Warren Zevon RIP

nytimes.com/2003/09/08/obitu … nted=print

“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.”

More:

cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/0 … index.html

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.

:frowning:

         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

members.aol.com/zevonfan1/private/lky.html

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? :slight_smile:

Yeah, Roland’s, and he’s gonna “even up the score.”