Zevon Song of the Week #2
Howard Roseman
The album Mr. Bad Example received a pretty bad reception when it was
released in 1991. I still have a copy of a scathing review from the
now-defunct CD Review that bestowed upon it only a few stars out of 10, and
claimed Warren was trying to regain past glories but had only succeeded in
being "nasty".
As you might expect, I disagree, strongly. Of the three hard rock albums
Warren released after getting out of rehab (MBE was preceded by Sentimental
Hygiene and Transverse City), MBE is probably my favourite. Not a bad song
on it.
I will admit he was feeling his oats. Songs such as the title track,
Finishing Touches, Quite Ugly One Morning, and Model Citizen are the work of
a fevered imagination, but only one of them is nasty (and I'm sure the
upcoming biography will tell us whom the venom of Finishing Touches was
aimed at).
Model Citizen is not nasty, it's hilarious, a withering and sardonic
portrait of "the white man's burden" - life in the suburbs replete with milk
and newspaper deliveries, the imperative of lawn care, and that
indispensable household appendage, the maid. The Craftsman lathe gets the
biggest laugh, but the entire concept of the lyric is very funny and biting,
and hard to imagine being crafted by anyone other than Zevon. His co-writers
are Waddy and Leroy Marinell, who, among other efforts, teamed up with
Warren for both Werewolves Of London and Excitable Boy.
The music at times resembles a chant, but there are also fine guitar solos
by Warren himself, who decided to take the lead even though he had Waddy and
Dan Dugmore backing him up. Young Jordan is around for some harmonies.
My favourite aspect of the song is that it's a great sing-along. When Warren
belts out "I'm a law-abiding man ...", I find it very difficult not to join
in.
Just like the song's hapless hero, I pay my taxes when I can. Model citizen.
d...@nospam.com
I have fond memories of listening to this record and driving through the
everglades stopping at roadside bars.
Dan
Howard Roseman
baseball guru Peter Gammons. This article has already been discussed here, I
think, but it can't hurt to mention it again. Gammons is obviously a major
league Zevon fan.
chrisp...@email.com
only heard Model Citizen on the '92 Boulder show with The Odds. The
song is my favorite from that show, which itself is one of my top three
live concert recordings.
The studio version actually kind of disappointed me when I first heard
it. It seems like it's lacking in energy, at least when compared to the
Boulder show. It's not a bad song at all, I just like it better in
Boulder.
-ChrisPrender adds "Turn the piano up!" to the album version.
cc
>The studio version actually kind of disappointed me when I first heard
>it. It seems like it's lacking in energy, at least when compared to the
>Boulder show. It's not a bad song at all, I just like it better in
>Boulder.
I agree, it's one of the highlights of the shows with the Odds. Also
special for me, as that tour was the first of the 2 times I saw him play.
They really light into the choruses in a powerful way.
For some reason, I always paired it in my mind with "Mr. Bad Example." I
guess they are similar conceits and titles... but "Model Citizen" seems
more like a fully fledged song to me, whereas though warren preferred "MBE"
in concert, that one is more of a novelty tune.
Joanne Corsano
material or not. If you listen to it and think it's twisted and
funny, you're Zevon material. If you think it's twisted and not funny
at all, then you'd better stick with (whoever).
My take on this song is that it's about upper class suicidal
depression. Upper class rather than middle class, since the song's
character has a maid. The character is too depressed to even bring in
the milk (who has milk delivery any more? maybe this song is "set" in
the '30s?), his idea of discipline for his kids involves scaring them
with the threat of violence, his wife is around town "playing canasta"
(and I would imagine that really means another form of extra-marital
diversion), and he thinks about driving the Winnebago "in" (not "to")
the lake, meaning committing suicide.
But it's sung with such chanty good humor, you can just sing along (as
Howard enjoys doing) and enjoy the crazy rhyme patterns -- "cit - uh -
zun" rhyming with "ton" or with "sa - ma - ri - tun."
Love that song and the whole album, too. Mr. Bad Example -- one of
Zevon's best. And it has interesting packaging -- the grim-looking
gray and black cover with Warren looking so serious in the picture,
then you open it up and the CD label is a cheerful bright red.
Joanne
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Howard Roseman
> material or not. If you listen to it and think it's twisted and
> funny, you're Zevon material. If you think it's twisted and not funny
> at all, then you'd better stick with (whoever).
>
Another similar test song is MSFU.
