Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.

Martin Mull is the probable originator, not a proved first utterer. Quote Investigator traces the exact sentence to Bob Talbert’s quotebag in the Detroit Free Press, 18 February 1979, p. 19C, credited to Mull, and a second Mull credit in Gary Sperrazza’s Sam & Dave profile in Time Barrier Express, September–October 1979, p. 25. A related music/economics comparison is documented from 1918, but is a precursor rather than this wording. The introduction to Chen’s Artist As Genetic Design Flaw, Ecolibrium Interviews no. 19 (1984), transcribed at AFKA, credits the writing/music wording to Zappa; it is editorial framing, not a ZAPPA-labelled answer. QI also documents a talking/music variant credited to Zappa in Kenneth Herman’s Los Angeles Times article of 18 June 1985. These show attribution by 1984, not the date it began or proof that Zappa coined it. QI reports Costello’s March 2008 disclaimer and credit to Mull, and Johnston’s July 2010 report of Mull’s confirmation through an art dealer. Mull’s 1995 borrowed-story framing and the indirect confirmation leave coinage uncertain. The historical periodicals, Mull’s book and original confirmation were not independently inspected; those steps remain secondary. Chen’s published transcription was read directly. The Dallas 1980, Bloom 1980, Marshall 1988 and Sheff 1993 English interview transcriptions were also checked; none supplies a recorded utterance of this sentence. This is not an exhaustive search of Zappa’s writings or recordings.

1. 9 February 1918Before itH. K. M., ‘The Unseen World’, compares writing about music to singing about economics; it does not yet use dancing or architecture.H. K. M., ‘The Unseen World’, The New Republic, 9 February 1918, vol. 14, p. 63, p. 63. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
2. 18 February 1979Earliest found · credited to Martin MullBob Talbert’s quotebag prints the exact sentence as a remark by comedian-musician Martin Mull; this is QI’s earliest exact match, not a demonstrated first utterance.Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.Bob Talbert’s quotebag, Detroit Free Press, 18 February 1979, p. 19C, column 5. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
3. September 1979Spread · credited to Martin MullGary Sperrazza repeats the comparison with an explicit credit to Mull in a profile of Sam & Dave; the issue is dated September–October, not to a particular day.Gary Sperrazza, ‘Looka Here! It’s Sam & Dave!’, Time Barrier Express, September–October 1979, issue 26, vol. 3, no. 6, p. 25, column 1. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
4. 1984Credited to Frank ZappaThe editorial introduction to Chen’s interview credits the writing/music comparison to Zappa; it is not one of his labelled interview answers, and no month or day is established.Chen, ‘Artist As Genetic Design Flaw’, Ecolibrium Interviews, no. 19 (1984); transcription reproduced by AFKA. Checked in the text of a page scan, not the image. Source
5. 18 June 1985Credited to Frank ZappaKenneth Herman’s Los Angeles Times article uses a talking/music variant as an epigraph credited to Zappa.Kenneth Herman, ‘Indian Raga is Joined by a Latin Beat’, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 1985, SD_D1. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
6. 1995RewordedMull’s art book gives a talking-about-art variant as a story he had heard about a painting instructor, complicating a categorical claim of his coinage.Martin Mull, Martin Mull: Paintings, Drawings, and Words (Boston: Journey Editions, 1995), p. 7. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
7. March 2008Credited to Martin MullElvis Costello denies having coined the maxim and says he thinks Mull coined it.Elvis Costello interview, Q, ‘50 Years of Great British Music’ special issue, March 2008, p. 67. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source
8. 17 July 2010Credited to Martin MullMike Johnston reports that Mull confirmed authorship through his art dealer; this is an indirect report, not an interview with Mull examined in this run.Mike Johnston, The Online Photographer, post dated 17 July 2010 about the origin of the maxim, as reported by Quote Investigator. Checked on another researcher’s citation, not seen first-hand. Source

A widely circulated joke about the difficulty or futility of describing music in words, credited to Zappa as well as to Elvis Costello, Laurie Anderson, Steve Martin, and others. The earliest exact wording located by Quote Investigator is a February 1979 newspaper item explicitly crediting comedian and musician Martin Mull. This is an attribution history, not a documented scene of Zappa saying the line.

Describing an art in an unlike medium can seem unable to convey the experience of the art itself.

Published articles credit Zappa with the line by 1984, so it is too strong to say that he was never associated with it in print. Those credits do not establish coinage: the documented Mull credits are earlier. Mull remains the probable, not conclusively proved, originator.

Art

• A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back again when it begins to rain. (not found) Robert Frost
• There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about. Oscar Wilde
• Golf is a good walk spoiled. (not found) Mark Twain
• Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world. (misattributed) Marilyn Monroe
• All the good music’s already been written by people with wigs and stuff on.

• quoteinvestigator.com/2010/11/08/writing-about-music
• afka.net/Articles/1984-00_Ecolibrium_Interviews.htm

“Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” Attributed to Frank Zappa. No. Often credited to Frank Zappa, but Martin Mull is the probable originator: printed Mull credits date to 1979, while a Zappa credit is documented by 1984. The first utterance remains unconfirmed. Quotogeny, https://quotogeny.com/q/writing-about-music-is-like-dancing-about-architecture/ (checked 24 October 2026).

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