Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?
People’d call, say, “Beware doll, you’re bound to fall”
You thought they were all kiddin’ you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin’ out
Now you don’t talk so loud
Now you don’t seem so proud
About having to be scrounging for your next meal
How does it feel
How does it feel
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
Radio City Music Hall
New York City, New York 18 January 1992 Taping for Late Night (w/ David Letterman) 10th Anniversary show
All the salty margaritas in Los Angeles
I’m gonna drink ’em upAnd if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill
~Warren Zevon (Desperados Under the Eaves)
Few of rock & roll’s great misanthropes were as talented, as charming, or as committed to their cynicism as Warren Zevon.
~Mark Deming (allmusic.com)
Live in Passaic NJ, 1982 (The Full Concert):
BF: Who are some of your favorite songwriters?
Bob Dylan: Buffett I guess. Lightfoot. Warren Zevon. Randy. John Prine. Guy Clark. Those kinds of writers.
~Bob Dylan (to Huffington Post – May 2009)
We buy books because we believe we’re buying the time to read them
~Warren Zevon
All the salty margaritas in Los Angeles
I’m gonna drink ’em up
–
And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill
~Warren Zevon (Desperados Under the Eaves)
Few of rock & roll’s great misanthropes were as talented, as charming, or as committed to their cynicism as Warren Zevon.
~Mark Deming (allmusic.com)
the classic – Warren Zevon’s last Letterman Appearance:
Lawyers, Guns and Money (from BBC 1994):
Send lawyers, guns and money; the shit has hit the fan.
From Wikipedia:
Birth name
Warren William Zevon
Also known as
Sandy Zevon
Stephen Lyme
Born
January 24, 1947
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died
September 7, 2003 (aged 56)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres
Rock, Country rock, folk rock,Americana, hard rock, piano rock, blues rock
Occupations
Songwriter, musician
Instruments
Vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
Years active
1965–2003
Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician. He was known for the dark and somewhat bizarre sense of humor in his lyrics.
Zevon’s work has often been praised by well-known musicians, including Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young. His best-known compositions include “Werewolves of London”, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”, “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” and “Johnny Strikes Up the Band”, all of which are featured on his third album, Excitable Boy (1978). Other well-known songs written by Zevon have been recorded by other artists, including “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” (a top 40 hit by Linda Ronstadt), “Accidentally Like a Martyr”, “Mohammed’s Radio”, “Carmelita”, and “Hasten Down the Wind”.
BF: Who are some of your favorite songwriters?
Bob Dylan: Buffett I guess. Lightfoot. Warren Zevon. Randy. John Prine. Guy Clark. Those kinds of writers.
~Bob Dylan (to Huffington Post – May 2009)
Hasten Down The Wind:
She’s so many women
He can’t find the one who was his friend
So he’s hanging on to half her heart
He can’t have the restless part
So he tells her to hasten down the wind
~WZ (Hasten down the wind)
Along with his own compositions, Zevon recorded or performed occasional covers, including Allen Toussaint’s A Certain Girl, Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan”. He was a frequent guest on Late Night with David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman. Letterman later performed guest vocals on “Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)” with Paul Shaffer and members of the CBS Orchestra on Warren Zevon’s My Ride’s Here album.
