{{For|the ancient road system|Inca road system}} {{Infobox song| | name = Inca Roads | cover = | alt = | type = Song | artist = Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention | album = One Size Fits All | released = 1975 | format = | recorded = August 27 & September 22 or 23, 1974<ref>{{cite book |last=Ulrich |first=Charles |date=May 13, 2018 |title=The Big Note: A Guide to the Recordings of Frank Zappa |publisher=New Star Books |isbn=978-1-554201-46-4}}</ref> | studio = | venue = | genre = {{hlist|Progressive rock<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/one-size-fits-all-mw0000202351|title=One Size Fits All - Frank Zappa, The Mothers of Invention {{!}} Songs, Reviews, Credits|last=Couture|first=François|website=AllMusic|access-date=June 17, 2019}}</ref>|jazz fusion<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/jazzrockhistory00nich|url-access=registration|title=Jazz Rock: A History|last=Nicholson|first=Stuart|date=1998|publisher=Schirmer Books|isbn=978-0-02864-679-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/jazzrockhistory00nich/page/263 263]}}</ref>|art rock<ref name="Lowe2007">{{cite book|author=Kelly Fisher Lowe|title=The Words and Music of Frank Zappa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uAYfqgGf4yYC&pg=PA119|year=2007|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=978-0-8032-6005-4|pages=119–120}}</ref>}} | length = 8:45 | label = DiscReet | writer = Frank Zappa | producer = Frank Zappa }}
"'''Inca Roads'''" is the opening track of the Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention 1975 album, ''One Size Fits All''. The song features unusual time signatures, lyrics and vocals. The marimba-playing of Zappa's percussionist Ruth Underwood is featured prominently. The song was played in concert from 1970<ref>{{Cite web |title=1970 December 16 Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium |url=https://www.afka.net/Scrapbook/1970-12-16_Brussels_Belgium.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528235347/https://www.afka.net/Scrapbook/1970-12-16_Brussels_Belgium.htm |archive-date=28 May 2022 |access-date=29 May 2022 |website=Zappa Books}}</ref> to 1976, and in 1979 and 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/song/inca-roads-mt0010977420|title=Inca Roads - The Mothers of Invention, Frank Zappa {{!}} Song Info|last=Couture|first=François|website=AllMusic|access-date=March 14, 2016}}</ref>
==Themes== Inca Roads is based on Erich von Däniken’s book “Chariots of the Gods?”, published in 1968 in which he proposes the theory that the Nazca Lines, in Peru, were used as a landing strip for aliens, In the spoken introduction to Inca Roads (separately tracked as “Carved in the Rock”), performed on 9 December 1973 and released on the album “Roxy by Proxy” in 2014, Zappa states...
“Now, some of you might have read a book called Chariots of the Gods?, by Erich Von Däniken, and there's a little thing in there, it's a picture of this area in the Andes called the plains of Nazca, ladies and gentlemen. And, uh, there's these carvings on the top of the rock that you don't know what they're supposed to be for. It doesn't look like it would have been a road, because it doesn't go anywhere, and there's a bunch of 'em, and some people think, well maybe it was a landing field. But the carvings are very, very old and they're very, very big, you know, indicating that the people who made them were highly, uh, well, they were, heh heh . . . They really had their shit together for the things that carved in the rock. And it's possible that if they were landing fields, that the things that landed on them were NOT OF THIS EARTH. And so we have a song, which features the lovely voice of Mr. George Duke, and the name of this song is "Inca Roads." Take it away, George” <ref>https://wiki.killuglyradio.com/wiki/%22Carved_In_The_Rock%22</ref>
"Inca Roads" for the most part explores the stereotypes of aliens encountering the Incan civilization. These themes, like the album cover of ''One Size Fits All'' seem to parody the spirituality of many progressive rock albums around the same era. The lyrics "Did a vehicle come from somewhere out there, just to land in the Andes? Was it round and did it have a motor or was it something different?" imply that a UFO is landing in the Andes Mountains. As the song progresses, the lyrics become sillier and seem to mock the beginning of the song. An example of this is "...or did someone build a place or leave a space for Chester's thing to land (Chester's thing... on Ruth). Did a booger-bear come from somewhere out there..." The non-serious nature of these lyrics and even the music itself seem to be mocking other progressive rock bands and their possibly forced divine depth.<ref name="Lowe2007"/>
