Trouble Every Day (song)

"Trouble Every Day"
Single by the Mothers of Invention
from the album Freak Out!
A-side	"Who Are the Brain Police?"
Released	1966 (1966)
Recorded	March 9, 1966
Genre	Blues rock [1] talking blues [2] proto hip-hop [1]
Length	5:50
Label	Verve
Songwriter	Frank Zappa
Producer	Tom Wilson
The Mothers of Invention singles chronology
"How Could I Be Such Fool?" (1966) "Trouble Every Day" (1966) "Big Leg Emma" (1967)

"Trouble Every Day" (labeled in early prints as "Trouble Comin' Every Day") is a song by the Mothers of Invention, released on their 1966 debut album Freak Out! . Written in the aftermath of the 1965 Watts riots, the song is an early example of Frank Zappa's explicit social commentary, addressing racial violence, economic inequality, police brutality and media sensationalism. ^{[3] [4]}

Background and composition

Frank Zappa wrote the song in 1965 at 1819 Bellevue Avenue in Echo Park, Los Angeles, the residence of a methamphetamine chemist Zappa referred to as “Wild Bill the Mannequin-Fucker.” ^[5] He composed the lyrics while watching continuous televised news coverage of the Watts Riots. ^[6] Originally dubbed "The Watts Riot Song", ^[6] the piece reflects Zappa’s anger toward systemic racism, the conditions behind the unrest, and the way mainstream news transformed tragedy into spectacle. ^{[7] [8]}

Musically, the track features multiple guitar tracks and a prominent harmonica, grounded in a slow blues groove rather than mainstream rock. ^[9]

Producer Tom Wilson of MGM Records signed the Mothers to a record deal on March 1, 1966, having heard only this track and assuming they were a “white blues band.” ^[10] The song was released as a single with “Who Are the Brain Police?” as the A-side. ^[11]

A rearranged, up-tempo version appeared on the live albums Roxy & Elsewhere (1974) and The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life (1991). ^[12]

Interpretation and lyrical themes

The lyrics document Zappa’s response to the Watts riots, confronting poverty, racial injustice, police violence, and the voyeuristic tone of television journalism. Zappa portrays news broadcasters as exploiting social unrest while refusing to address its causes. ^[13] This critical stance situates the song within 1960s protest culture, though its tone is more cynical and confrontational than the era’s folk-protest tradition. ^[14]

Musical analysis and proto–hip-hop legacy

Researchers have highlighted Zappa's rapid, rhythmically organized spoken delivery as an early precursor to rap. Musicologist Kelly Fisher Lowe describes the vocal phrasing as "journalistic, percussive, almost entirely spoken—closer to rap than to rock singing." ^[15] Doyle Greene similarly emphasizes the song's structural resemblance to later political rap, identifying it as a proto-hip-hop moment in American rock music. ^[1]

The integration of spoken-word social reportage with a stripped-down blues vamp has been cited as anticipating the work of Gil Scott-Heron, the Last Poets, and other early figures in hip-hop's lineage. ^[1]

Covers

The UK underground artist Mick Farren covered the song on Vampires Stole My Lunch Money (1978). A live version with Farren and Wayne Kramer appears on Human Garbage (1984). Australian stoner rock band Tumbleweed released a cover as a B-side on their 1993 single “Daddy Long Legs.” ^[16]

George Thorogood recorded the song for his 1997 album Rockin' My Life Away . In 2019 Louisa Roach of She Drew The Gun rewrote the lyrics in reference to contemporary UK riots, releasing the version with approval from the Zappa estate. ^[17]

The Specials covered the track on their 2021 album Protest Songs 1924–2012.

Other references

French filmmaker Claire Denis named her 2001 film Trouble Every Day after the song. The Frank Zappa tribute band Trouble Every Day also takes its name from the track. ^[18]

Notes

1. Greene 2016, p. 86.
2. New Society 1968, p. 609
3. Lowe, pp. 33–35.
4. Slaven, p. 51.
5. Zappa, p. 71
6. Slaven, p. 51
7. Lowe, pp. 33–35.
8. Revolt of the Fat Angel: American musicians respond to the British invaders. Pop Chronicles. John Gilliland. 1969.
9. Lowe, Kelly Fisher (October 2007). The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. U of Nebraska Press. pp. 33–35. ISBN   978-0803260054.
10. Zappa (1968)
11. Strong, p. 1241
12. Lowe, Kelly Fisher (October 2007). The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. U of Nebraska Press. p. 10. ISBN   978-0803260054.
13. Lowe, pp. 33–35.
14. Slaven, p. 51.
15. Lowe, pp. 33–35.
16. "Daddy Long Legs/Junior/Trouble Every Day". Zappafrenzy.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2016. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
17. "Trouble Every Day EP". Rough Trade. Retrieved September 14, 2019.
18. Slaven, p. 329

Bibliography

• Greene, Doyle (2016). Rock, Counterculture and the Avant-Garde, 1966-1970: How the Beatles, Frank Zappa and the Velvet Underground Defined an Era. McFarland. ISBN   978-1-4766-6214-5.
• New Society. New Society Limited. 1968.
• Revolt of the Fat Angel: American musicians respond to the British invaders. Pop Chronicles. John Gilliland. 1969.
• Lowe, Kelly Fisher (2006). The Words and Music of Frank Zappa. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   978-0-275-98779-4.
• Slaven, Neil (2003). Electric Don Quixote: The Definitive Story of Frank Zappa. Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-7119-9436-2.
• Strong, Charles Martin (2006). The Essential Rock Discography (Edition 8). Open City Books. ISBN   978-1-84195-860-6.
• Zappa, Frank (June 1968). "The Incredible History Of The Mothers". Hit Parader. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
• Zappa, Frank; Occiogrosso, Peter (1989). The Real Frank Zappa Book . Poseidon Press. ISBN   978-0-671-63870-2.