Warren Zevon / The Envoy (US, Asylum Records, 9 60159 1) <July 16, 1982>

Warren Zevon / The Envoy (US, Asylum Records, 9 60159 1) <July 16, 1982>
(SIDE ONE) 60159-A4 60097A-4SA-AR TML-S B-16842-A4 + SLM △ 1780
(SIDE TWO) 60159-B-3SH-RE AR TML-M B-16843-B3 SH-Re + SLM △1780-×

本作品はDon Henley, Lindsey Buckingham, J.D. Souther, Graham Nashなどがコーラスで参加した、ウォーレン・ジヴォンの5作目です。

ウォーレン・ジヴォンには「ロック界のサム・ペキンパー」との異名もあるそうですが、確かに暴力的・破滅的な美学を感じさせる作風を売りにするミュージシャンです。実際、作る音楽そのものよりもライフ・スタイルのイメージの方が強いミュージシャンというと、トム・ウェイツと並んで思い出される人でしょう。

1970年代半ばにジャクソン・ブラウンに見いだされ華々しくアサイラムからデビューし、特に2作目は高く評価されました。しかし以降は新作を出すたびにセールスが下がり、自身は薬物・アルコール中毒に悩まされるようになり、本作品ののちにアサイラムから解雇されました。

"The Envoy" is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Warren Zevon. The album was released on July 16, 1982, by Asylum Records. The album's lack of commercial success caused Zevon's label to terminate his recording contract, a fact that Zevon discovered only after reading about it in Rolling Stone. In reaction, Zevon went on a self-destructive binge that nearly killed him, followed by a rehab stint that kept Zevon clean and sober for the rest of his life.

The title track was inspired by veteran American diplomat Philip Habib's shuttle diplomacy during Israel's Lebanon incursion of 1982.

Zevon later said of the album's lack of success, "I would start a record more or less as soon as I'd finished the one previous to it, and they took longer, cost more and more, and actually did sort of less and less well. Particularly 'The Envoy'. I was a little discouraged after that."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7O_BIB8KWk

"The Overdraft"

I had a little girl, now
We crossed the state line
It was more than just an overdraft
We were looking at time

If I do say so I can't let go
And I don't take no for an answer
If I do say so I can't let go
And I don't take no for an answer

We had to leave in a hurry, now
No time to hesitate
It was worse than misunderstanding
I had to ask her not to call it fate

If I do say so I can't let go
And I don't take no for an answer
If I do say so I can't let go
And I don't take no for an answer

No one sleeps on the yellow line
No one's that alone
Someone's in the window
So don't try to use the phone
We're just up against it
We turned up in the zone
If you ever get an overdraft
You'll never make it home

If I do say so I can't let go
And I don't take no for an answer
If I do say so I can't let go
And I don't take no for an answer
If I do say so I can't let go
And I don't take no for an answer
If I do say so I can't let go
And I don't take no for an answer