I can’t think of a better subject for this Father’s Day than Warren Zevon, since he was the perfect example of how not to be a father. I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead is his story, as written by once and future wife Crystal Zevon. It’s an entertaining read about a complex and troubled man, and as you might imagine, it elicites an equally complex reaction, at least in this reader. As interesting as it is, it might have been better as a long article in Rolling Stone. After a while, it becomes “Warren gets fucked up, Warren throws some stuff, Warren hits his wife/girlfriend (sometimes both), Warren embarrasses himself at a gig,” etc., and you can only take so much of that. Nevertheless, it’s an important history of the checkered career of a man many considered a genius and one of the great songwriters of the rock and roll era. It’s a cautionary tale of what happens when someone is put in the position of being able to indulge every whim, where no one around him will ever say no to him. It takes an extraordinarily disciplined person to survive that, and he was certainly not that. I have no use for a man who hits a woman, although Crystal later found out that he was blacked out during those episodes. But hey, whose fault is that? He didn’t magically become blacked-out drunk. One of his colleagues remarked that the only thing he could compare Zevon’s drinking to was the Nicolas Cage character in Leaving Las Vegas. I can’t imagine functioning at all in that state, much less being a creative genius. But, more on this later.
I had lost touch with Zevon’s work sometime in the early eighties, and reading the book prompted me to buy a couple of his CD’s from the mid-nineties. I had no great expectations, figuring, what could he possibly have left at that stage of his life and career? Those expectations were met by Mutineer, a drab, uninspired CD that’s the perfect example of cobbling together songs just to put out some product. Life’ll Kill Ya, however, is a true gem, as good or better than anything he did in the seventies.ÂÂ
His unique harmonic structures and quirky arrangements were the product of an encyclopedic knowledge of music that encompassed everything from Bach to rock, as they used to say. When he was a kid in LA, he got to hang out with Stravinsky, for Christ’s sake. But it was his lyrics for which he was justly renowned, and Life’ll Kill Ya doesn’t disappoint. Every song is filled with lyrical nuggets that produce wonderment at his truly original mind. Even when taking on subjects that had already been done to death, he puts that Zevon spin on them and produces something original. The title song is about the fact that we’re all gonna die. Not exactly an earth-shattering revelation, but in his hands it becomes a whimsical, sardonic masterpiece with wonderful piano chordings. Who else could come up with the phrase, Requiescat in pace, that’s all she wrote? Or, It’s the kingdom of the spiders, it’s the empire of the ants? “Porcelain Monkey” is his take on Elvis, and it’s all you need know about him encapsulated in one song. Not to mention that in the thousands of words that have been produced on the subject, I doubt you’ll find the phrase, eating fried chicken with his regicidal friends.
“Hostage-O,” a song about a (as always) dysfunctional relationship, opens with the lines, I can see me bound and gagged, dragged behind the clownmobile.  Ok…. “For My Next Trick I’ll Need a Volunteer” opens with this stanza:
I can saw a woman in two
But you won’t want to look in the box when I do
I can make love disappear
For my next trick I’ll need a volunteer
I haven’t changed my opinion of guys who hit women, and I don’t think the people in the music business who fought for Warren Zevon, or his friends and acquaintances who enabled his bad behavior did him any favors. But my attitude has softened to the extent that, after listening to the wonderful songs and erudite, deeply considered lyrics on Life’ll Kill Ya, I can at least concede that they saw something in him that was worth saving.
You can dream the American dream
But you sleep with the lights on
And wake up with a scream
You can hope against hope
That nothing will change
Grab a hold of that fistful of rain
a genius? he wrote pop songs, for pete’s sake.
Hit Somebody!
Sorry, first thing I thought of, it’s one of my favorite songs.
a genius? he wrote pop songs, for pete’s sake.
Well yeah, if all you know is Werewolves of London. Which, by the way, has one of the all-time great guitar leads in it.
I like Zevon, too. I’ll give Life’ll Kill Ya a listen.
