Mutineer (1995) – Warren Zevon

I know Lawyers, Guns and Money and Werewolves of London gets all the plaudits and deservedly so – they are unforgettable songs even after first listen, but Warren Zevon’s Mutineer as presented on the Dave Letterman show (10-30-02) is my Desert Island choice of the one song from his music cannon, I would take away with me. I try to watch his Mutineer here without crying and it’s a hard task.

The description of the video reads:

Warren Zevon was dying of mesothelioma when he appeared on David Letterman’s “Late Show” to pull off one of the best versions of one of the best songs ever.

I can see why Bob Dylan covered Mutineer a number of times in concert after Zevon’s passing. It’s a cracker of a song and the lyrics are nothing short of spectacular. The line that gets me every time is – ‘Ain’t no room on board for the insincere‘. You get the sense this song was very autobiographical for Warren.

[Verse 1]
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum
Hoist the mainsail, here I come
Ain’t no room on board for the insincere
You’re my witness, I’m your mutineer

[Verse 2]
I was born to rock the boat
Some may sink but we will float
Grab your coat, let’s get out of here
You’re my witness, I’m your mutineer

[Verse 3]
Long ago we laughed at shadows
Lightning flashed and thunder followed us
It could never find us here
You’re my witness, I’m your mutineer

Mutineer is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. He apparently grew to enjoy working on his own, and for 1995’s Mutineer, he recorded the bulk of the album in his home studio, handling most of the instrumentation himself and bringing in some friends to help sweeten some of the tracks.

Zevon’s reflections on enjoying what time you have left included the phrase “enjoy every sandwich.” A tribute album to the late Warren Zevon titled Enjoy Every Sandwich included famous singer – songwriters like Dylan, Springsteen and Don Henley. Warren Zevon has always seemed a bit of an enigma to me. I have gotten to know his music, but at a snail’s pace and nearly everything I hear I like.

You can dig deeper of course on Warren and find stuff like how he had a phobia with doctors and after his diagnosis began to drink again after 17 years of sobriety or where he may have been exposed to asbestos. Warren Zevon said: “I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years.” It was during this broadcast that, when asked by Letterman if he knew something more about life and death now, he first offered his oft-quoted insight that people need to “enjoy every sandwich.”

Reference:
1. Mutineer (album) – Wikipedia
2. All Music – Mutineer
3. Warren Zevon – Wikipedia

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“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand