Most people consider the start of Warren Zevon’s recording career to be his stellar 1976 self-titled album. To the extent that they think of Wanted Dead Or Alive, his actual debut album from 1970, they write it off as a misfire.
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It’s true that LP didn’t quite capture Zevon the recording artist at the elite level he would eventually attain. But when you parse through the misbegotten production, you can certainly find some standout songs, such as “Tule’s Blues”.
Early Warren
Even though he probably wasn’t in a position to do so as a first-time recording artist, Warren Zevon made his opinions strongly felt about the direction of his debut album. In fact, he did so in such vehement fashion that the album’s original producer, Kim Fowley, skedaddled from the project before it was finished.
That was probably a wise move. The album, credited to “Zevon” only, tried valiantly to find the right setting for Zevon’s unique songwriting approach. It did this so frenetically that the album flits about from genre to genre in somewhat haphazard fashion.
In the case of “Tule’s Blues”, Zevon delivers it as a kind of country rocker that sounds a little like a Johnny Cash homage. It takes attention away from the utter, poetic beauty of the lyrics, rendering it as just your typical barroom lament.
Luckily, we have aural evidence of what the song could have and should have been. Solo piano versions of the song appeared in later Zevon releases, including on the 2003 compilation Preludes: Rare And Unreleased Recordings. Stripped of anything but the basics, Zevon’s heartrending message to the title character comes through unfiltered.
For those wondering, “Tule” is the nickname of Marilyn Livingston Dillow, the woman with whom Zevon had his first child, Jordan, in 1969. “Tule’s Blues” references that child and suggests that their relationship had already run its course by the time that Zevon wrote the song.
Examining the Lyrics of “Tule’s Blues”
“Tule’s Blues” displays Zevon’s songwriting skills at their most mercurial. On the one hand, much of the language is flowery and gallant, the words you might expect from an Elizabethan poet torn from their love. But then there are moments when he strips away that artifice and gets to the heart of the matter in frank, heartbreaking ways.
He begins the song admitting that Tule is causing him heartbreak. “And it’s lonesome in my heart’s land,” he moans. “Like the sands of the desert.” He uses musical terms to explain how she’s controlled the terms of the relationship. “Why was it always you who threw the changes?” he wonders. “You who always sang/And played while the green vespers rang/In the heart of the hillside.”
“Oh, Tule, wasn’t I once your knight in shining armor?” he wails. “Cymbals and lightning” once filled the air as the sun framed his golden hair. But now: “Oh, truly, can’t you see I’m changing like the seasons?/My hair is turning dark.” At wit’s end, he announces he’s leaving, but with remorse. “And whatever wild worlds I may see,” Zevon sings. “Will be empty without you.”
The first two refrains again frame their relationship through the lens of music. “You and me, sweet and slightly out of key/Like the sound of a running-down calliope.” In the final refrain, Zevon leaves the poetic devices behind and asks a haunting question: “And a child’s voice, tender and out of tune/Does he ask if I’ll be coming home soon?”
“Tule’s Blues” ranks right up there with any of Zevon’s classics from the heyday of his career. It just took an originally unreleased version for it to reach its full potential.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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