==Song structure==
"Inca Roads" uses mixed meter. The time signatures include {{music|time|2|4}}, {{music|time|3|4}}, {{music|time|4|4}}, {{music|time|5|4}}, {{music|time|6|4}}, {{music|time|3|8}}, {{music|time|7|8}}, {{music|time|3|16}}, {{music|time|5|16}}, {{music|time|7|16}}, {{music|time|11|16}}, and possibly others.{{citation needed|date=October 2018}}
The song starts with dominant vocals, drums, and marimba, but soon features a guitar solo performed by Zappa in late September 1974 at a live performance in Helsinki, Finland. An edited version of this solo recording (and part of the bass and drums accompaniment) was "grafted" onto a performance of the song from August 27, 1974 at KCET in Los Angeles. This combination of performances forms the backbone of the album version from ''One Size Fits All''. Later, George Duke plays an equally complex solo in {{music|time|7|16}}. In the video of the KCET performance, entitled ''A Token of His Extreme'', Zappa is seen smiling gleefully as Duke plays his solo, as he plays the backup chords. After a short marimba solo, "Inca Roads" reprises its snappy intro. The song ends with the lyrics "On Ruth, on Ruth, that's Ruth!", acknowledging Underwood for her leading on the marimba.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zappateers.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=11387&sid=4bb4ca88239160d6f15e91eb8472a6f9|title=Time signatures|website=www.zappateers.com|access-date=June 17, 2019|archive-date=July 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714225119/http://www.zappateers.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=11387&sid=4bb4ca88239160d6f15e91eb8472a6f9|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In an interview vocalist and keyboard player George Duke said that Zappa pushed for him to sing on "Inca Roads" and that beforehand Duke had no intentions of singing professionally and was only there to play keyboards. He went on to explain how Zappa had bought him a synthesizer (an instrument which Duke had disliked) and told him he could play around with it if he wanted. This led to Duke playing the synth part on "Inca Roads" as well.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.twoputttommy.com/2012/12/05/zappadan-2012-day-2-george-duke-and-inca-roads/|title=Zappadan 2012, Day 2: George Duke and Inca Roads|date=December 5, 2012|website=Two Putty Tommy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308042009/https://www.twoputttommy.com/2012/12/05/zappadan-2012-day-2-george-duke-and-inca-roads/|archive-date=March 8, 2016|access-date=March 14, 2016}}</ref>
==The skip== Many early US vinyl LP copies of ''One Size Fits All'' contain a skip at 4:40 into ''Inca Roads'' just after the end of the guitar solo from Helsinki.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}} These are marked "KENDUN A" in the runout grooves. The defect should have been caught during the test pressing stage. Defective copies were later recalled. The complex nature of the music makes it difficult to recognize the error without comparing to the correct version.
==Legacy== In 2018, ''Prog'' magazine named "Inca Roads" at hundredth position in their list "The 100 Greatest Prog Songs Of All Time."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-100-greatest-prog-anthems-of-all-time|title=The 100 Greatest Prog Songs Of All Time|date=March 26, 2018|website=Prog Magazine|access-date=June 17, 2019}}</ref>
==Personnel== *Frank Zappa – guitar, backing vocals *George Duke – lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizer *Napoleon Murphy Brock – flute, tenor saxophone, backing vocals *Tom Fowler – bass *Chester Thompson – drums *Ruth Underwood – vibes, marimba, percussion
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Frank Zappa}}
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Category:Frank Zappa songs Category:Songs about roads Category:Songs about Indigenous peoples of the Americas Category:Songs about extraterrestrial life Category:Songs about South America Category:Songs written by Frank Zappa Category:1975 songs Category:Song recordings produced by Frank Zappa Category:Music based on books Category:Adaptations of works by Erich von Däniken Category:Works about Indigenous peoples of South America