Here’s Where “It’s the Blimp, Frank. It’s the Blimp!” Comes From

You hear it every day on WBLM. It's one of our signature sounds that make us, us! If you were not a WBLM listener and you came to Maine and heard it, you would have NO idea what was going on. A weird voice on the radio yelling, " It's the blimp, it's the blimp, Frank. It's the blimp." Somewhere along the line in our storied past, the Blimp became our infamous moniker. B-L-M...BLIMP. It makes sense, kinda.  And from then on you heard' "It's the Blimp, Frank. It's the Blimp. But where does that classic line come from?

The answer comes from one of the strangest songs you'll ever hear. Captain Beefheart is the (rather eclectic) artist of the song. It was produced by Frank Zappa (thus the "Frank" in It's the blimp, Frank.")  in1969.  Give it a listen. Be forewarned...it's kooky.

Did you hear it? Crazy, huh. Here's a breakdown of the lyrics for ya:

Master, master, this is recorded through a fly's ear
And you have to have a fly's eye to see it
It's the thing that's gonna make Captain Beefheart
And his magic band fat
Frank, it's the big hit
It's the blimp, it's the blimp, Frank, it's the blimp
When I see you floatin' down the gutter, I'll give you a bottle of wine
Put me on the white hook back in the fat rack, Shad-rach-ee-shack
The somethin' hoop, the somethin' hoop, the blimp, the blimp
The drazy hoops, the drazy hoops
They're camp, they're camp, tits, tits, the blimp, the blimp
The mothership, the mothership
The brothers hid under their hood
From the blimp, the blimp
Children, stop your nursin' unless you're renderin' fun
The mothership, the mothership's the one
The blimp, the blimp
The tape's, a trip, it's a trailin' tail
It's traipsin' along behind the blimp, the blimp
The nose has a crimp
The nose is the blimp, the blimp
It blows the air, the snoot isn't fair
Look up in the sky, there's a dirigible there
The drazy hoops whir
You can see them just as they were, all the people stir
And the girls' knees trembles
And run and wave their hands
And run their hands over the blimp, the blimp
Daughter, don't you dare
Oh, momma, who cares?
It's the blimp, it's the blimp

Wow. Don't worry, we have no idea what it all means either. Thanks to that early Blimp DJ crew from back in the Litchfield trailer days of the 1970s for findint it and setting the rock and roll Blimp aloft. We stand on your legendary shoulders to this day!