SONG:
ARTIST: grant. Originally by Warren Zevon.
SOURCE: This is a penitential cover. There’s no specific scientific source, unless the guy who gave us “Lawyers, Guns and Money” and “Werewolves of London” counts as some kind of geek laureate. The original went something like this, and yes, that’s Pink Floyd’s Dave Gilmour on the lead guitar.
ABSTRACT: I wrote a couple notes on this song yonder; it came out at the end of the 80s but had a lasting effect on me. At a time when I was listening to nothing that wasn’t some kind of punk or psychedelia, Zevon kinda snuck in past my defenses. The Replacements might have sounded like a band you could hang out with for a couple hours after a show, but Zevon sounded like a guy you could, like, make up stuff with over a couple drinks. I dunno – it’s impossible to call that thing he had cool, really, because it was so damn geeky, but there it is.
I made up this cover over a few warm beverages. Guest vocals by a special 7-year-old girl, because the only thing creepier than a carcinogen chant leading into a dystopian future is a stark reminder of just who’s going to be stuck living through that future. I was thinking of putting an accordion in there to reach some kind of Iron & Wine singularity (more lo fi! more folk arrangement!), but you know, it didn’t really need more than the acoustic guitar and a banjo (strummed, plucked and thumped) under a stack of voices. I hope they’re separated enough for your listening situation – I monitored the mix on a few different setups, but none of them were really, like, well, you know, decent. Sounded good on my headphones. But now I have this urge to turn off all the music and go watch TV news. You got that right, Warren. Dammit, you got that right.