Warren’s farewell CD was released last week, and I’ve almost worn out my copy of it.
I watched the documentary on VH1, and cried through the whole thing.
I’ve been a fan for years, and it saddens me deeply to know that the world will lose this great musical genius very soon… and at the relatively young age of 55.
While he will leave behind a legacy of music that will endure for generations, I’d still rather lose him to old age instead of terminal lung cancer… I’m going to miss him.
Same here. Mind you, he seems to have beaten it so far. The initial prognosis was a couple of months at best, and he’s outlived it by at least that so far. So, who knows?..
The CD is great. Some of the songs, put in perspective, are heartbreakers, but even if he wasn’t dying, this would stand up to some of his best work, I think.
That’s one nice CD. The VH1 program was sad, but inspiring. I pray for that kind of courage if I’m ever in his fix.
You know how it is guys: You can’t start it like a car. You can’t stop it with a gun.
Dale
A fantastic cd, most definitely!!!
~Larry
I saw that too. Very sad. But he’s made it a year longer then they expected. I haven’t gotten the CD yet.
I remember back in '78 while stationed at Oak Knoll when my roommate and I wore out the Excitable Boy cassette.
One of my ALL-TIME favorite lyric… Here is a piece I wrote (mostly for friends, so excuse some of the personal references… 
) shortly after finding out about Warren’s affliction:
"Sunday morning… I am sitting here listening to I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, a collection of songs by Warren Zevon. By now, those of you who follow music news a bit probably know that Warren was recently diagnosed with inoperable cancer in both lungs. Sadly, the prognosis is bleak: weeks, maybe months.
Warren was the sole guest on one of David Letterman’s shows this past
week, and although he still acts in his own self-deprecating way, you can tell the disease has already done some of its work. Typically, Letterman handled the situation with class, not avoiding the subject of Warren’s impending demise, but not turning it into a circus either. After all, they go back twenty years or so, and Warren filled in for Paul Shaefer (sp.?) as band leader on many occasions. Warren did three songs, and although he is already quite weak, the renditions were poignant and unique (even if somewhat marred by Paul’s over-enthusiasm on backing vocals).
What is it with Warren? Those of you I met at SUNY Purchase will
remember Connie (note: Connie is my wife) introduced me to his music. (I understand he does have a following in Europe, but I was unaware of him until I moved to the States).
The obvious stuff grabs you first: everybody knows “Werewolves of
London”, “Lawyers Guns and Money” and “Excitable Boy”. Wow, a guy who
writes songs about headless mercenaries, serial killers and fashion-plate
werewolves? How cool is that, especially when you are 20 or so? Those are good songs, for sure, but as Letterman pointed out, if they are the only ones you know, you’ve only scratched the surface. They are the ones that make you buy the album, they are the pre-season trailer leading to the main event. You listen to the rest of the record and discover there is an entirely different side to the artist.
When you listen to the compilation, the most striking aspect is contrast.
Contrast between Warren’s in-your-face bravado and his unabashed
romantic side. In one song, he extols the virtues of living the rock’n’roll life, in the next he explains how the same life cost him near everything, and everyone, that he holds dear.
Some will say his dominant side is the dark humor of songs like “Excitable
Boy” and “Mr. Bad Example”. I like to think it is the quiet desperation tinged with hope against all odds of “Accidentally Like A Martyr”, “The French Inhaler”, “Desperadoes Under The Eaves”, “Vera Cruz”, “Searching For A Heart”. I do like both sides, but the one that really gets me every time is the second one. There are a lot of memorable images in Zevon’s songs. David Letterman quoted one, which I think sums up Warren best. It is contained in the last three lines of the chorus in “Searching For A Heart”:
“And I’m searching for a heart
Searching everyone
They say love conquers all
You can’t start it like a car
You can’t stop it with a gun”
They encompass Warren’s sadness and hope all at once.
I went to the record store yesterday because I realized I was missing some vital songs in my collection: I was guilty of having kept only the easy-to-like albums. In the liner notes for the collection, Warren says “Mutineer was intended as a gesture of appreciation and affection to my fans, none of whom bought the album”. That comment stings because it is true. Warren is a lot like Neil Young, I think: you have to work at it hard to be a fan, and when you do, there is ample reward.