So the choice in life is to be an sober, dignified, even-tempered man or a drunken, rich (well…) pop singer? That’s no choice to most people, to whom notoriety and fame are everything; humanity nothing.
The shit has hit the fan!
Zevon playing the Life’ll Kill Ya stuff and talking about his impending death on Letterman was truly moving television.
Zevon knew how hard he was to live with, as evidenced in so many of his lyrics. “If You Won’t Leave Me (I’ll Find Someone Who Will)” and “She’s Too Good For Me” spring to mind immediately. Warren was a wild, troubled man who just happened to be a brilliant song writer and performer. RIP.
Well yeah, if all you know is Werewolves of London. Which, by the way, has one of the all-time great guitar leads in it.
all-time great guitar leads? oh my goodness. it does not. it’s a decent and workman-like lead at best. really. who was it? waddy whats-his-name? the child porn guy? haw.
look, i like warren zevon as much as the next guy. and i’ve listened to a bit more than werewolves of london, although it’s been years. but i mean, it’s not art and it’s not genius. it’s pop music and he was a pretentious twit.
Wow, “cochise”, you sure must know your music. What can we hear your work on?
I think “Bring lawyers, guns and money” is a good all purpose thing when trouble strikes.
Zevon was one of those whacked geniuses.
When I lived in Nash-Vegas, I became friends with Townes Van Zandt. Another quirky genius who couldn’t avoid drinking himself to death.
Like Warren, he was one of the funniest, down to earth people I have ever known.
Genius , unfortunately, burns like a super nova. And then flares out the same way.
Not every rock songwriter with an unpleasant voice is a great genius. Zevon certainly wasn’t. And I like him. A lot.
Because I like hilarious failure and hideous garbage. He made tons of total crap — and about ten songs where the shit-heap lined up just right and looked like it was something else.
Those few great songs are not who he was. He was the horrible mess around them, available on many, many, always deeply discounted, utterly embarrassing records that play like Bukowskian parodies of Jimmy Buffett.
Dude was real and showed us a lot of it. That’s enough.
Psycho, that’s the kind of guy he was. As I noted, Mutineer is a total mess. But I think if the word “genius” has any meaning at all, he was one. It didn’t always show in his work, but then I don’t think there’s anyone who’s great all the time. Except maybe Pee-Wee Herman.
Cochise, arguing about music is often useless, but what’s your definition of workmanlike? You don’t have to play a bazillion sixteenth-notes to play a great lead. What you don’t play is just as important, as is tone, noting, and the fit for that particular song. That’s a powerful lead. It grabs you by the throat and demands your attention. And the twin harmony slide up at the end is sweet. Just out of curiosity, what qualifies you to pronounce judgment on Waddy Wachtel? Are you a musician?
My favorite Zevon album is Stand In The Fire. It’s a killer live set made when he was thankfully sober backed by a great band featuring Dave Landau on lead guitar. It also has his best songs and a Bo Diddley raveup at the end. Definately his hardest rocking album.
Here’s a quickie seven song Rhapsody Playlist
of Zevon stuff I happen to like that’s not Lawyers, Guns and Money, Excitable Boy, or Werewolves of London.
Zevon did a longish documentary about his final album, The Wind – it was quite good.
As far as throwing the Genius tag around, I’m not enough of a music snob to care one way or another. I happen to like Zevon’s music quite a lot, in the same way that I like the way that Charles Kuralt wrote. Sure Zevon’s music is “pop” but enough of it is “good pop” as opposed to it being “complete crap” that I find myself listening to Zevon more than, say, U2.
heh.
fwiw, here’s the lyrics to the first song on that playlist – it’s a minute forty three of distilled web-blog commenting.
Bill Lee:
You’re supposed to sit on your ass and nod at stupid things
Man, that’s hard to do
And if you don’t, they’ll screw you
And if you do, they’ll screw you, too
When I’m standing in the middle of the diamond all alone
I always play to win
When it comes to skin and bone
And sometimes I say things I shouldn’t
Like…. {harmonica interlude}
And sometimes I say things I shouldn’t
Like….{ different harmonica interlude}
————————————————————–
in case that link didn’t work:
tinyurl version of the Zevon link
I cannot work out why Warren Zevon (or for that matter Lou Reed) are considered geniuses. Each one has about 2 songs that are even tolerable to listen to, how on earth do you make a career out of that? Yet they are practically revered by people.
