I love song lyrics. Songs, like poetry, evoke emotions, but the added element of music amps them up (no pun intended), eliciting those emotions, often from the first note.
"I was staying at the Marriott
With Jesus and John Wayne
I was waiting for a chariot
They were waiting for a train
The sky was full of carrion
"I'll take the mazuma"
Said Jesus to Marion
"That's the 3:10 to Yuma
My ride's here..."
Helpful to know the terminology. Mazuma? What the hell is mazuma?
ma·zu·ma (m-zm)
n. Slang
Money; cash.
[Yiddish mazume, mezumen, cash, from Medieval Hebrew mzummn, fixed currency, from Mishnaic Hebrew, fixed, passive participle of zimmn, to arrange, invite, from Hebrew zmn, appointed time, from Aramaic zmn, zman, from Akkadian simnu, season, time, from wasmu, asmu, to be fitting; see wsm in Semitic roots.]
Those are Warren Zevon lyrics. Warren died almost three years ago, from mesothelioma. Hope I spelled that right. Serious stuff -- lung cancer which typically can be traced to asbestos exposure. Warren wrote the song, along with others such as "Life'll Kill Ya," before he knew he was dying. Possibly before he was dying, if we put aside the idea that we're born with the hours ticking away. Let's say that when he wrote it, the ticking wasn't quite so loud as it was a few years later. "Life'll Kill Ya" was on an album of the same name in 2000, "My Ride's Here" came along in 2002, and he died, after learning of his illness in late 2002, in September of 2003.
The man spent his life contemplating the end. Oh, this fixation on mortality was nothing new. Every album he recorded from the mid-seventies on dealt with death in some manner or another. And what did he do when he learned of the end? He feverishly, sometimes literally, began recording his final album, The Wind. Beautiful music. Only Warren Zevon could have the brass cojones, the intestinal fortitude, and the nerve to record Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" when he was truly knocking on heaven's door.
Dear God, I hope, when my time comes, when I can hear the music of the spheres growing louder -- I hope I have the balls to go out like that.
Till later....
"I was staying at the Marriott
With Jesus and John Wayne
I was waiting for a chariot
They were waiting for a train
The sky was full of carrion
"I'll take the mazuma"
Said Jesus to Marion
"That's the 3:10 to Yuma
My ride's here..."
Helpful to know the terminology. Mazuma? What the hell is mazuma?
ma·zu·ma (m-zm)
n. Slang
Money; cash.
[Yiddish mazume, mezumen, cash, from Medieval Hebrew mzummn, fixed currency, from Mishnaic Hebrew, fixed, passive participle of zimmn, to arrange, invite, from Hebrew zmn, appointed time, from Aramaic zmn, zman, from Akkadian simnu, season, time, from wasmu, asmu, to be fitting; see wsm in Semitic roots.]
Those are Warren Zevon lyrics. Warren died almost three years ago, from mesothelioma. Hope I spelled that right. Serious stuff -- lung cancer which typically can be traced to asbestos exposure. Warren wrote the song, along with others such as "Life'll Kill Ya," before he knew he was dying. Possibly before he was dying, if we put aside the idea that we're born with the hours ticking away. Let's say that when he wrote it, the ticking wasn't quite so loud as it was a few years later. "Life'll Kill Ya" was on an album of the same name in 2000, "My Ride's Here" came along in 2002, and he died, after learning of his illness in late 2002, in September of 2003.
The man spent his life contemplating the end. Oh, this fixation on mortality was nothing new. Every album he recorded from the mid-seventies on dealt with death in some manner or another. And what did he do when he learned of the end? He feverishly, sometimes literally, began recording his final album, The Wind. Beautiful music. Only Warren Zevon could have the brass cojones, the intestinal fortitude, and the nerve to record Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" when he was truly knocking on heaven's door.
Dear God, I hope, when my time comes, when I can hear the music of the spheres growing louder -- I hope I have the balls to go out like that.
Till later....
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