "NIGNINT" with knife... proceed wif cautium... knife may be open...
BWANA MA-COO-BAH
All Right! Let's go!
MERCEDES BAINNNNNNNZ
Who is who
I don't know
'N what is what
Somethin' I just don't know
'N why is this
Tell me now
Appropriot
That's a funny pronunciation
If'n ever I heard one
If you don't like
Where'd you get that word?
What you has got
Appropriot? The word is not
Drop it in the dirt
Drop it, yeah
'N let it rot
I can smell it now
Someone else
Here de come, here de come
Will surely come
I told you he was comin'
'N pick it up
Yeah, that's right!
'Cause he wants some
An' he wants it for free
And when one day
There will come a day
You wonder who
I wonder too
You used to was
Who I was anyway
'N what you do
I used to work at the post office
You'll scratch your head
But I don't wanna un-do my doo
'N look around
To see what's goin' on
But what you lost
Can't seem to find it
Will not be found
A Mercedes Benz
Do you know what you are?
I know
You are what you is
I'm the kinda guy
You is what you am
That ought to be drivin'
A cow don't make ham
A four-fifty SLC
You ain't what you're not
A big ol' red one
So see what you got
With some golf clubs stickin' out de trunk
You are what you is
I'm gwine down to de links on Saturday mornin'
An' that's all it is
Gimme a five-dollar bill
You are what you is
And an overcoat too
An' that's all it is
Where's my waitress? Yeah
You are what you is
Robbie, take me to Greek Town
An' that's all it is
I'm harder than yer husband
Harder than yer husband
You are what you is
I'm goin' down to White Street, to the Mudd Club, y'all
An' that's all it is
I'm goin' down 'n work the wall
'N work the floor
You are what you is
'N work the pipe
'N work the wall some more
An' that's all it is
Writer(s): Frank Zappa
