Talk:Let's Make the Water Turn Black

Whizzing and pasting...
Since I can't cite any references for the schoolboy slang of the period, I didn't bother to edit the article extensively but, based on my own first hand research (memory), and a little logical extrapolation, I'd like to attempt to clear up a couple of points.

The term 'numies' (or 'pneumies' as I've always understood the spelling) does not specifically refer to the nasal mucous extracted through the nostril, (aka, 'boogers' and 'snot'), but rather the mucous which is brought up from the lungs and/or larynx and expectorated through the mouth, (as a person suffering from pneumonia might do), which is known as 'spitting' or, (as noted in the lyric as well as in my memory), 'pasting' (especially when the expectorant is directed at a target of some sort). These pneumies are often produced up by an action known as 'hacking', 'hawking' or 'hocking' and, while FZ may have coined the term 'pneumies', the act is quite well known to little boys of all ages. In my children's day, the 'hocking' of 'loogies' or 'lugies' was quite a common activity, even among older (teenage) children, as popularized by the television show, "Beavis & Butthead".

Other slang terms for these bodily secretions are 'greenie' (as in dysentery green) and 'lunger' (hack (cough) up a lunger). As for the saving of pneumies, my own older brother used to do the same thing (he was also an early Zappa fan). He went through a short phase (c. late sixties) during which he thought it quite 'cool' to paste a window in our bedroom with his own greenies (he called it 'modern art').

As to the title, my take has always been that it refers to the 'whizzing and pasting' as well. First, a little background info: Where I grew up, in mid-Michigan (Saginaw River Valley), the topsoil is a very fine, dark black silt, formerly deposited by annual flooding, over a clay-loam base. When it rains, the water often collects on the surface and stays there for some time, rather than immediately draining into the compacted clay below. The puddles left behind will sometimes have a fine covering of this black silt over the bottom surface, beneath very clear water, and any disturbance of the puddle stirs up the black dirt from the bottom. A favorite pastime back then, (we didn't have a whole lot of toys), was to drop pebbles or other small objects into the puddles and observe the swirling, black, smoke-like patterns in the clear water, (often pretending to drop 'bombs' to create little 'explosions'), until eventually the water would become too clouded to see through anymore, at which we'd move on to another puddle. Sooner or later, this game would become boring, so sometimes little boys might improvise different ways to 'make the water turn black', including 'whizzing and pasting' into the puddle to create the effect. This sort of activity is what I associated with the title back then, when I was a mere child myself, (the album came out when I was in my twelfth year), as I still do today when I hear the song, not being aware until now of the raisinjack connection. This interpretation is further reinforced (in my mind) by references to 'flashing', 'thunder', 'bomber' and even 'dynamite', as well as waiting for the fire to turn green, as the drainage is so poor that the puddles often stand above ground long enough for algae to develop, turning the water (smoke/fire imagery?) green.

I hope this has clarified the article somewhat, as well as the spelling, (which I am changing), however, I welcome any further scholarly discussion of the matter.

Terry Yager (talk) 17:30, 10 March 2012 (UTC)


 * In his autobiography "The Real Frank Zappa Book," Frank relates this true story. You claim to have "cleared up a couple of points," but most of what you've written here is speculation, and simply wrong. According to Zappa himself, the "wait 'til the fire turns green" lyric is about the act of lighting one's farts. I don't know if you've ever seen anyone do this. I have, and the flame is primarily green in color. Sd31263 (talk) 19:59, 8 November 2022 (UTC)


 * That's what the article already says. The comment you are replying to is a decade old. Doctorhawkes (talk) 09:47, 9 November 2022 (UTC)

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