Warren Zevon Album

Written By Warren Zevon

On a small Missouri farm
Back when the west was young
Two boys learned to rope and ride
And be handy with a gun

War broke out between the states
And they joined up with Quantrill
And it was over in Clay county
That Frank and Jesse finally learned to kill

Keep on riding, riding, riding
Frank and Jesse James
Keep on riding, riding, riding
'Til you clear your names
Keep on riding, riding, riding
Across the rivers and the range
Keep on riding, riding, riding Frank and Jesse James

After Appomattox they were on the loosing side
So no amnesty was granted
And as outlaws they did ride
They rode against the railroads,
And they rode against the banks
And they rode against the governor
Never did they ask for a word of thanks

Keep on riding, riding, riding
Frank and Jesse James
Keep on riding, riding, riding
'Til you clear your names
Keep on riding, riding, riding
Across the prairies and the plains
Keep on riding, riding, riding
Frank and Jesse James

Robert Ford, a gunman
Did exchange for his parole
Took the life of James the outlaw
Which he snuck up on and stole
No one knows just where they came to be misunderstood
But the poor Missouri farmers knew
Frank and Jesse do the best they could

Keep on riding, riding, riding
Frank and Jesse James
Keep on riding, riding, riding
'Til you clear your names
Keep on riding, riding, riding
Across the rivers and the range
Keep on riding, riding, riding

Written By Warren Zevon

Gambler ambled down a country lane
Looking for a game of chance
She was twenty-one or two
And she knew what she wanted
And she wanted that gamblin' man

Her parents warned her
Tried to reason with her
She was determined that she wanted Bill
They'd all be offended at the mention still
If they heard this song, which I doubt they will

And my mama couldn't be persuaded
When they pleaded with their daughter
don't marry that gamblin' man
Mama couldn't be persuaded
When they pleaded with their daughter
don't marry that gamblin' man
Mama couldn't be persuaded
When they pleaded with her
No, no nevertheless
I said my mama couldn't be persuaded
when they pleaded with her,
"Daughter, don't marry that gamblin' man."

Gambler tried to be a family man
Though it didn't suit his style
He thought he had him a winning combination
So he took us where the stakes were high
Her parents warned her
Tried to reason with her
Never kept their disappointment hid
They all went to pieces when the bad luck hit
Stuck in the middle, I was the kid

And my mama couldn't be persuaded
When they pleaded with their daughter
don't marry that gamblin' man
Mama couldn't be persuaded
When they pleaded with their daughter
don't marry that gamblin' man
Mama couldn't be persuaded
When they pleaded with her,
No, no, nevertheless,
My Mama couldn't be persuaded
When my Granny pleaded with her
Not to marry that gamblin' man.

I said my mama couldn't be persuaded
When they pleaded with their daughter
don't marry that gamblin' man
Mama couldn't be persuaded
When they pleaded with their daughter
don't marry that gamblin' man
Mama couldn't be persuaded
When they pleaded with their daughter

written by Warren Zevon

I was caught between the years
Nearly cost me all my tears
With my back turned, looking down the path
Hit me like a ton of bricks
Had to have my outlook fixed
With my back turned, looking down the path

People always ask me why
What's the matter with me?
Nothing matters when I'm with my baby
With my back turned, looking down the path

We'll go walkin' hand in hand
Laughin' fit to beat the band
With our backs turned, looking down the path

People always ask me why
What's the matter with me?
Nothing matters when I'm with my baby
With my back turned, looking down the path

Some may have, and some may not
God, I'm thankful for what I got
With my back turned, looking down the path
With my back turned, looking down the path

Written by Warren Zevon

She tells him she thinks she needs to be free
He tells her he doesn't understand
She takes his hand
She tells him nothing's working out the way they planned

She's so many women
He can't find the one who was his friend
So he's hanging on to half her heart
He can't have the restless part
So he tells her to hasten down the wind

Then he agrees he thinks she needs to be free
Then she says she'd rather be with him
But it's just a whim
By which she hopes to keep him on the limb

She's so many women
He can't find the one who was his friend
So he's hanging on to half her heart
He can't have the restless part

Written By Warren Zevon

I'd lay my head on the railroad tracks
And wait for the Double "E"
But the railroad don't run no more
Poor, poor pitiful me

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

Well, I met a girl in West Hollywood
I ain't naming names
She really worked me over good
She was just like Jesse James
She really worked me over good
She was a credit to her gender
She put me through some changes, Lord
Sort of like a Waring blender

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

Well, I met a girl at the Rainbow bar
She asked me if I'd beat her
She took me back to the Hyatt House
I don't want to talk about it

Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won't let me be
Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me

(Well, I met a girl from the Vieux Carre`
Down in Yokahama
She picked me up and she throwed me down

