Genre: Rock Year: 2003 Country: USA Official Site: Warren Zevon Details: Tracks & Audio Label: Artemis Records
In his final release before his death due to cancer, Warren Zevon connects emotionally with his listeners for a heartbreaking record that leads us to a window with a view to the heart of man looking at death straight in the eye. Terrible, but what better way to go than to throw a party and invite your friends to share in what makes you happiest? And when your friends are people like Don Henley, Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris and Tom Petty, how can you go wrong?
The excellent "Dirty Life And Times" perfectly sums up the life of a man who recognizes that he's been given extra time on this earth given his lifestyle choices. And when you have Don Henley on drums, Ry Cooder on guitar and Dwight Yoakam and Billy Bob Thornton as your background vocalists you know you're lucky your ticket hasn't expired yet. His cover of "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" is a the perfect choice, a macabre but brilliant wink at the cemetery, featuring Tommy Shaw from Styx.
But it's not all about death. Love figures prominently in all of its permutations: lost, greatest and enduring. The congas on "She's Too Good For Me" punctuate the awareness in letting a love go: "Trust me when I tell you/I'm not good enough for her". As a man who recognizes both the love of his life and the woman who stayed with him until the end, he pays homage to those who have meant the most to him in his life. On "El Amor De Mi Vida" the one that got away has her moment: "I look outside/I know you're there/And you've found a brand new life somewhere/I only wish it had been us/But I'm happy for your happiness." Fittingly, the record ends on "Keep Me In Your Heart", an endearment to his last love and to his fans. "Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house/Maybe you'll think of me and smile/ You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on your blouse/Keep me in your heart for awhile."
But if you know you're going to die, you might as well celebrate. On "The Rest of the Night" Tom Petty joins him at the party. And the lovely Emmylou Harris appears on "Please Stay" to remind us of the reality that those we love will not be here forever. "Will you stay with me to the end?/When there's nothing left/But you and me and the wind."
Warren Zevon The Wind
