‘Life’ll Kill Ya’

Warren Zevon

Thank God there are dinosaurs like Warren Zevon who keep cranking out albums long after their initial glory days have passed. Zevon has more talent in his left pinkie finger than twenty flash-in-the-pan one-hit wonders and “Life’ll Kill Ya” is packed full of eventual classics.

“I Was in the House When the House Burned Down” is this album’s keynote address. It is the opening track that lays down a proposal for this CD’s thesis with authority.

“I had the shit ’til it all got smoked/ I kept the promise ’til the vow got broke/ I had to drink from the lovin’ cup/ Stood on the banks ’til the river rose up/ I saw the bride in her wedding gown/ I was in the house ’til the house burned down.”

This is classic American songwriting in a pop/folk vein. It is the last howl of the disenfranchised hippie who still believes that America is a place of hopeful possibilities. It calls on something inside each of us long thought was dead. It is simple, pure and beautiful.

Warren Zevon writes folk music with balls. He may not come across as a master musician but he certainly knows how to tell a story with a voice as soothing as a hot lemon toddy with a hint of honey and zest.

For the uninitiated, Zevon is in the same camp as Jackson Brown and Joe Jackson, 1970s icons who experienced different levels of success and influence on popular culture but who were nevertheless, the kind of musicians that other musicians will tell interviewers they love listening to.

It takes a bit more searching for the average listener to come across Warren Zevon, but it is ultimately worth the search.

Zevon’s songs are indictments of American culture set to sweet piano ditties, acoustic guitar riffs and the occasional harmonica solo that aid in the storytelling without ever dominating the process.

This album is an acoustic jam session in which Zevon’s voice is the main focus. One doesn’t listen to Warren Zevon for the music so much as the message because the message is one to sing along with.

4 Stars