Nuclear arms in the Middle East
Israel's attacking the Iraqis
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese
And Bagdhad do whatever she please
Looks like another threat to world peace ["The Envoy"]

And on the new record, to a driving beat:

Smokey and the Bandit
And Saddam Hussein
Were staying up late
And acting insane
Along with Russell Crowe
And Hafez Assad
Start taking this down
When I give you the nod

What makes Warren Zevon so valuable in the current cultural climate is that he is willing to gore every ox, slaughter every sacred cow, deflate every pretentious piece of bullshit, but always while smiling. Combined with the personal vulnerability of the love songs--"I can saw a woman in two, but you won't want to look in the box when I'm through"--and you get an artist who is going to stay relevant long after he's gone.

The new record repeats some of the riffs of Life'll Kill Ya, but the artist's ego is further in the background. Zevon collaborates with the poet Paul Muldoon and others on this record. The thing that drives me crazy is that Zevon, with far more self-conscious artisty than Bob Dylan (who seems more and more a weird force of nature arcing across the twentieth century), Zevon has been developing a literary song craft that might have the power to transform the art. Way back at the beginking of his recording career, Zevon wrote,

Carmelita, hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town

I pawned my Smith-Corona
And I went to meet my man
He hangs out down on Alvarado Street
By the Pioneer Chicken stand.

The first hundred times I listened to this song I heard "Smith-Corona" as Smith and Wesson, buying the whole outlaw rock persona. But it wasn't a gun, Jack, it was a fucking typewriter. My Ride's Here feels cool, distant, even quiet. At the same time, it rocks like all hell.

Word has it that Zevon is recording even as he lies sick in bed. He has told the press that he's not going to turn in a maudlin record at this late date. Blake knew, they dance in hell.

I was staying at the Westin
I was playing to a draw
When in walked Charlton Heston
With the Tlets of the Law
He said, "It's still the greatest story"
I said, "Man I'd like to stay
But I'm bound for glory
I'm on my way
My ride's here . . ."