Day After Day #216: Lawyers, Guns and Money

Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).

Lawyers, Guns and Money (1978)

History is full of fortunate sons who glide through life because they can. Creedence Clearwater Revival wrote a great song about them that's still being misinterpreted by idiots, but another excellent take on the issue was provided by Warren Zevon.

Zevon got his start as a session musician, writing jingles and songs for the Turtles and the soundtrack of Midnight Cowboy. He released a solo album in 1970 and then toured with the Everly Brothers. In the mid-'70s, he was entrenched in the Laurel Canyon scene, rooming with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. His major-label debut included Nicks, Buckingham, Jackson Browne, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, members of the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt. Ronstadt ended up recording several Zevon songs.

In 1978, Zevon released Excitable Boy, which featured songs that found success, including the title track, "Werewolves of London" and "Lawyers, Guns and Money." His sardonic sense of humor underscores each of these songs, but especially the latter. The song's protagonist is a privileged young man who runs into some trouble.

"I went home with a 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/An innocent bystander/Somehow I got caught between a rock and a hard place/And I'm down on my luck/Yes, I'm down on my luck/Well, I'm down on my luck."

There are plenty of "Thanks, Dad" types out there who don't have to worry about consequences, and there were even more of them around in the '70s.

"I'm hiding in Honduras, I'm a desperate man/Send lawyers, guns and money/The shit has hit the fan."

The song was released as a single and didn't chart, but it became an FM rock staple. Between this tale of white boy escapism, the title track's cannibalistic serial killer and the werewolf of London, Zevon carved out a role as a not-quite-serious purveyor of smartass rock songs who didn't pull any punches. The Excitable Boy album ended up going to #8 on the Billboard 200.

"Lawyers, Guns and Money" has been covered by everyone from Rick Derringer to Meat Loaf to the Wallflowers to Hank Williams, Jr.

Zevon had a mostly successful career, releasing 12 more albums, including a collaboration with 3/4 of R.E.M. as the Hindu Love Gods. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma, believed to have been caused by exposure to asbestos, in 2002. He died in September 2003 at the age of 56, with a reputation secured as one of the best no-bullshit artists in rock.