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".
Along with his own compositions, Zevon recorded or performed occasional covers, including 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.
He was born to a Russian Jewish father and a Mormon mother and soon moved to California. At the age of 12/13, Warren Zevon was a regular visitor to the home of Igor Stravinsky where he, along with Robert Craft, would study music.
He turned to a musical career early, including a stretch as part of a Sonny and Cher-type male/female duo called Lyme and Cybelle, and spent time as a session musician (notably as piano player for the Everly Brothers) and jingle composer. He wrote several songs for his White Whale label-mates the Turtles, though his participation in their recording is unknown. Another early composition ("She Quit Me") was included in the soundtrack for Midnight Cowboy, released in 1969. His first attempt at a solo album, Wanted Dead or Alive (1969), did not fare well, and his second effort, Leaf in the Wind, was scrapped (though release was considered just prior to his death). In the early 70s he toured regularly with the Everly Brothers as keyboard player and band leader/musical coordinator. His dissatisfaction with his career and the opportunities for a song-writer led him to move to Spain briefly, where he played in a small bar owned by a former mercenary. Together, they penned Zevon's classic "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner."
In the mid-70s he moved to Los Angeles, and became associated with the then-burgeoning West coast music scene, including collaborations with Jackson Browne, who would produce and promote Zevon's self-titled major-label debut in 1976, The Eagles, who appeared on that first album, and Linda Ronstadt, who would record several early Zevon songs including a hit version of "Poor Poor Pitiful Me". Zevon's first tour in 1977 included guest appearances in the middle of Jackson Browne concerts.
In 1978 Zevon released his breakthrough album, Excitable Boy, to critical acclaim and popular success. Several tracks from this album received heavy FM airplay and the single release "Werewolves of London", which featured a relatively lighthearted version of Zevon's signature macabre outlook, was a top-ten hit.
For the next 20 years Zevon would continue to record and release albums sporadically and with varying levels of success, while fighting personal demons including an acknowledged battle with alcoholism and drugs. (His fourth album, Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School is dedicated to novelist Ross Macdonald, who crucially assisted Zevon during a particularly difficult episode in 1979.) Apparently success did not treat Zevon well, as evidenced by his movements (living on Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square, etc.), well-documented stints in rehab, and withdrawal from the spotlight. After the release of The Envoy in 1982, Zevon effectively quit his career as a full-time occupation, appearing rarely and usually solo, without a band. He also collaborated with several members of R.E.M. to record as the Hindu Love Gods in 1990, though initial collaboration occurred during his "lost period" in 1984.
In 1987 Zevon made a comeback with a modest hit album Sentimental Hygiene, which featured collaborations with Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and members of R.E.M., among others including long-time collaborators Jorge Calderone and Waddy Wachtel. The follow-up album, Transverse City in 1989 also featured guests, including Jerry Garcia and David Gilmour. The tradition of collaborations with more famous musical talents was consistent throughout his career, from the appearance of Jackson Browne and The Eagles on his first album, to Bruce Springsteen on his last.
Zevon toured the US regularly during the 90s, often alone, with minimal accompaniment. He did conduct a tour with Odds, a band from Vancouver, Canada. Many tours started in Colorado to allow Warren an opportunity to visit with his long-time friend, Hunter S. Thompson. Warren was close to several prominent writers who also collaborated on song-writing, including Carl Hiassen. He also served as musical coordinator for an ad-hoc group called the Rock Bottom Remainders, a collection of writers performing rock and roll standards at book fairs and other events. This group included Stephen King, Dave Barry, and other popular writers.
In interviews, Zevon described a lifelong phobia of doctors and seldom received medical assessment. In 2002, after a long period of untreated illness and pain, Zevon was encouraged by his dentist to see a doctor; when he did so he was diagnosed with inoperable mesothelioma (a form of lung cancer associated with exposure to asbestos rather than smoking). He then began recording his final album, The Wind, with guest appearances from close friends including Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Timothy B. Schmit, Joe Walsh, David Lindley, Billy Bob Thornton, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty and others.
On October 30, 2002, Zevon was featured on the Late Show with David Letterman as the only guest for the entire hour. Zevon performed several songs and spoke at length about his illness. Zevon was a frequent guest and occasional substitute bandleader on Letterman's television shows since Late Night first aired in 1982. It was this show where Zevon offered his insight on facing death: "enjoy every sandwich."
Zevon previously stated that his illness was expected to be terminal within months after the diagnosis in the Fall of 2002; however he lived to see the birth of twin grandsons in June of 2003 and the release of The Wind on August 28, 2003. When his diagnosis became public, he told the media that he just hoped to live long enough to see the next James Bond movie, a goal he also accomplished. Appropriately, the film was called Die Another Day.
Zevon died at his home in Los Angeles, California, on September 7, 2003. The Wind was certified gold by the RIAA in December of 2003 and Zevon received 5 posthumous Grammy nominations, including Song Of The Year for "Keep Me In Your Heart".
A tribute album titled Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren Zevon was released October 19, 2004. His son, Jordan Zevon, did a large part of the work on the album and performed "Studebaker," a previously unreleased composition. A second tribute album, titled Hurry Home Early: the Songs of Warren Zevon (the lyrics "hurry home early" are from the song "Boom Boom Mancini," on Sentimental Hygiene) was released by Wampus Multimedia on July 8, 2005.
