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Send Doctors, Drugs and Money - Occhidiangela - 09-09-2003
'Tis a bittersweet day for the truly politically incorrect: One of our great balladeers, Warren Zevon, lost the fight to Lung Cancer a couple of days ago.
A man with a sick and twisted sense of humor, an eye for absurdity, a knack for putting his finger on things "just so," and a fine sense of pure whimsey went down swinging: he was writing songs full of lyrics that address death with his usual sardonic wit, some released on The Wind, as the end approached. He's been laughing in the face of The Reaper for so long that I wonder if Death knows that the joke's still on Him.
Warren manged to put even our little corner of South Texas into his lyrics (how considerate, given his Southern California professional environs):
I was born down in Corpus Christi
With a dram glass in my hand
When I was just 15,
I got a job playing rhythm
With a Nashville Shaketown band
As I type this, I am listening to "Jeanie Needs a Shooter" a song he put together with Bruce Springsteen for the Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School album. The one time I got to see him live, I'd swear he was half in the bag on whiskey, and he still put on a hell of a show. He can make you laugh, he can make you cry, and he can also, like John Prine, make you go "Ah ha!" (If you can listen to Vera Cruz with out tearing up, you may have a Heart of Stone. )
To sum up with lyrics from one of his catchy little ballads:
"You're s'posed to sit on your ass
And nod at stupid things-
Man, that's hard to do.
But if you don't they'll screw you,
And if you do they'll screw you too!
Now I'm standing in the middle
Of the Diamond all alone
I always fade away
When it comes to skin and bone"
Warren, you will be missed, but I don't think you'll fade, since you've now hit the immortal stride and don't need skin and bone any longer. RIP.
PS: I realize that Warren Zevon may not be a "happening" artist for many in Generations X and Whine, but he is that rare sort of singer-songwriter and folksinger, like John Prine, whose songs are just as good twenty years later as they were the day they were released. Take a listen, sit back and enjoy, and raise a glass in memory of a unique spirit.
PPS: Post title is a parody of a chorus from a song on the Excitable Boy LP: Lawyers, Guns, and Money
Send Doctors, Drugs and Money - [wcip]Angel - 09-09-2003
I liked him.
Admittedly, I was never a big fan of his music. I liked what I heard, but I never bought any of his records.
I first saw him as Paul Schaeffer's stand-in on The Late Show with David Letterman, and thought he was great. I downloaded a few songs (I remembered I liked the one about hockey) which I enjoyed.
His songs were special. They had a certain American typicality to them; at least that was the impression I got from listening to them.
Although I never was a huge fan; I didn't even know he was dying; I will miss him.
Rest in peace, Warren. You were a true musician.
Send Doctors, Drugs and Money - Nicodemus Phaulkon - 09-09-2003
... and my hair is perfect.
To Immortality.
*tips ale*
Send Doctors, Drugs and Money - --Pete - 09-09-2003
Hi,
He was often good, sometimes bad and usually provoking. I first met him when a friend used the "warrior from the Land of the Midnight Sun" to make fun of my sometimes over-militaristic viewpoint.
He'll be missed by those few who still enjoy music with meaning.
--Pete
Send Doctors, Drugs and Money - Rumgut - 09-10-2003
I just happened to be listening to " Accidentally like a martyr " when I ran across this thread. I'm glad he was able to hold on long enough to become a grandfather, and to see the release of his album. He was one of a kind.