Zevon Song of the Week #27
haro...@yahoo.ca
Category: Addiction and Recovery
"Charlie dealt in pharmaceuticals, Charlie used to sell me pills ..."
So begins this uniquely Zevonian tale of a drug dealer's demise. From
the memorable and very effective opening arpeggios, played by Warren on
his 12-string guitar, to the haunting repetition of the song's payoff
line, "I came to finish paying my bill", Charlie's Medicine is the
logical follow-up to Carmelita, with the latter song's
strung-out-on-heroin narrator replaced by a pill popper mourning the
loss of his supplier (among other things). There's a strong sense of
the inevitable in Charlie's demise, evidenced by Warren's use of the
double entendre in the phrases "Charlie had to take his medicine" and
"Charlie got his prescription filled". Although Charlie's Medicine is a
much less well-known song than Carmelita, in my opinion it's the more
powerful depiction of the sad, lost world of drugs and drug users. At
least the singer has Carmelita herself to lean on in that song-in
Charlie's Medicine, there seems to be simply bewilderment and sorrow.
In Charlie's Medicine, we're no longer stuck in "the outskirts of town"
as we are in Carmelita. Instead, we're in the suburbs, including the
ultimate suburb, Beverly Hills, where drug use is more of a
recreational sport, perhaps a little less deadly but not by much. Here,
euphemisms are used, and Warren captures them perfectly: medicine,
pharmaceuticals, pills, prescriptions. The "respectable doctor" who
shoots Charlie in the heart is a cipher. Why does he do it? I think
Warren is saying that it doesn't matter, that this is the kind of thing
that happens in the drug trade, i.e., pills = pain.
That said, I must admit I'm unable to grasp the full significance of
the aforementioned payoff line, "I came to finish paying my bill". What
bill exactly is Warren referring to? Please feel free to post your
thoughts.
Warren was still a fan of synthesizers in 1982. He used one to simulate
the sounds of falling bombs in The Envoy, and he also uses one for
Charlie's Medicine, although more subtly.
Master sideman Waddy Wachtel deserves tremedous kudos for his work
here, with a guitar solo that brings out perfectly the raging, roiled
drug environment that Warren is singing about. Come to think of it, WW
does fantastic things on every Zevon song he's in, doesn't he? In 2000,
a year or so before I discovered alt.music.zevon, Snake conducted a
poll there asking what people thought was the best guitar solo on a
Zevon track. The clear winner was Waddy on Charlie's Medicine, with
comments such as this submitted by posters:
"The way the music cuts off to a fading synthesized groan just before
erupting into the guitar frenzy is great. Like the calm before the
storm."
Here's the reaction of a blogger at crackerscentral.com upon hearing
the song for the first time on XM Radio:
"That happened to me again today with this song. I don't recall ever
having heard Charlie's Medicine- except, wait! that's Warren Zevon's
voice! For real! It is him! What a thrill to think it was going to be a
Warren Zanes tune, but no, it's Warren Zevon! I was thrilled. Even more
thrilling is this- The Loft has a turntable, and Mike and Kate aren't
afraid to use it. That is nice because according to Mike this isn't
available on CD so this was the only way I was going to hear it... "
That's why I've been listening to Mike Marrone and The Loft since XM
first appeared early this century-he inserts Zevon tunes into his
sets that classic rock DJs have probably never heard of, even hauling
out the turntable for songs from The Envoy. But the poster does raise
the uncomfortable issue that has never been adequately explained,
namely, why The Envoy and Stand In The Fire have been to date issued
only on vinyl and, except for the overpriced Japanese imports, not on
CD. Dwelling on that issue is enough to make one crave some drugs, so
I'll drop it.
I don't know how often Warren performed Charlie's Medicine in concert,
but he did like the song well enough to include it in his only ever
official video release, the 1982 VHS show taped in Passaic, NJ, that is
the lead item on the DVD-R compilation. The Passaic performance is
similar to the one in the studio. Warren again plays his 12-string,
while the most excellent John Wood fills in for Waddy. In both cases,
the guitar is blistering. A nice touch in Passaic, a device Warren
often used with various songs in concert, is the segueway from
Charlie's Medicine right into Jungle Work.
For me, the song's emotional heart is encompassed in these lines:
"Charlie didn't feel a thing, neither of them did." Why do people take
drugs anyway? Is it because they feel things too little or too much?
Warren was in a very down time at this point in his life. After the
unexpected over-the-top success of Excitable Boy in 1978, he was under
considerable pressure to repeat those sales figures. It didn't happen
with Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School in 1980, and The Envoy's equally
unimpressive sales in 1982 caused Asylum to drop him altogether.
