Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Johnny cool was the king
The leader of the boot boys
He'd never cause no trouble
In a rumble make some noise
He heard about some chick
And they she like to rock
He said "come here honey"
"let me see you lift up your frock"
There's gonna be a showdown
Miss Lucy was a chick
He knew she like to ball
He said "come on Lucy"
"it doesn't matter to me at all"
But miss lucy got a fella
With a flick knife in his hand
Johnny cool pulls a shotgun
The man is in command
There's gonna be a showdown
King cool
King Kong
King king
With all the kings
King of hearts he's a lover
King of spades he's a brother
King of clubs makes a dollar
King of diamonds the wedding ring
There's gonna be a showdown
The leader of the boot boys
He'd never cause no trouble
In a rumble make some noise
He heard about some chick
And they she like to rock
He said "come here honey"
"let me see you lift up your frock"
There's gonna be a showdown
Miss Lucy was a chick
He knew she like to ball
He said "come on Lucy"
"it doesn't matter to me at all"
But miss lucy got a fella
With a flick knife in his hand
Johnny cool pulls a shotgun
The man is in command
There's gonna be a showdown
King cool
King Kong
King king
With all the kings
King of hearts he's a lover
King of spades he's a brother
King of clubs makes a dollar
King of diamonds the wedding ring
There's gonna be a showdown
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Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
Gadjits, The
He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Show Me a Little Shame
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
He certainly did earn that reputation.
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"