Given Zevon's recent passing, it should surprise no one that a handful of his friends, family and admirers have assembled a tribute album, but while Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon brims with obvious affection and good will for its subject, in this case that's something of a problem. While Zevon could write with tenderness and compassion when the spirit moved him, he was more likely to sound sarcastic, spiteful, venomous, and generally announce (loudly and with enthusiasm) that the emperor was naked given the appropriate subject, and he wasn't afraid to take on his friends and collaborators when so inclined. Warren Zevon died September 7, 2003, less than two weeks after the release of The Wind on August 26th.Like many fans, one of the things you can always love about the music of Warren Zevon has been his frequent refusal to play nice. Zevon responds, "Not unless I know how much you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich." (The line "enjoy every sandwich" then became one of Zevon's more famous lines.) It was one of those phobias that really didn't pay off." Later on, Letterman asks Zevon if he knows something about life and death that Letterman doesn't know. When discussing his cancer, Zevon says,"I might have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years. Zevon was a frequent guest on The Late Show. Shortly after his diagnosis, in 2002, Zevon appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman as the only guest for an entire hour (most of the appearance can be seen on You Tube). I'm sprawled across the davenport of despairĪnd watch the sundown through the portiereīelow is "Keep Me in Your Heart" also from The Wind. Plaster's falling down in pieces by the couch of pain (Not hard to see how this one relates to dyint.) Another song, "Disorder in the House" (recorded with Bruce Springsteen and winner of a Grammy for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal), is about a house coming apart and falling down. Included on the album is a cover of the Bob Dylan song "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". Some songs seemed to contain a lot of regret. It seems to frequently refer to Zevon's illness (but maybe that's just me). When I first heard The Wind, I knew it was Zevon's final album, made while he was dying, and so I listened to it differently than I would other albums. The making of the album was made into a documentary for VH1 entitled, Warren Zevon: Keep Me In Your Heart. The Wind features guest appearances from several of Zevon's close friends ( Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley to name a few).
He refused any treatment and started on his final album The Wind. In 2002, Zevon was diagnosed with mesothelioma. Some of his well known songs include "Werewolves of London", "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner", and "Lawyers, Guns and Money". Warren Zevon's The Wind Warren Zevon was an American singer-songwriter known for his "sardonic wit and blazing intelligence" which he incorporated into his music.