Written by Warren Zevon

How're you going to make your way in the world
When you weren't cut out for working
When your fingers are slender and frail
How're you going to get around
In this sleazy bedroom town
If you don't put yourself up for sale

Where will you go with your scarves and your miracles
Who's gonna know who you are
Drugs and wine and flattering light
You must try it again till you get it right
Maybe you'll end up with someone different every night

All these people with no home to go home to
They'd all like to spend the night with you
Maybe I would, too

But tell me
How're you going to make your way in the world, woman
When you weren't cut out for working
And you just can't concentrate
And you always show up late

You said you were an actress
Yes, I believe you are
I thought you'd be a star
So I drank up all the money,
Yes, I drank up all the money,
With these phonies in this Hollywood bar,
These friends of mine in this Hollywood bar

Loneliness and frustration
We both came down with an acute case
And when the lights came up at two
I caught a glimpse of you
And your face looked like something
Death brought with him in his suitcase

Your pretty face
It looked so wasted
Another pretty face
Devastated
The French Inhaler
He stamped and mailed her
"So long, Norman"

written by Warren Zevon

Everybody's restless and they've got no place to go
Someone's always trying to tell them
Something they already know
So their anger and resentment flow

But don't it make you want to rock and roll
All night long
Mohammed's Radio
I heard somebody singing sweet and soulful
On the radio, Mohammed's Radio

You know, the Sheriff's got his problems too
He will surely take them out on you
In walked the village idiot and his face was all aglow
He's been up all night listening to Mohammed's Radio

Don't it make you want to rock and roll
All night long
Mohammed's Radio
I heard somebody singing sweet and soulful
On the radio, Mohammed's Radio

Everybody's desperate trying to make ends meet
Work all day, still can't pay the price of gasoline and meat
Alas, their lives are incomplete

Don't it make you want to rock and roll
All night long Mohammed's Radio
I heard somebody singing sweet and soulful
On the radio, Mohammed's Radio

You've been up all night listening for his drum
Hoping that the righteous might just might just might just come
I heard the General whisper to his aide-de-camp
"Be watchful for Mohammed's lamp"

Don't it make you want to rock and roll

written by Tillman Franks and Johnny Horton

If you told me that you loved me
I would feel so proud
You let me hold you honey
I would holler out loud
I'll never love another
Even if I can
Oh, come to me, baby
I'm a one woman man

Won't you let me, baby,
Just a kinda' hang around
I'll always love you honey
And I'll never let you down
I'll never love another
Even if I can
Oh, come to me, baby
I'm a one woman man

I'd climb the highest mountain
If it reached up to the sky
To prove that I loved you
I would jump off and fly
I'd even swim the ocean
From shore to shore
To prove that I love you
Just a little bit more

Won't you let me, baby,
Just a kinda' hang around
I'll always love you honey
And I"ll never let you down
I'll never love another
Even if I can
Oh, come to me, baby
I'm a one woman man

If you told me that you loved me
I would feel so proud
If you'd let me hold you honey
I would holler out loud
I'll never love another
Even if I can
Oh, come to me, baby
I'm a one woman man

I'll never love another
Even if I can
Oh, come to me, baby
I'm a one woman man
Come to me, baby,

Written By Warren Zevon

I hear Mariachi static on my radio
And the tubes they glow in the dark
And I'm there with her in Ensenada
And I'm here in Echo Park

Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town

Well, I'm sittin' here playing solitaire
With my pearl-handled deck
The county won't give me no more methadone
And they cut off your welfare check

Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town

Well, I pawned my Smith Corona
And I went to meet my man
He hangs out down on Alvarado Street
By the Pioneer chicken stand

Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin
On the outskirts of town

Carmelita hold me tighter
I think I'm sinking down
And I'm all strung out on heroin

written by Warren Zevon

Well, they say this place is evil
That ain't why I stay
'Cause I found something
That will never be nothing
And I found it in L. A.

It was midnight in Topanga
I heard the DJ say
There's a full moon rising
Join me in L. A.

wake up . . . wake up

I was at the Tropicana
On a dark and sultry day
Had to call someone long distance
I said "Join me in L. A."

Written By Warren Zevon

I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel
I was staring in my empty coffee cup
I was thinking that the gypsy wasn't lyin'
All the salty margaritas in Los Angeles
I'm gonna drink 'em up

And if California slides into the ocean
Like the mystics and statistics say it will
I predict this motel will be standing until I pay my bill

Don't the sun look angry through the trees
Don't the trees look like crucified thieves
Don't you feel like Desperados under the eaves
Heaven help the one who leaves

Still waking up in the mornings with shaking hands
And I'm trying to find a girl who understands me
But except in dreams you're never really free
Don't the sun look angry at me

I was sitting in the Hollywood Hawaiian Hotel
I was listening to the air conditioner hum
It went mmmmmm..
........................... Look away..........................................