Frank Zappa monument, Vilnius

Who would have expected to find Frank Zappas head on a stick in the middle of Vilnius? This phenomenon begs an explanation. The official version is allegedly something like this:

“When Lithuanians declared independence, Zappa jokingly volunteered to write them a new national anthem. A Lithuanian radio personality got involved in this, but he later died in a helicopter accident. Zappa himself also died shortly after, and somehow the whole thing resulted in this statue. Which is allegedly the only Zappa statue in the world.”

Or so I am told, anyway.





The statue itself is quite nice, and an inexpensive site to visit.



Small nations always find it flattering when international celebrities take an interest in them, and there is also a parallel here to the irrational need of such nations to produce things that are “the only one of its kind in the world”. Manifested in for instance Norways “Worlds biggest cheese slicer” or “Worlds biggest kicksled”. In the Frank Zappa monument these two factors come together perfectly.

 

Some appropriate street art on a wall across the street

 

There is just one problem…it is not the only Zappa monument in the world…there is now also one in Germany. So here Lithuanians should act fast – find a mid-range celebrity that likes Lithuania and give him a statue! On that note…wasn`t Steven Tyler recently in town?