Warren Zevon- 1947-2003

I've been a fan of Warren Zevon for years, thanks to my Father, Jack "Spacely" Tsikitas. My first exposure to him was in the form a cassette tape of his integral album, Excitable Boy. I remember hearing songs like the titular song, "Werewolves of London" and "Nighttime in the Switching Yard" and remember liking them for their funny lyrics and catchy riffs. As a kid, you don't appreciate great things, but who was an 8-year-old listening to Warren Zevon anyway? Also as a kid, my parents had the album Sentimental Hygiene on vinyl. This was great too with some even sillier songs like "The Factory" and "Leave My Monkey Alone." The innocence of those days made his music accesible to me since he was a genius at writing hilarious songs. Most of which had more meaning than my mind ever could understand, but I still knew it was great.
As I got older, I rememberd the music I loved and went back to this album and rediscovered the greatness of Warren. I went back to Excitable Boy first and found new songs that reflected more adult themes, like love and stuff. These songs, like "Accidentaly Like a Martyr" were much more meaningful to me than "Werewolves of London", but lets be honest, "Werewolves" is brilliant.
I delved deeper into his catalouge and found works like his self-titled album. Which is far superior to anything he has ever done since, although his albums after were great as well. When I first heard a song like "Hasten Down the Wind" or his masterpiece "Desperados Under The Eaves", I finally realized the brilliance that is Warren. I was moved by these songs that no song had ever done to me before and on a level of greatness that many of you humble readers don't know because, WZ is probably one of the most underappreciated rock and roll singer/songwriters of all time.
Why do all of this so many years after his death? Don't know. I wrote a song for WZ at one point that I would like my new musical project to take up. It's the best lyrics I ever wrote but they never went anywhere with Noringo. It's called "Play On, Desperado" and I really put a lot into it. I wrote it after I listened to his final, poingant and beautiful album The Wind (his best work since his Warren Zevon.) The song "Keep Me In Your Heart" made me weep a bit. I didn't know the man, but I knew his music and I knew this song was so personal that his family has a great gift in listening to this song and feeling good that their beloved man can be remembered in such a glorious way.
So do yourself a favor. Go and pick up some Warren Zevon and discover his greatness. It's pretty simple stuff, but its some of the best stuff you'll ever hear.