Warren Speaks on Songwriting and the Early Days of His Career Songtext
von Warren Zevon

Warren, you′re going to be 53 in a couple of days. You've
Been making albums for almost 30 years. Your latest and
Ninth album Life′ll Kill Ya is your first album in almost
Five years. At this stage of the game, I'm hoping that it's
Not you who was in the house when the house burned down
Well I was in the house, Jody. I didn′t suffer third degree burns
But I got singed. I think we all know we can take considerable
Portions of the song as first person, first-hand experience. Remember
What we always said: in the songwriting field there isn′t a section
For fiction and a section for non-fiction. It's all mixed together
Even though you′ve been making music for about 30 years, Warren Zevon
Is not a household name like Elvis Presley or Bob Dylan. What do
You think the average music fan's perception is of you and your work?
I don′t think about what other people's perception of me is. At
Least not any more than anybody in any field does, than the cable
Guy or the guy who parks your car or your dentist thinks. Perhaps to
A fault, it doesn′t enter into the artistic process. It enters into
The daily interactions of real life as much as it does for anybody
I read that you were born in Chicago and grew up
In California and Arizona. Where do you live now?


Los Angeles
But this record, Life'll Kill Ya, does
Not sound like a quote-unquote L.A. record
Well nothing ever sounded like an L.A. record, really, to me
I think some of the early albums, when there were
Members of Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles singing along
And Jackson Browne was involved, had an L.A. vibe
Well Jackson Browne is from L.A., you know, Glenn Frey was from
Detroit and Henley was from Texas. Fleetwood Mac was English
I'm not trying to evade the label or anything, but it′s the
Second biggest city in America and there′s a lot of people there
You were a self-taught piano player, correct?
No, I took piano lessons. I was a self-
Taught guitarist. With shocking results
How old were you when you started playing music?
Like three
So would the term prodigy apply?
No, you have to be good, not just enthusiastic. I studied
Piano for a while, but I always wanted to play it. And I
Started writing classical music, getting interested in
Classical music, young enough to be called a prodigy if I'd
Been prodigiously talented or succeeded in any public way
Your relationship with Igor Stravinsky has
Been written about. Has it been overstated?
It′s always exaggerated. But that's the nature of things
Sometimes you just stand back and smile and let it be exaggerated
When it′s flattering. But I knew him, which is unusual I think
I don't think there are too many of us old rock musicians who
Knew Stravinsky. And I visited him, visited his house, but I
Was kind of taken under the wing of his associate, a great
Conductor and a great music writer and critic named Robert Kraft
Did you ever write your own symphony?
Yeah. I play it for a couple of people that are familiar
With that kind of stuff. I played them, as you can imagine
I played them like the synthesizer sampler rendition of it
What was the reaction?
They liked it. 20th century classical music, real modern music
It′s a funny thing. Looking back on it from a lifetime's fascination
Interest, it's interesting. But I have to say, at the end of the
Day, if the average person hears a piece of music and are really
Put off by it, there′s no criteria by which you can say they′re wrong
Well then I want to make a left turn to some work you did earlier
In your career, in the early part of your career. You recorded a
Couple singles as part of a duo. You made jingles. The Turtles cut
A couple of your songs. You did some session work. You also played
Piano with the Everly Brothers on the road. Did you always think that
Ultimately you were going to make your way as a singer-songwriter?
I never really had much choice, and I always figured I'd survive
One way or another as a musician. I was real lucky because I always
Had some kind of work came along, at the last minute anyway
I was always able to make some kind of living as a musician. And I
Also never really got rich. That might have been lucky too, you know
In what way?
Well, because the less time you spend with the issues
Of being rich, like the issues of being famous
They′re not real issues. So they're not real life
And it leaves more time to be creative?
There′s more of a human exchange of ideas and feelings to
Be had on the bus stop than over the phone with your accountant
And if you're rich, you spend a lot of time on the phone
With your accountant. It′s necessary, I believe. I know
I'm happy, and that means I must be lucky. That I know
There are Warren Zevon songs played on piano, Warren
Zevon songs played on guitar. Is it intuitive how you
Decide which instrument you're going to play on each song?
I guess because I played the piano when I was a kid and I played it
Seriously and I had to learn, I played it technically correctly and
Stuff, and then I got jobs playing it. I never had as much fun
Playing the piano, really, as the guitar. I hate to say that. There
Were other issues, like the fact that I ran out of pianos and didn′t
Really own an acoustic piano from, oh, about the time Mondale lost
Until today, say. Those determine what kind of songs I wrote, too
Because you don′t form a real bond with an electronic keyboard, no
Matter how swift it is. Phil Everly made me the music director, like
Paul Shaffer kind of, on a TV show he had in about 1970, I think
And it was a great show. I remember he had Kristofferson on. He had
A lot of people on that respected him so much because of the Everly
Brothers that they were very comfortable with him, and he was a great
Talk show host. It was on late at night for a season. Strange to
Remember this. And I was the piano guy. And I remember the night this
Kid came in, and he was kind of dressed up like I was. He came in
And sat down and started improvising at the piano. It was Billy Joel
I've told Billy this story over the years. And he started playing
The piano, kind of classical rock piano, which nobody played
I thought, but me, in my loftiest dreams. And as I told Billy
I stood behind him for five minutes, and then I turned
Around, and I walked across the set and out of the studio
And that′s another probably one of the reasons why
I didn't stay with the piano quite as much as I had