Warren went through a period of creative ups and downs and never matched the commercial success the first three or four albums had brought him. Even though he has always been a musician’s favorite, success on a large scale has eluded him, and maybe it is better that way. I remember seeing him at the Bottom Line years ago with Connie and my friend Ed, and almost getting into an argument with young investment bankers who were drunk and loud: clearly, they were only there for “Werewolves of London” … The undeniable highlight of the evening, however, was a solo version of the yet unrecorded “Reconsider Me” , an absolute killer of a song in that setting. Unfortunately, the studio version did not do it justice. Warren, in the next few weeks, while
you spend time putting as many things down on tape as possible, you might reconsider that song and record a solo version…
So, with everything that goes on in the world these days, why get upset over the sickness of a musician? There are obvious reasons: Warren is a buddy from younger years, “the good old days”… But that’s too easy… Today, music, like everything else, has more to do with marketing and promotion than with talent. Anyone who gives Warren’s songs a try knows there is much talent there: from the musical arrangements to the cleverness of the lyrics, this is the real thing. The latest album (My Ride Is Here) is very strong, exploring yet other musical styles and subject matters. Tomorrow’s another day. When Letterman asked Warren how the news of his illness had impacted on his daily life, his answer was: “I have learned how to enjoy every sandwich…” This is as good advice as any. To it I would add that those of you not familiar with Warren’s work should take a trip to the record store and pick up a few albums. You’ll be doing yourself a favor.
Patrick
11/3/2002"
That was very touchng, Patrick… thanks for sharing it with us.
Just heard Warren Zevon died yesterday… What a way to start the week. And I thought last night’s presidential address couldn’t be topped as a downer…
Yeah, I heard the news this morning, too. RIP, Excitable Boy!
Yahoo only ran the story for a few hours. Here’s a link:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030908/ap_on_en_mu/obit_zevon_7
Clipped from the Yahoo article.
“Zevon, 56, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer a year ago and was only expected to live about three months, completed his last recording ‘The Wind’ and lived to see it debut at No. 16 on the Billboard album charts – his best record launch in years.”
I saw Warren Zevon drinkin’ a pina-colada at Trader Vic’s…
His hair was NOT perfect! DET!!!
We will certainly keep him in our hearts for awhile!
AHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Grab your coat–let’s get out of here.
A WARREN ZEVON LYRICS SAMPLER
Life’ll kill ya
That’s what I said
Life’ll kill ya
Then you’ll be dead
Life’ll find you
Wherever you go
Requiescat in pace
That’s all she wrote.
-Life’ll Kill Ya
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada
at Trader Vic’s.
His hair was perfect.
–Werewolves of London
I’ve been up all night
Wondering what November’s gonna bring
Worried about my country
And I worry about everything
And I worry when I see my subjects
Bow down to the Worrier King
–Worrier King
She really worked me over good
She was a credit to her gender
She put me through some changes, Lord,
Kinda like a Waring blender.
–Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me
I was gambling in Havana
I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money
Dad, get me out of this
–Lawyers, Guns, & Money
I got a part-time job at my father’s carpet store
Laying tackless stripping and housewives by the score
I loaded up their furniture and took it to Spokane
Auctioned off every last naugahyde divan.
–Mr. Bad Example
Well, I’m gone to Detox Mansion
Way down on Last Breath Farm
I’ve been rakin’ leaves with Liza
Me and Liz clean up the yard
–Detox Mansion
Daddy’s doing Sister Sally
Grandma’s dying of cancer now
The cattle all have brucellosis
We’ll get through somehow
“Sweet Home Alabama”
Play that dead band’s song
Turn these speakers up full blast
Play it all night long.
–Play It All Night Long
Albert Einstein was a lady’s man
While he was working on his universal plan
He was making out like Charlie Sheen
He was a genius.
–Genius
I pray for the power
To turn it around
I’m too old to die young
And too young to die now.
–Bed of Coals
They say love conquers all
You can’t start it like a car,
You can’t stop it with a gun.
–Searching for a Heart
Don’t let us get sick
Don’t let us get old
Don’t let us get stupid, all right?
Just make us be brave
And make us play nice
And let us be together tonight
–Don’t Let Us Get Sick
When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun
Keep me in your heart for awhile
There’s a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done
Keep me in your heart for awhile
–From “The Wind”
We’re his witnesses, he’s our mutineer. Forever.
Also, it strikes me this thread is not all that OT… Warren did play the whistle on several of his songs…
Really??? Which ones???
I knew he occasionally played the flute, but I had no idea he ever played the whistle on any of his songs!
I don’t think there is an instrument that the man couldn’t play, so it doesn’t really surprise me that he played the whistle too… I’ve got to hear it now!
Raindog,
Just this morning, I was playing the album “Life’ll Kill Ya” and he pays piccolo and pennywhistle on a couple of cuts. Last year’s album “My Ride Is Here” had at least two songs with a definite Irish flavor to them. I was going to check the liner notes to see the instruments credits but couldn’t find my CD and I had to give up the search to, of all things, go to work!..
Warren gave me a few lasting memories over the years. Hard to believe such a soulful man came out of Hollywood. Rock on.
My apologies for not being able to remember the name of the Chinese restaurant in Philly that Warren mentioned in “Werewolves of London”, but a long-time Philly rock DJ asked anyone who could make it Tuesday night to stop by the restaurant and have a big plate of beef chow mein to celebrate Warren’s life.
His lyrics were always incomparable.
~Larry