#WARREN ZEVON EXCITABLE BOY MOVIE#

It both fascinated me and creeped me out. I remember the first time I heard the title track for the album вЂњExcitable BoyвЂќ. вЂњHe dug up her grave and built a cage with her bonesвЂ¦вЂќ IвЂ™d be happy to hear what you find in it! ItвЂ™s about enjoying myself in the here and now because I just donвЂ™t know whatвЂ™s hanging around my kitchen doorвЂ¦ What does it mean to you? I canвЂ™t know вЂ“ but I bet you already love the song. ItвЂ™s about embracing that which I fear вЂ“ even seeing it as attractive, with perfect hair and fine clothes. They didnвЂ™t write it that way, it came out that way! As well though, that meaning is right up our alley for this blog.ДЇor me, itвЂ™s about laughing in the face of death. The song was clearly never intended to be *meaningful*, and yet, it is. First, itвЂ™s a perfect illustration of what I was talking about in the introduction. I donвЂ™t include вЂњWerewolvesвЂќ here because of its popularity, but for two other reasons. They had the title, a lick from Roy, and they just let loose. We did it as spontaneously as could be, and look what happened.вЂќ Roy Marinell, Warren, and Waddy Wachtel had equal parts in creating it, and Roy notes: вЂњWerewolvesвЂќ was literally a fifteen-minute song that none of us took seriously. The stories of its creation all jibe among those involved and can be found in detail in WarrenвЂ™s biography. ItвЂ™s become one of the great songs of Rock and Roll. The biggest hit from the album, вЂњWerewolves of LondonвЂќ, was written in fun and would have been lost but for Crystal Zevon recognizing its quality and writing it down. TheyвЂ™re our subject for the rest of this post. Several of them clearly fall within the range of what we talk about in this blog. In 1978 WarrenвЂ™s third album, Excitable Boy, met with great success and many of the songs on it are those his fans will carry with them until they die. It may be in the end that, for us today at least, such is true for the traditional ballads we love as well.

Reflections change like everything and we need songs that speak to us repeating in our lives because we can find the meaning we need in them when we need it. The significance comes from the way the song, lyrics and music as a whole, reflects our own depths, socially and personally. ItвЂ™s possible to access their power without dissecting the lyrics for specific meaning. So I donвЂ™t think itвЂ™s foolish to look for something deeper in these songs, though the tools one needs are not necessarily those that folklorists use with traditional ballads. And many of his oldest songs stayed in his live repertoire throughout his career. But of all the things folks said about Warren Zevon, no one ever said his energy was fake in performance quite the opposite, as I can attest to personally. I suppose one can never go on tour, or fake it on stage to rake in the royalties. The singer-songwriter may not be conscious of whatвЂ™s coming through him or her in the act of creation, but s/he lives with that work of art and recreates it with every performance.

Now, weвЂ™ve seen the same idea with some of the other contemporary artists weвЂ™ve considered in this blog вЂ“ though they say it less humorously вЂ“ вЂThe song came through me, I donвЂ™t know what it means.вЂ™ Indeed, this may convince you that plumbing these contemporary ballads for meaning is a foolвЂ™s errand. And I said, вЂњWhat? WhatвЂ™s so funny?вЂќ He said, вЂњThatвЂ™s exactly how I feel when people ask me what those lyrics mean.вЂќ He said, вЂњYou know, when I write something, IвЂ™m thinking, вЂI wonder what I look like wearing this hat.вЂ™вЂќ

I thought, вЂI hope I look good in this hat.вЂ™вЂќ And Warren burst out laughing, walking around in circles laughing, hysterical. down 30вЂ“40 percent, and I said, вЂњI remember exactly what I was thinking. I always thought wearing a hat knocked my I.Q. I had this fedora, this Borsalino, on, and I had this thing with hats.

вЂњI literally, absolutely did remember what I was thinking. He asked Michael what he was thinking as he was acting at one particular point in that scene.

#WARREN ZEVON EXCITABLE BOY MOVIE#

Warren was talking to actor Michael Ironside about a scene in the movie Jo Jo DancerВ that Warren found particularly intense. Even when he first had a concept about which he wanted to write, it seems the words most often spilled out of him intuitively before he applied his craftsmanвЂ™s tools to edit.ДЄ story from IвЂ™ll Sleep When IвЂ™m DeadВ illustrates the upshot of that. The approach seems to have worked when writing with others as well. ItвЂ™s not clear to me that any of WarrenвЂ™s lyrics have a totally static intentional meaning.ДЄt several points in his biography, IвЂ™ll Sleep When IвЂ™m Dead (well worth the money, and available on Kindle), it *is clear* that Warren often began writing a song fluidly, from his creative center вЂ“ вЂlistening to his museвЂ™ as it were. In our opening post this week on Warren Zevon, I was careful while interpreting the lyrics to point out that the readings were mine.

Warren zevon excitable boy