Jewish Princess (song)

"Jewish Princess" is a song by Frank Zappa, released on his 1979 album Sheik Yerbouti. The song is about a man looking for a "nasty little Jewish Princess" with "long phony nails", "a garlic aroma", "titanic tits", and "sand-blasted zits".[1] It attracted attention from the Anti-Defamation League, to which Zappa denied an apology, arguing: "Unlike the unicorn, such creatures do exist — and deserve to be 'commemorated' with their own special opus". He said that the ADL's concerns were "as if to say there is no such thing as a Jewish Princess. Like I invented this?"[2]

Biographer Barry Miles wrote that the ADL asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to ban the record from being played on the air – a symbolic effort given that the song was not being played anyway.[3] This led to the rumor that a legal action had been filed against Zappa, an accusation Zappa denied.[4]

Zappa said that offensive songs such as "Jewish Princess" are why Sheik Yerbouti became one of his best selling albums of all time.[5] The song was rarely performed in concert. It was later included on his posthumous compilation Have I Offended Someone? (1997).[1]