Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy

Maybe the darkest pop song that I know. You first hear this song and it sounds cheery until you pay attention to the lyrics. I must admit I love the song because it’s just so different. The upbeat happy music with Linda Ronstadt on backing vocals is very catchy and then Warren tells the story and it ends up very dark, to say the least.

When I first paid attention to it…I was shocked and listened to it over and over to make sure I was hearing the lyrics right…No he couldn’t be singing this right? Warren had a dark sense of humor and it shows on this.

The song was not released as a single. The album peaked at #8 in the Billboard 100. Werewolves of London was the hit off of the album. It is perhaps Zevon’s best album.

 

 Excitable Boy
Well, he went down to dinner in his Sunday best
Excitable boy, they all said
And he rubbed the pot roast all over his chest
Excitable boy, they all said

He took in the four a.m. show at the Clark
Excitable boy, they all said
And he bit the usherette’s leg in the dark
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy

He took little Suzie to the Junior Prom
Excitable boy, they all said
And he raped her and killed her, then he took her home
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy
After ten long years they let him out of the home
Excitable boy, they all said
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he’s just an excitable boy

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

25 thoughts on “Warren Zevon – Excitable Boy”

  1. I read somewhere that he was a prodigious drunk in his earlier days. Threw himself to his knees and missed the stage one time, hitting the ground four feet below and shattering his knees. He was considerably more “tame” after that. I saw him once at the Casino at Hampton Beach (NH). He was playing with Donovan. It was a great concert. Wish the man were still around.

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  4. I saw Warren a couple times in a year apart one was one of the best concerts I’ve even been to the second was pretty bad- he seemed to be going through some kind of crisis- at least to me it seemed like it. I did meet him after the first concert- his bus was out front and I someone was talking to him- no one else was around- when they were done talking I went up and shook his hand, told him how I enjoyed the concert- a little small talk, he was quite nice and appreciative. Always a big fan of his music. … you are right this is a dark pop song but for some reason i never thought of it that way- because it does sounds so cherry and bouncy.

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    1. That is really cool that you got to meet him…. the lyrics and music are just complete opposite. I didn’t know Linda did backups.
      Now when I listen to it I don’t even think about. Love the song

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  5. Sounds like an anthem for either a school shooter or a serial killer. Some people need to be welded into a cell. Never heard this song before but it’s creepy af, especially because of the upbeat music! Along the same lines as The Beatles’ Bungalo Bill.

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    1. I know…I was shocked when I finally realized that is what he is saying…I can’t help but like it because it is so different. Ronstadt doing the back up vocals. Zevon was different.

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