Keep Him in Your Heart for a While

Keith Olbermann on MSNBC's "Countdown" reminded us tonight that today is the third anniversary of the death of Warren Zevon. We were both sort of blown away that it's been so long. I knew it was this time of the year, but didn't realize it was today.

Zevon was one of my favorite musicians ever and I can listen to "A Quiet Normal Life" over and over and over (much to Nigel's chagrin.) He died at just 56 years old of lung cancer--for which he underwent no treatment, as he had a life-long fear of doctors. His last album, "The Wind" is magnificent. It's so painfully sad, not only because it was recorded while he was dying, but because of the parallels in our own lives at the time.

My nephew Nate was sick when it came out, and putting on this CD would choke me up like nothing else. After Nate died, almost two years ago, I couldn't listen to the album for the longest time. But it's a beautiful album, filled with energy and the participation of a lot of Zevon's friends. It's a must-have for anyone who is even an occasional fan.

All of his music is great--I can't think of anything I'd even call "marginal". And it's curious how relevant lyrics like these from "The Envoy" still are today, though they were written about 30 years ago:

Nuclear arms in the Middle East
Israel is attacking the Iraqis
The Syrians are mad at the Lebanese
And Baghdad does whatever she please
Looks like another threat to world peace
For the envoy....

So, I don't have much else to say tonight, except in the immortal words of one of my favorite songwriters and singers, "my shit's fucked up." Erm, no wait, I mean, "enjoy every sandwich."