I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of SoHo in the rain
He was looking for the place called Lee Ho Fook's
Gonna get a big dish of beef chow mein

Aaoooooo
Werewolves of London
Aaoooooo

Aaoooooo
Werewolves of London
Aaoooooo

You hear him howling around your kitchen door
You better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again

Aaoooooo
Werewolves of London
Aaoooooo

Aaoooooo
Werewolves of London
Aaoooooo

He's the hairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent
Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair
You better stay away from him
He'll rip your lungs out, Jim
I'd like to meet his tailor

Aaoooooo
Werewolves of London
Aaoooooo

Aaoooooo
Werewolves of London
Aaoooooo

Well, I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doing the Werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney, Jr. walking with the Queen
Doing the Werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic's
And his hair was perfect

Aaoooooo
Werewolves of London
Draw blood

Aaoooooo
Werewolves of London


Lyrics submitted by Champmathieu

Werewolves of London Lyrics as written by Leroy P. Marinell Warren Zevon

Lyrics © MUSIC & MEDIA INT'L, INC., Universal Music Publishing Group, Sentric Music

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Werewolves of London song meanings
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    General Comment

    This song is clearly about Zevon's struggle with homosexuality. The werewolf simply serves as a masculine image. In the first stanza Zevon discovers the werewolves, in the second his explores his disgust (better not let em in), the third forms a sort of tacit, tepid acceptance and admiration (I'd like to meet his tailor) and finally he ends the song by rejoicing in his attraction to other men (his hair was perfect). Sub-textually, the performance of the song is hyper-sexual, especially in the video: Zevon sneers and pouts in a hilariously over-sexualized parody of himself.
    The men Zevon finds himself attracted to are portrayed as werewolves simply because he's afraid of his potential homosexuality, thus they are painted as monsters. Towards the end of the song, as Zevon inches toward acceptance, the men cease to be werewolves and become Lon Chaney "doing" the werewolves of London (acting like a homosexual) with "The Queen" (a male cross-dresser).
    With the final line Zevon admits his attraction to these no-longer monstrous characters and comes to terms with the idea being mildly homosexual. After all, what subset of the male population dresses well, hangs out with queens, drinks pina coladas at Trader Vics and has perfect hair? Not gutter-punks.

    A brief aside: If you think in depth analysis for a song like this is pointless, more power to you. But I don't know why you feel the need to confess it here, repeatedly.

    EdgarOvereasyon July 20, 2008   Link

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