Zevon’s lyrics for Mohammed’s Radio seem hauntingly relevant in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, as he warns, “Everybody’s restless and they’ve got no place to go.” His complex song about angst and despair, which was produced by Jackson Browne for Zevon’s self-titled album from 1976, was about being preyed on by law enforcement, at a time when people were struggling to survive in a depressed economy. I started it, and he finished it.” The song appeared on 1978’s Excitable Boy album. “I passed out, because I don’t drink like that, but he kept going. Browne later said that he could not keep up with Zevon’s fearsome drinking. It is somehow typically Zevon that the song was composed after a wild, drunken night in which he pulled the banister off the stairwell in his house.
which was co-written with Jackson Browne. Though Zevon was renowned for his black humour and savage wit, some of Warren Zevon’s best songs proved he was also capable of writing delicate songs about love, including Tenderness On The Block, a moving coming-of-age song about a young girl’s first love. Listen to Warren Zevon’s greatest tracks here, and check out our best Warren Zevon songs, below. Here, then, are our 20 best Warren Zevon songs. Though Zevon said he found life “hard and baffling”, his insights and observations have inspired music fans and musicians alike. His friend and collaborator Bruce Springsteen said Zevon wrote beautifully about “the good, the bad and the ugly”, and described him as “a moralist in cynic’s clothing”.ĭeath and dying were among Zevon’s favourite topics, and the musician was only 56 when his life ended as a result of lung cancer, on 7 September 2003. Though Zevon was noted for his unsettling humour and satirical songs, there is also a vulnerability and longing in his finest ballads which is genuinely touching. His lasting legacy is not his wild life, though as the best Warren Zevon songs prove, it is as one of the most gifted songwriters in modern music. Born on 24 January 1947, he came to embody the dark side of the music industry’s drinking and drug excesses in the 70s. Jukebox Tags 'til tuesday Aimee Mann Alison Moyet Ashley Hutchings Billboard Bob Mould Boo Hewerdine Bruce Cockburn Christine Collister Clive Gregson Dan Fogelberg David Bowie Debut Albums Dick Gaughan Dolly Parton Eddi Reader Eliza Carthy Ellis Paul Elton John Elvis Costello Emmylou Harris Eurythmics Everything But the Girl Fairport Convention Gordon Lightfoot Jethro Tull John Cale John Martyn John Tams John Wesley Harding Joni Mitchell June Tabor Kami Thompson Kate and Anna McGarrigle Kathryn Williams Kirsty MacColl Lal Waterson Leonard Cohen Linda Thompson Lou Reed Madonna Martin Carthy Nanci Griffith Neil Finn Neko Case Nick Drake Norma Waterson Number One Albums Number One Songs Oliver Knight One Hit Wonder Orchestral Manoeuvres In the Dark Oysterband Patty Larkin Peter Blegvad Peter Gabriel Queen R.E.M.Warren Zevon was a restless, sardonic genius. He offers a pretty straight Zevon approach, with nice extra crunch added by the harmonies and lead guitar of Bonnie Raitt.
Longtime Zevon friend Jackson Browne, who produced the original recording, offered his interpretation on the Zevon tribute disc Enjoy Every Sandwich. Terri Clark took her version, adapted from Ronstadt’s reading, into the Country Top 5 in 1996 somehow her chipper approach works. Įnjoy this wonderful song by its writer and a clever interpreter.īONUS: For a dark, somewhat twisted tune, Poor, Poor Pitiful Me has had a remarkable number of cover versions.
(She even kept the blender reference!) Ronstadt turned in a delightfully gritty performance, a standout in her catalog and a rare Top 40 hit for writer Zevon. She reversed the genders of the characters and toned down the verse that implies an S&M relationship, but otherwise stayed true to the spirit of the song. She recorded a surprisingly effective version of the song for her #1 album Simple Dreams. Linda Ronstadt was an early admirer of Zevon’s writing, introduced to her by mutual friend Jackson Browne. It also features one of the best bizarre similes of all time, comparing a woman who mistreats him to both Jesse James and a Waring blender. Witty, bitter, and funny, it’s classic Zevon.
Warren zevon poor poor pitiful me lyrics series#
The narrator recounts a series of mistakes, mishaps, and romantic missteps, lamenting the tragic impact of women on his life. It’s one of the earliest examples of his wry, dark storytelling. Warren Zevon wrote and recorded Poor, Poor Pitiful Me for his eponymous 1976 album. Today’s song is a surprisingly durable tale of woe.
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