On February 14, 2006, VH1 Classic premiered a video from a new compilation, "Reconsider Me: The Love Songs of Warren Zevon." The video, titled "She's Too Good For Me," aired every hour on the hour throughout the day. The video was not well received among many of Zevon's fans, as evidenced by their responses on the official Bulletin Board.
Transverse City
Warren Zevon Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
There's a place for you and me
We'll go down to Transverse City
Life is cheap, and Death is free
Past the condensation silos
Past the all-night trauma stand
We'll be there before tomorrow
Show us endless neon vistas
Castles made of laser lights
Take us to the shopping sector
In the vortex of the night
Past the shiny, mylar towers
Past the ravaged tenements
To a place we can't remember
For a time we won't forget
Here's the hum of desperation
Here's the test tube mating call
Here's the latest carbon cycle
Here's the clergy of the mall
Here's the song of shear and torsion
Here's the bloodbath magazine
Here's the harvest of contusions
Here's the narcoleptic dream
Told my little Pollyanna
Here's a place where we can stay
We have come to see tomorrow
We have given up today
Down among the dancing quanta
Everything exists at once
Up above in Transverse City
Every weekend lasts for months
Here's the hum of desperation
Here's the test tube mating call
Here's the latest carbon cycle
Here's the clergy of the mall
Here's the witness and the victim
Here's the relatives' remains
Here's the well-known double helix
Here's the poisoned waves of grain
Here's the song of shear and torsion
Here's the bloodbath magazine
Here's the harvest of contusions
Here's the narcoleptic dream
Here's the hum of desperation
In Transverse City, Warren Zevon depicts a dystopian, futuristic city where everything is out of control. The song is addressed to his “little Pollyanna” with whom he is embarked in a desperate attempt to escape the chaos of the present reality. Transverse City is portrayed as a place where life is cheap, and death is free, a city where excess is the norm, and people are trapped in a vortex of consumerism and artificiality.
The lyrics are full of imagery that conveys the idea of a city that has gone beyond the tipping point. The neon lights, the mylar towers, and the shopping sectors are all crowded with people who seem to be lost, disoriented, and constantly searching for something that they can’t find. The “hum of desperation” and the “test tube mating call” are the only things that seem to offer some form of guidance, but they’re also a reminder of the emptiness of the world that surrounds them.
It’s a bleak view of the future, where people are overwhelmed by the technology and the hyperactivity of the city. However, there’s also a feeling of escapism, as if Zevon and Pollyanna were embarking on an adventure, a journey that would take them to some unknown destination beyond the horizon.
Line by Line Meaning
Told my little Pollyanna
I told my optimistic companion Pollyanna
There's a place for you and me
We can find a place for ourselves somewhere
We'll go down to Transverse City
Let's go to this mysterious city called Transverse City
Life is cheap, and Death is free
Living comes at a low cost and dying is effortless
Past the condensation silos
As we travel, we'll see large structures where water collects
Past the all-night trauma stand
We will pass an establishment that attends to people's injuries at any hour
We'll be there before tomorrow
We'll arrive at our destination before the arrival of the next day
Pollyanna, take my hand
Pollyanna, grab my hand tightly
Show us endless neon vistas
Reveal to us limitless colorful views created by fluorescent lights
Castles made of laser lights
We'll observe majestic buildings constructed of light beams
Take us to the shopping sector
Guide us to the zone where people buy goods
In the vortex of the night
Within a whirlwind of darkness
Past the shiny, mylar towers
We'll bypass the gleaming structures made of polyester film
Past the ravaged tenements
We'll leave behind the tormented and suffering apartment buildings
To a place we can't remember
To somewhere that neither of us can recall
For a time we won't forget
We'll have an unforgettable experience whilst there
Here's the hum of desperation
This is the sound of people feeling hopeless and despondent
Here's the test tube mating call
This is a synthetic animal breeding sound
Here's the latest carbon cycle
Here's the recent process of carbon circulation
Here's the clergy of the mall
These are the religious leaders of the shopping centers
Here's the song of shear and torsion
Here's the sound of objects splitting and twisting
Here's the bloodbath magazine
Here's a publication of violent and gory content
Here's the harvest of contusions
Here's the collection of bruises or injuries
Here's the narcoleptic dream
This is a dream-like state due to a sleep disorder
Here's a place where we can stay
This is a place we can remain for a prolonged period
We have come to see tomorrow
Our purpose in coming here is to witness the future
We have given up today
We've abandoned the present
Down among the dancing quanta
We'll be amidst the moving units of energy
Everything exists at once
All things coexist simultaneously
Up above in Transverse City
High up above in the city of Transverse
Every weekend lasts for months
Weekends feel as if they're extended for months at a time
Here's the witness and the victim
Here are the observer and the sufferer
Here's the relatives' remains
Here are the familial remains of the deceased
Here's the well-known double helix
Here is the widely known symbol of the structure of DNA
Here's the poisoned waves of grain
Here are the contaminated crops
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: STEFAN ARNGRIM, WARREN ZEVON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind