As Dom Passantino pointed out, “Zevon came with more killer openings than Bobby Fischer.” Though the lyrics were co-written by a late-period whiskey (and coke and acid)-addled Hunter S. Thompson, it’s hard to argue with the efficacy of “You met her in a Turkish town/but you didn’t want to bring her here/You didn’t want her hanging around in the Kingdom of Fear/So you left her there.”The Ramada Room organs are as kitschy and soft as shag carpeting, and the lyrics mordant and perennially wicked. Were there are a Passion of the Weiss Hall of Fame, Warren Z. would be first-ballot–the only me-decade guitar troubadour who understood that you’re nobody till somebody kills you.
The only thing Zevon could’ve done to impress me more was cold-cock James Taylor or scam the Eagles on some bunk cocaine, but no one’s perfect.
Download:
MP3: Warren Zevon-“You’re a Whole Different Person When You’re Scared”
