Warren Zevon's Music Trivia Quiz

Answer: German

There are Spanish lyrics in "Veracruz" from "Exciteable Boy":
"Aquel dia yo jure, Hacia el puerto volvere...".
Hawaiian in "The Hula Hula Boys" from "The Envoy":
"Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana".
Russian in "Turbulence" from "Transverse City" (sorry, can't reproduce the Cyrillic characters here.)
Although Warren speaks German (you can hear him addressing his fans on "Learning to Flinch"), I can find no songs in which German lyrics were used.

Answer: Ghengis Khan

"Don Quixote had his windmills, Ponce de Leon took his cruise, took Sinbad seven voyages to see that it was all a ruse. (That's why I'm) Looking for the next best thing."

Answer: "Stand in the Fire"

Just created an interesting image in my mind of people half-heartedly searching for something and then sighing in relief when it's discovered that the dog ate it.

Answer: Bruce Hornsby

Jennifer Warnes, Linda Ronstadt, and Mick Fleetwood all appeared on "Exciteable Boy". Bruce Hornsby appeared on "Mutineer".

Answer: "Midnight Cowboy"

"Wanted Dead or Alive" was Zevon's first effort, released in 1970. It is definitely Warren, but pretty raw. If you play "Wanted..." and follow it with "Exciteable Boy", you can really hear the difference that Jackson Browne made in Warren Zevon's sound.

Answer: Hunter Thompson

Yes, the late Gonzo journalist collaborated on this one!

Answer: Howard Hughes

"I want to live all alone in the desert, I want to be like Georgia O'Keefe...."
"Michael Jackson in Disneyland, don't have to share it with nobody else. Lock the gates, Goofy, take my hand and lead me to the World of Self."

Answer: Havana

"I was gambling in Havana, I took a little risk.
Send lawyers, guns and money. Dad, get me out of this!"

Answer: David Crosby

Every time that I get stuck in traffic "Gridlock" starts playing in my mind. "Gridlock, up ahead. There's a line of cars as far as I can see. Gridlock, goin' nowhere. Roll down the window, let me scream."

Answer: Bob Dylan

From what I understand, Bob Dylan has been covering some of Zevon's songs on recent his concert dates.

Answer: Collier County Jail

"I'm a junk bond king playing Seminole Bingo."

Answer: SEC

SEC stands for Securities and Exchange Commission, which would probably be very interested in those triple-E bonds.
FCC is the Federal Communications Commission.
IRS is the Internal Revenue Service.
The FBI is the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Answer: Baghdad does whatever she please

Yup, it's been more than 20 years now that Baghdad has been a source of problems. Maybe if we sent Warren in...

Answer: Israel

Roland is "Norway's bravest son." Later in the song are the lyrics:
"In Ireland, in Lebanon, in Palestine and Berkeley."
Other places mentioned in this one are Denmark, Biafra, the Congo, Mombassa, Johannesburg. Ten places in one song. Hmmmm...

Answer: Kenya

"Roland searched the continent for the man who'd done him in.
He found him in Mombassa, in a barroom drinking gin.
Roland aimed his Thompson gun, he didn't say a word
But he blew Van Owen's body from there to Johannesburg."
Mombassa is more than 1600 miles from Johannesburg, according to my trusty atlas and ruler. I guess that Roland was pretty ticked off about the whole thing.
Which is scarier, a headless gunner that doesn't say a word, or one that does?

Answer: Youngstown, Ohio

"From Youngstown, Ohio, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini; a lightweight contender, like father like son." For your amusement - I was sitting around with some boxing fans one evening, not really participating in the conversation because I don't really know anything about boxing, when the talk turned to "Boom Boom" Mancini.

They were all trying to remember who it was that had beaten him. I was able to say "Oh, that would be Alexis Arguello. But seven weeks later he was back in the ring." I am now asked to every "Pay Per View" match that the group decides to watch! Thanks for your historical accuracy, Warren!

Answer: on the golfcourse

"Skinheads on the golfcourse
Hunting for their balls.
If you come calling he'll be mauling with intent to maim.
Don't knock on my door if you don't know my Rottweiler's name."

Answer: polyvinyl chloride

Who would ever have thought of using "polyvinyl chloride" in a song?

Answer: Jennifer Warnes

Jennifer has also done duets with Joe Cocker ("Up Where We Belong"); Chris Thompson ("All the Right Moves") and of course "(I've Had) The Time of My Life" with Bill Medley.

Answer: The highest mountain range in Ireland

"She stook beside my narrow bed to check my E.K.G.
She shook her pretty little head at what's become of me
I thought I glimpsed a path that led through rhododendron days
And fuschia nights to the boatshed in which we two once lay.
But she gazed only at my chart, the valleys and the peaks.
Brought back the time she broke my heart in Macgillicuddy's Reeks."
Several of the peaks of this range in Ireland are more than 3,000 feet high.

Answer: Daughter don't marry that gamblin' man

In REAL life, Warren's father was a gambler and his mother was a Mormon. Love is blind.

Answer: she did not turn away

This one was co-written with Bruce Springsteen.

Answer: getting divorced and in Transactional Analysis

"Big gorilla at the L.A. Zoo
Snatched the glasses right off my face
Took the keys to my BMW
Left me here to take his place
He built a house on an acre of land
He called it Villa Gorilla
Now I hear he's getting divorced
Laying low at L'Ermitage, of course
Then the ape grew very depressed
Went through Transactional Analysis
He plays racquetball and runs in the rain
Still he's shackled to a platinum chain"

Answer: workman's comp agent

"I started as an altar boy, working for the church..."
"Of course I went to law school and took a law degree..."
"I worked in hair replacement, swindlin the bald..."
"I opened up an agency somewhere down the line to hire aboriginals to work the opal mines. But I attached their wages and took a whopping cut and whisked away their workman's comp and pauperized the lot."
He TOOK their workman's comp, but didn't WORK for workman's comp.

Answer: Dwight Yoakam

It seems that everyone wants to play with Warren.