"The Wind" is the twelfth and final studio album by Warren Zevon, released on August 26, 2003. Zevon began recording the album shortly after he was diagnosed with inoperable pleural mesothelioma (a cancer of the lining of the lung), and it was released just two weeks before his death on September 7, 2003. The album was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album. "Disorder In The House", performed by Zevon and Bruce Springsteen, won Best Rock Vocal Performance (Group or Duo). Songs from the album were nominated for an additional three Grammys.n". This may account for the mellow mood of the album, particularly the second half of the LP. Young has said of it "Good album. One side of it particularly—the side with 'Ambulance Blues', 'Motion Pictures' and 'On The Beach' — it's out there. It's a great take." ¨Warren Zevon knew he was dying when he began recording his final album in the fall of 2002. He was diagnosed with mesothelioma just a few weeks before the recording sessions started for "The Wind", and he had a set of new mournful songs about mortality plus the usual assortment of familiar themes ready to go. He also had a bunch of famous friends willing to help him out one last time. Jackson Browne, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen all joined him in the studio, giving poignant resonance to the new batch of songs, which turned out to be some of the strongest of his career. Zevon's illness certainly fueled the urgency of his final recordings, which betray a frailness in his voice and even in his spirit at times. But the defiant tone captured in early songs like "Frank And Jesse James" can be heard in "The Wind" tracks like "Dirty Life And Times", and his eternal romance-on-the-rocks fatalism breaks through "She’s Too Good for Me". But the album is mostly about end days. It can’t be escaped. He knows it, and so do his collaborators and backing musicians. Death runs through most of the songs — from "Please Stay", disguised as a lover’s plea, to the cover of Bob Dylan's "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". It hits hardest on the album’s last track, "Keep Me In Your Heart", a teary farewell to family, friends and fans. From the song’s opening line — “Shadows are falling, and I’m running out of breath” to its last — “These wheels keep turning, but they’re running out of steam / Keep me in your heart for a while” — it’s near impossible to make it through the song without getting choked up. Zevon played this as his epitaph and, in a way, it’s his last devilish trick on his audience. Not that anyone was given any hope (Zevon went on David Letterman's program after his diagnosis and chatted with the host in one of the most heartening, and heartbreaking, moments to ever grace late-night TV). "Keep Me In Your Heart" is a carefully played goodbye coming at the end of one of Zevon's best albums.¨ (Michael Gallucci, ultimateclassicrock.com) "Keep Me In Your Heart" is the final track on the album. Zevon intended the song to be his final farewell. He told VH1 that "I don’t think anybody knows quite what to do when they get the diagnosis. I picked up the guitar and found myself writing this kind of farewell. Instantly I realized I’d found what to do with myself. On reflection it might be a little bit of a ‘woe is me’ song, but it made me realize what I was going to do with the rest of the time. It may be the last song on the album, but it was the first song I wrote." Lyrics: Shadows are falling and I'm running out of breath Keep me in your heart for awhile If I leave you it doesn't mean I love you any less Keep me in your heart for awhile When you get up in the morning and you see that crazy sun Keep me in your heart for awhile There's a train leaving nightly called when all is said and done Keep me in your heart for awhile Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo Keep me in your heart for awhile Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo Keep me in your heart for awhile Sometimes when you're doing simple things around the house Maybe you'll think of me and smile You know I'm tied to you like the buttons on your blouse Keep me in your heart for awhile Hold me in your thoughts, take me to your dreams Touch me as I fall into view When the winter comes keep the fires lit And I will be right next to you Engine driver's headed north to Pleasant Stream Keep me in your heart for awhile These wheels keep turning but they're running out of steam Keep me in your heart for awhile Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo Keep me in your heart for awhile Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-li-li-lo Keep me in your heart for awhile Keep me in your heart for awhile

Be the first to comment