Addicted to various substances and label-free, where surely the reverse
would have been preferable, Warren disappeared for five years. Granted,
he made a spectacular comeback with Sentimental Hygiene in 1987, but we
can only imagine the utter turmoil, both physical and emotional, he
must have experienced in those years. If the upcoming biography gives
us a better picture, I guarantee it won't make for very pleasant
reading. Who needs religious notions of Hell? Hell exists right here on
earth, and one of its starkest guises is that of drug and alcohol
addiction. Warren went through it and emerged triumphant, at least as
triumphant as possible against a foe such as this.
As a songwriter, one of Warren's greatest gifts was the melding of
often harsh subject matter with achingly beautiful melodies. Surely
Charlie's Medicine is near the top of this particular list. Having
listened to it a few times today, I know it will be on repeat play in
my forebrain for several days. The only way to get rid of it would be
to, um, pop a few pills. But why the hell would I do that?
Categories to date
-------------------------
(Note: Based on input received here about The Indifference Of Heaven,
I've changed its category from Love-Gone-Wrong to Social Commentary.)
Addiction and Recovery: 3
Cover: 2
Family: 1
Geopolitical: 1
History: 1
Law and Order: 1
Love-Gone-Wrong: 5
Mortality: 2
Party: 1
Satire: 3
Social Commentary: 6
Sports: 1
sfw
> Charlie's Medicine
> That said, I must admit I'm unable to grasp the full significance of
> the aforementioned payoff line, "I came to finish paying my bill". What
> bill exactly is Warren referring to? Please feel free to post your
> thoughts.
The narrator went to Charlie's funeral. The narrator had to step into
Charlie's pain, and his family's pain. Most importantly, the narrator
had to realize that he, and those like him, and his habit, and their
habits, had brought this.
His presence there, in the pain, was a portion of his bill.
Sarah
cc
Yeah, it seems to be the narrator admitting his part in the whole sick
world that brought charlie down, a sense of complicity. It's a haunting
line. zevon's restraint on the vocals for this song is very impressive.
cc
Dan
When you become an addict of anything there is always a credit account
with the vendor. Honest addicts pay it off. BTW always use moderation
while modifying the chemistry of the mind and you won't become an
addict! Remember what that Greek Philosopher said.
Dan
Joanne Corsano
ever wrote.
In a few short stanzas Zevon hints at but does not really describe a
complex and ultimately destructive interrelationship among several
people. The narrator is a drug user who patronizes Charlie's
"pharmaceutical business." Charlie is the narrator's pusher. The
"respectable doctor" murders Charlie, apparently in cold blood, but
why? No reason is given; we can only guess; we don't really know what
happened; just like in real life. Then there's Charlie's sister; she
calls to give the narrator the news that Charlie has died, but the
narrator doesn't seem to notice the grief she must surely be
experiencing. The narrator goes to Charlie's funeral to "finish
paying his bill." Is he giving Charlie's sister money, money he owed
Charlie that out of guilt he is giving his sister instead? Or is he
"paying his bill" by giving his respect to the dead? Again, we don't
really know.
There is one hint that Charlie's death is going to shake the drug
using narrator out of his addiction; his anguished "what the hell was
I thinking of?" indicates that maybe this has made him realize how
destructive the drug using lifestyle is for everyone. So, maybe,
"paying his bill" really means to stop using drugs.
It's a powerful song, and Waddy's muscular electric guitar describes
the powerful story, especially when taken in juxtaposition with the
delicate acoustic guitar that dances around the narrator's feeble
sadness.
This song is Warren at his absolute best.
Joanne
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Howard Roseman
> calls to give the narrator the news that Charlie has died, but the
> narrator doesn't seem to notice the grief she must surely be
> experiencing.
That's to be expected from an inveterate drug user, no? Not exactly the most
sensitive to what other people are going through.
> The narrator goes to Charlie's funeral to "finish
> paying his bill." Is he giving Charlie's sister money, money he owed
> Charlie that out of guilt he is giving his sister instead? Or is he
> "paying his bill" by giving his respect to the dead? Again, we don't
> really know.
>
I solicited input for that, because I also wasn't sure how to take it. The
consensus was that the bill-paying is spiritual rather than literal. I agree
with that.
Mr. Greene Genes
Respectable Doctor could be a supplier, who gave Charlie
some Pharm dope, v street quality. A hot shot, so to speak.
Shot him in the heart, not with a gun.
Doug
Howard Roseman
Interesting take, Doug.
One thing I do know on this, Warren's birthday. Dead is dead.