My Shit's Fucked Up

This song is from the album LIFE'LL KILL YA, which was recorded and released in 1999/2000, two years before he knew he had mesothelioma, and three (maybe four?) years before he died of it. According to one source, "It's a 'mournful lament to the aging process and the inevitable decay that accompanies it. It describes the narrator visiting a doctor, where he receives unpleasant news: "your shit's fucked up".

i think it's about getting old fucking up chances (maybe) regretting it.

but it happens to everyone more or less i guess...

I can't believe no one's said anything about this yet. This song is sad. Although I don't think it was written shortly before Warren died, it sounds like it could've been. It's kind of funny in a twisted way. I guess it's like he can't be cured and he's stuck with whatever this horrible thing. Sad.

Warren Zevon: "I may have made a tactical error in not going to the doctor for 20 years."

i don't think this song is sad at all. but i definitely agree with bradec9 that he thinks he might have done better to go to the doctor now and then. the question is, would he have changed his lifestyle if he'd had the forewarning? i think the answer is a resounding no. this song has only the slightest tinge of regret, and is overlayed with a strong sense of acceptance. warren zevon would never have been satisfied as a health nut, clearly.

sonically this is the song in his catalogue closest to down home blues. like one of his heroes Milton, he strives in this song to be a rejuvenator and a prophet for his chosen genre. he is literally rewriting the rules of the blues. in this song the blues do not have to necessarily reflect guilt, regret, melancholy. instead it can be an outlet for rationally reasoning through a tough situation. the difference between him and Milton is that he does not care whether or not he reaches you to the point of wanting to mimic him, he wants to touch you through empathy, and he succeeds.

I, too, believe this song may have been written before he knew he'd been dealt the Ace of Spades (not sure why, but I've been reading a lot about Mr. Zevon lately -- older info, not recent -- and that's my sense of things).

Regardless, it was indeed a tactical error to avoid the doctor, but many folks in the prime of life do that.

As for a doctor's visit changing his lifestyle, that's somewhat ironic, as his death was not related to his "life of wretched excess" (my words), and I believe an earlier visit to a doctor might not have done a whole lot of good in his case.

As I recall, Warren's cancer was caused by exposure to airborne particles of asbestos insulation when, as a child, he would play in the attic above his folk's carpet store. It kind of goes underground, and then comes back to bite you later.

An acquaintence of mine died a few years back from this really weird (and rare) form of Asbestosis of the stomache.

As he was making his long journey to pass under "Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate" (Jackson's words, not mine), he was racking his brain trying to figure out how he contracted THAT. I mean, how does someone end up EATING asbestos?

Then he remembered that, some 40 years earlier, the summer after he graduated high school, he'd had a job for 3 months, unloading train cars.

What he was unloading was sheets of asbestos, 4' by 8' by 1/16", and the sheets would kind of stick together so you couldn't get a purchase on them. His solution was to lick his fingertips in between sheets (at the time, people didn't know the stuff could be deadly), and the rest, like he himself, is history.

Side note: Asbestos isn't deadly unless it becomes airborne, as in tearing out old ceiling tiles, insulation, or floor tiles. Not sure how to identify, if in doubt, don't fool around - consult an expert. But I CAN tell you that if the home is older, and the floor tiles look like Linoleum or VCT but they are LESS THAN one foot square (typically 8 or 9 inches square), then they are ALMOST CERTAINLY made of/with asbestos. Especially if they're in the basement, over a concrete subfloor.

Not to worry, though ... if no demolition is needed, simply cover them with another layer of flooring; something that doesn't require nailing (no hardwood), such as VCT (Vinyl Composite Tile, as seen in a school hallway near YOU), or sheet vinyl (as seen in your bathroom and kitchen, unless you have Ceramic tile liek me).

I suggest a consultation with a Licensed (!) Contractor before proceeding - it should be free (mine are).

Not that all that is really about the song (unless it is), but if it keeps someone else from pushing up the daisys prematurely, I'm glad. Rock on!

YouTube has a fantastic live version of this song showing Warren on guitar picking this song out meticulously.

As stated. This song was on the Life'll Kill Ya album. His exwife claims that he brought the finished CD by her house before it went out to the public and that she had an immediate bad feeling about it. The last song on the album was "Don't Let Us Get Sick". The cancer was already working on him...but he had no idea of it yet. A terrific album and an odd coincidence. Perhaps.

My introduction to Zevon was by accident.

I had a friend James who had left Aiken. Anyways his family owned a golf course and he invited me to play a tribute concert/party to Michael Houser the night before Steeple Chase. I stopped by on my way back to school from Savannah.

Steeple Chase is the equivalent of St. Patrick's day in Savannah. It's an excuse for everyone to be an alcoholic for a day. I bet on one horse but I was there to get drunk.

Back to the night before -

Anyone with an instrument was allowed to play. One of the younger guy's dad got up and sang "Poor Poor Pitiful Me". I walked up to him afterwards because I knew it was Zevon - a friend had burned me a live show in high school.

He mentioned this song and described it as hilarious. When I got back to school I made it a point to become familiar with Warren's repertoire.

When I used to be able to pull all nighters I did one night, stayed up smoking and listening. It was an enlightening night.

You know that's really the magic. Of being introduced to good music through experiences like that.

Honestly, this song sounds like he was trying to write a song and just couldn't fucking get it, and so he wrote about that instead. It's still brilliant, but that's just what it sounds like to me.