Werewolves of London
I was blessed with excellent English teachers during my final two years at dear old Central High. Both emphasized poetry . “Poetry is the art of painting a picture with words. Poetry appreciation is discovering the meaning of that picture.”
I remembered that while driving back from the gym this morning. NPR was soliciting donations again, so I flipped the radio dial to Classic Rock, 99.9, The Hawk. Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” was playing.
Music lyrics are poetry for the masses. “Werewolves of London” paints rather vivid pictures with its words. Some of the pictures are vague:
I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Focks
For to get a big dish of beef chow mein
What Warren meant by that is beyond me. He gets more obvious in Verse 2:
You hear him howling around your kitchen door
You better not let him in
Little old lady got mutilated late last night
Werewolves of London again
That’s good but not great. A “goth” high school kid might have written the same. Warren picks it up in Verse 3:
He’s the hairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent
Lately he’s been overheard in Mayfair
You’d better stay away from him. He’ll rip your lungs out, Jim
I’d like to meet his tailor.
Now there’s a mental image. I can visualize a “hairy-handed gent (in fact hairy all over) ripping people’s lungs out while clad in a beautifully-tailored suit. Warren goes for the kill in Verse 4:
I saw Lon Chaney walking with the Queen
Doin’ the Werewolves of London
I saw Lon Chaney Junior walking with the Queen
Doin’ the Werewolves of London
I saw a werewolf drinking a pina colada at Trader Vic’s
His hair was perfect
Lon Chaney pere et fils famously played werewolves in the movies. The cinematic werewolf had a unique bouncy stride with arms extended which could be interpreted as a trendy dance like the Macarena. A hairy-handed gent doing that alongside the Queen is an indelible image.
What does “Werewolves of London” really mean? My high school English teachers would probably give me an “F”, but I think it is a critique of the “Greed is Good”, physical appearance fixated late 1970s when the song was written. In the movie “Wall Street”, Gordon Gekko “rips the lungs out” of anyone standing in his way to wealth while impeccably dressed and coiffed at all times. Gordon might very well hang out with the Queen.
Ironically, today’s financial wizards like Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Bankman-Fried dress like hobos. I wonder what “Werewolves of London — 2023” would say.
By Ed Dufton
