September is a strange month, where the leaves begin to fall and the shadows around you seem to grow longer and longer; where the promise of summer is slowly lost to the reality of fall. It feels like the ghosts and darkness we fight off every day close in and begin to surround us.
For me, that feeling of change, of the crisp autumn air returning once more is something we should celebrate. After all, ghosts can be reminders of a past we left behind, or warm memories that light up the darkest night. And no album sets that mood for me more than Warren Zevon’s Excitable Boy. Even at forty-five years old, it is an album that continues to surprise and delight.
The opener, When Johnny Strikes Up the Band, is an upbeat tune, as if Zevon functions as a host welcoming us to his show. While not as memorable as some of the other tracks, it lures us into a sense of security. From this track alone, you’d get the impression that Excitable Boy sounds typical of other artists repping the California sound at the time, whether it be Jackson Brown or even the Eagles. But Zevon’s voice isn’t so pretty, it isn’t gently singing about someone’s babe or even harmonizing on peaceful easy feelings: it’s waking us up in preparation for a stroll through the strongest part of the album…the ghost stories.
After the rocking opener, Zevon brings us closer with Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner. Here his voice is clear, only accompanied by a piano and a bass drum. The beat functions as a march, driving the story with Zevon narrating a tale of far off lands and soldiers of fortune. For there are no heroes in this album, only poor fools staining their souls. By the time the backup vocals rise in the chorus after the title character’s head is blown clean off, it becomes a dirge of the restless soul of a headless gunner seeking justice through the only he knows how: through blood.
But it’s the title track that gives me the most pause. From the beat of its drums to Zevon’s jovial vocals, to even boasting backing vocals from Linda Ronsdant and Jenifer Warnes, you’re lured into the 70’s power pop sheen. With lyrics such as, “Well, he went down to dinner in his Sunday best / Excitable boy, they all said / And he rubbed the pot roast all over his chest /Excitable boy, they all said,” you’d think it’s going to be another song about an eager kid and his journey…and then the third verse hits.
The hard left turn the song takes is worth going in blind, as you realize Zevon sees the eccentric American boy…as something more sinister, as Zevon weaponizes the 70’s sound, his voice still chipper, the ooos of Rondstandt and Warnes constantly repeating. A macabre joke of a song that wouldn’t be so scary if it wasn’t so catchy.
And then of course, after two ghost stories, one told with sullen earnesty and the other cruelly blunt, we get the best track of the album: Werewolves of London. It’s a song with a glib sense of humor –with references to both Lon Cheneys, pina coladas and Lee Ho Fooks – and a piano beat that stays in your mind long after the full moon sets. Some of my fondest memories of Halloween come from looking up and howling long at the moon.
The rest of the album sadly isn’t as strong as the first four songs, focusing more on vibes than character. Night Time in the Switching Yard and Tenderness on the Block are the wrong kind of 70’s cheese, while Accidentally Like a Martyr and Veracruz let Zevon show off a softer side, with the flute used in Veracruz a more somber reminder of the blood lost, and the darkness within every man.
And then there’s the last track, a hard rocker that ends on a lighter note. Lawyers, Guns, and Money is all about the screw ups one makes when they feel they have all the power to sweep things under the rug. The pathetic wail mixed with a pulsating guitar riff makes this a good way to close the album. It’s an album full of men, ghouls, and monsters, people who hide in the dark, their story obscured. But here Zevon is, his piano and vocals shining the brightest light on them, and our fears fade as we hum along.
Like how autumn days grow shorter and shorter with each passing sunset, Excitable Boy is an album where each song progressively gets darker; where the “heroes” are either pathetic, killers or people haunted by their past. It’s a great album to listen to as you walk into that crisp air on a September day, ready to face the darkness and the ghosts around us.