Redirecting

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Lawyers, Guns and Money

I was fortunate enough to see the late, great Warren Zevon live in concert a few times while I was in college. When it comes to poetic storytellers, Zevon is right up there with Bob Dylan among the best of them. Most people are familiar with the legendary "Werewolves of London," but there's another song from that album (Excitable Boy), Lawyers Guns and Money, that's the peak of poetic simplicity, and also extremely relevant to our current global financial situation.



Well, I went home with the waitress, the way I always do
How was I to know she was with the Russians, too

I was gambling in Havana - I took a little risk
Send lawyers, guns and money; Dad, get me out of this

I'm the innocent bystander, Somehow I got stuck
Between the rock and the hard place
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck
And I'm down on my luck

Now I'm hiding in Honduras - I'm a desperate man
Send lawyers, guns and money, the shit has hit the fan


Interestingly, I just found out that Lil Wayne has a song out now, called "Pussy Money Weed." Although Lil Wayne's "song" is not nearly as elegant as Zevon's masterpiece, I find it fascinating that only "money" stood the 30 year test of time between the writing of "Lawyers, Guns and Money," and "Pussy Money Weed."

Lil' Wayne replaced Zevon's essentials, lawyers and guns, with his own equivalent: pussy and weed. We can debate the merits of this replacement, (in fact, I could probably write 1000 words about the rankings chosen by Zevon and Lil Wayne respectively: with Zevon having money third in his rankings, and Lil Wayne placing it right behind "pussy" in the hierarchy) but one thing is certain: money is still money.

It's always about the benjamins, baby, which also may explain how someone as ignorant as Crazy Wackjob Maxine Waters managed to land a job on the House Financial Services Committee - she needed to lobby for her peeps. (also, WSJ article here).

Finally, on the issue of The Stimulus, something about this attempt in California to "sell" transit stimulus funds is irking me intensely.

-KD

p.s. - I strongly recommend Zevon's "Learning to Flinch," album.

2 comments:

The Bracelet said...

One day, about a month ago, I decided I needed to make everyone's day better by getting Werewolves in London stuck in their heads.

Not sure if it worked for them, but it totally worked for me.

AaaOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Anonymous said...

Very nice job - by the way you need money to pay for any of the above...

RATCHEESE