> My take on this song is that it's about upper class suicidal
> depression. Upper class rather than middle class, since the song's
> character has a maid. The character is too depressed to even bring in
> the milk (who has milk delivery any more? maybe this song is "set" in
> the '30s?)
My next door neighbours, a retired couple, get their milk delivered. I
always do a double take when I see the truck, because it does seem so retro.
I myself gave up drinking milk years ago - I leave my share to the baby
cows. In my house as a kid, we had milk delivered in bottles - what a
concept! For some reason, my height and that of my brothers was always
attributed by relatives and friends of my parents to milk, not genetics.
> his idea of discipline for his kids involves scaring them
> with the threat of violence, his wife is around town "playing canasta"
> (and I would imagine that really means another form of extra-marital
> diversion),
I think that's clear, Joanne. The "everyone in town" is sung with cuckolded
bitterness.
> and he thinks about driving the Winnebago "in" (not "to")
> the lake, meaning committing suicide.
>
I've always taken that line as sung in jest, a fanciful way of escaping his
huge "burden".
> But it's sung with such chanty good humor, you can just sing along (as
> Howard enjoys doing) and enjoy the crazy rhyme patterns -- "cit - uh -
> zun" rhyming with "ton" or with "sa - ma - ri - tun."
>
You got it.
> Love that song and the whole album, too. Mr. Bad Example -- one of
> Zevon's best. And it has interesting packaging -- the grim-looking
> gray and black cover with Warren looking so serious in the picture,
> then you open it up and the CD label is a cheerful bright red.
>
> Joanne
>
The dangling cigarette might today be deemed too un-PC.
The critics who didn't "get" this album are obviously the "non-Zevon
material" types you referred to above. Their loss.
d...@nospam.com
>> "Model Citizen" is a good test of whether a music listener is Zevon
>> material or not. If you listen to it and think it's twisted and
>> funny, you're Zevon material. If you think it's twisted and not funny
>> at all, then you'd better stick with (whoever).
>>
>
> Another similar test song is MSFU.
>
Even my dad likes MSFU!
Dan
Paul Herzberg
> > "Model Citizen" is a good test of whether a music listener is Zevon
> > material or not. If you listen to it and think it's twisted and
> > funny, you're Zevon material. If you think it's twisted and not funny
> > at all, then you'd better stick with (whoever).
> Another similar test song is MSFU.
A problem I have with MSFU, not an insurmountable problem more of a
niggle really, is that it's very similar to Loudon Wainwright's The
Doctor, though Loudon is more whimsical whereas Warren seems more
regretful.
It does make me wonder, though, if singer/songwriters get to a point
where they're almost obliged to do a song about getting old that's told
through their Doctor's opinion. Or maybe there's just the two songs and
I've imagined a trend...
Cheers
Paul Herzberg
Howard Roseman
> niggle really, is that it's very similar to Loudon Wainwright's The
> Doctor, though Loudon is more whimsical whereas Warren seems more
> regretful.
>
Coincidentally, yesterday I saw the McGarrigle sisters and the Wainwright
kids, Martha and Rufus, performing and being interviewed on an episode of
the old Peter Gzowski show (Gzowski was a big CBC radio guy and journalist,
died from smoking a few years ago).
I wasn't aware of Loudon's song, which predates Warren's. FWIW, here are the
lyrics:
I went to the doctor and the doctor said, "Son
You look older than me and I'm seventy-one.
You're fallin apart, and not living right."
I went to the doctor and the doctor said, " Loud,
You gotta stop hanging round with that old in crowd,
Living's a battle, and you're losing the fight."
I went to the doctor and the doctor said, "Boy,
your body's temple, its not a toy.
Fill up this here paper cup and give it to the nurse." (Don't spill it
now!)
I went to the doctor and the doctor said, "Friend,
this should be the middle, but it could be the end.
You'd better get better, or else you gonna get worse."
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh , I went to the doctor.
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh , I went to the doctor.
I went to the doctor and the doctor said, "Sir,
we got back the x-ray, everything's a blur!
Its all positive, thats what every single test shows."
I went to the doctor and the doctor said, "Kid,
It was something that you ate or drank or something that you did.
And its spreading on down to your toes."
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh , I went to the doctor. (Everybody does!)
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh , I went to the doctor.
I went to the doctor and the doctor said, "Please
get on down to the drugstore and pick up some of these.
Than get on home, get into your bed."
I went to the doctor and the doctor said, "Shucks,
Thats about all, you owe me three hundred bucks.
And call me in the morning, thats if you're not dead."
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh , I went to the doctor. (Just checkin up on ya)
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh , I went to the doctor.