“I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel
I was staring in my empty coffee cup
I was thinking that the gypsy wasn’t lyin’
All the salty margaritas in Los Angeles
I’m gonna drink 'em up”
Damn.
My Shit’s Fucked Up - Warren Zevon
Well, I went to the doctor
I said, “I’m feeling kind of rough”
He said, “I’ll break it to you, son
Your shit’s fucked up.”
I said, “my shit’s fucked up?”
Well, I don’t see how–"
He said, “The shit that used to work–
It won’t work now.”
I had a dream
Ah, shucks, oh, well
Now it’s all fucked up
It’s shot to hell
Yeah, yeah, my shit’s fucked up
It has to happen to the best of us
The rich folks suffer like the rest of us
It’ll happen to you
That amazing grace
Sort of passed you by
You wake up every day
And you start to cry
Yeah, you want to die
But you just can’t quit
Let me break it on down:
It’s the fucked up shit
A good one checked out. RIP.
Go here for Warren Zevon’s official Web site. Wikipedia’s entry on Zevon is here. For a bio of Zevon and quotes about him by Clint Eastwood, Richard Gere, Jackson Browne and Bruce Springsteen, check this site. There is some interesting trivia about Zevon at the Rolling Stone magazine site. Click here for a list of songs Zevon covered. For lyrics to some of his songs, go here. This guy was respected by his contemporaries, as evidenced by this recent article.
We all knew this was coming, but still…
I met WZ at a concert about ten years ago, so perhaps I’m feeling this personally a little more than I would have otherwise. But maybe not, because his albums have always meant a lot to me.
“There’s a sadness in the heart of things.”
Has anyone seen his most recent release here in Taiwan? A rock critic friend of mine said it’s “not as great as Life’ll Kill Ya, but still boffo.”
I got his last compilation Genius but haven’t seen any of his new work. If you know where I can get anything, let me know.
The guy held on a lot longer than the initial “two months to live” diagnosis his docs gave him a year ago. Rest in peace, Warren. Hopefully you won’t need any lawyers, guns, or money in the afterworld.
Looks like he was wrong:
And when California slides into the ocean
As the mystics and statistics say it will,
I predict this hotel will be standing
Until I pay my bill.
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
The sky was on fire
When I walked to the mill
To take up the slack in the line
I thought of my friends
And the troubles they've had
To keep me from thinking of mine
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
The moon has a face
And it smiles on the lake
And causes the ripples in Time
I'm lucky to be here
With someone I like
Who maketh my spirit to shine
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
From the President of the United States
To the lowliest rock and roll star
The doctor is in and he’ll see you now
He don’t care who you are
Some get the awful, awful diseases
Some get the knife, some get the gun
Some get to die in their sleep
At the age of a hundred and one
Life’ll kill ya
That’s what I said
Life’ll kill ya
Then you’ll be dead
Life’ll find ya
Wherever you go
Requiescat in pace
That’s all she wrote
WZ died of lung cancer at age 56. Great musician but he sure made a lousy decision to be a smoker.
Any lessons to learn?
Smoking kills.
What’s that sound I hear? Is that Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner making his way to Larsen Ni’s house?
Oooh. Did I yank the wrong chain?
Yeah, Roland’s, and he’s gonna “even up the score.”