The site where I community blog is infested with a couple of terrible BDS sufferers, one of which is William, a guitar ‘Professor’ at nearby MTSU. He’s vile in his leftism, but he does have a nice gig.
I cannot work out why Warren Zevon (or for that matter Lou Reed) are considered geniuses. Each one has about 2 songs that are even tolerable to listen to, how on earth do you make a career out of that? Yet they are practically revered by people.
a: Regarding Lou Reed – I tend to agree, though you probably are underestimating the effect of The Velvet Underground or Nico on overall reputation. “White Light, White Heat” is, in my opinion, a *much* stronger song than “Walk on the Wild Side” Though Lou Reed’s mid-80s quasi hit the Original Wrapper was fun and, is subsequently, revelant. Despite the video featuring a wiener dog.
B: If your experience with Zevon is limited to Lawyers, Guns, and Money and Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, Excitable Boy, and Werewolves of London, then … yeah, Zevon blows to the extent that U2, REM, and just about every damn other band blows by the time you’ve listened to their top songs by the fortieth time. If you can listen to Desperados Under the Eaves or Mohammed’s Radio and say it’s unlistenable, then I’d invite you to not listen to Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion, it’d only bore you.
cheers.
Aaaack. Christopher, you put Lou Reed and Warren Zevon in the same category? Dude.
Lou Reed, I’ve always liked the album Berlin but it’s an acquired taste. Slow and very down.
Some true tenderness on the block.
Yeah. I put them in the same category: guys who can barely sing who are grossly overrated by a small slice of the music community. I don’t think much of Bob Dylan, for that matter.
Chris T, psycho and others are listening with their ears wide shut. Zevon had an extended catalog of excellent, original songs and performances. Try half the songs on The Envoy, Mr Bad Example, the tough and listenable Sentimental Hygiene, the excellent live Learning to Flinch, the LA dystopia of Transverse City, just to cite a few. The man had range, quirk, and even some chops.
Then again, if you don’t get Bob Dylan, maybe this is the wrong universe and you belong someplace else. Please feel free to take Lou Reed with you when you go back home.
I “get” Bob Dylan. I get that he’s revered by ex hippies and can’t sing. I get that he’s grossly overrated with some good songs. I get that he is an icon of the mangy 60s boomer crowd. That’s all there is to “get” about Bob Dylan. You want a great songwriter? Try Mark Knofpler, Tom Petty, try freaking Cole Porter.
I’m with you all the way on Petty and Cole Porter. Mark Knopfler, not so much.
[…] of Warren Zevon, here are a couple of cuts from Life’ll Kill Ya. I wrote about it here. His take on Ebbis from Mebbis, Porcelain Monkey. The title […]
Warren’s best songs, IMO, were ‘Desperadoes Under the Eaves’, ‘Tenderness on the Block’, and ‘Johnny Strikes Up the Band.’ If you doubt Zevon’s creativity and range, I would suggest listening to those tunes. Zevon was a genius, both lyrically and musically. Who else thinks this stuff up:
Don’t the sun look angry through the trees,
Don’t the trees look like crucified thieves
Don’t you feel like desperados under the eaves,
Heaven help the one who leaves
I’m still waking up in the mornings with shaking hands,
And I’m trying to find a girl who understands me
But, except in dreams, you’re never really free,
Don’t the sun look angry at me
Tom Petty? Really? I mean, he’s great for a car ride. But all of his songs are pretty much the same simple guitar chords repeated over and over again.
I can’t believe how many posters here are down on Zevon and/or Bob Dylan. Man, if I could write poetry like they worte/write, I’d have a bunch of books published and be a rich man. Some of you so-called music experts would not know a good song if you heard it.