WARREN ZEVON - The Envoy (1982)

If a record for as established an artist as Zevon doesn't even get included except as an "album series" inclusion on one of my streaming services, it's gotta be minor work, right?  And if it flopped hard enough to drive its singer out of the mainstream for what seemed like it'd be forever, it's gotta be really minor work, right?  Well, let's find out.

Track One:  "The Envoy"

Well, the way the song comes in drowned in synthesizers immediately dates the song and the record that bears its name.  I like what "The Envoy" is going to with its tribute to the kind of superhero diplomat who, well, doesn't usually get his own rock song.  I'm a little torn between wishing the chorus were more than "[verb] the Envoy," and moments when it gets stuck in my head.  I do wish the song weren't so overproduced and... busy.  And I wish it had a third verse instead of the first one again.  Pretty good overall, though.

 

Track Two:  "The Overdraft"

As I mentioned, I'm going to write about the two live records together, so more on Stand In The Fire some other time.*  One thing that listening to SITF in its chronological place between Bad Luck Streak and The Envoy cemented for me, though, is that a core part of Zevon's sound in these days was being not so much an excitable boy so much as sounding absolutely unhinged.  He sounds like some cross between human and coyote who might break into your house and inflict inappropriate violence on your pot roast, on a whim.  The Envoy makes a few attempts to capture that intensity, including here, in what I guess is a bank robber's anthem.  More noisy and not so tightly composed like the opening track, although at least it makes sense here so as to highlight Zevon's (and Lindsey Buckingham's!) vocals.  I do like the chorus; think it hits what it was aiming for.

"The Overdraft" joins "Mama Couldn't Be Persuaded" as second tracks on Zevon records that I could totally hear Meat Loaf performing.  Just not an artist association I was expecting to come across multiple times when I started this project.

Track Three:  "The Hula Hula Boys"

Was there an epidemic of white guys in the '80s worried about their women getting seduced by Hawaiian men and/or lifestyles?  Despite my disdain at the whole notion of political correctness, I do have to wonder whether the chorus in the Hawaiian language is a little hashtag-problematic.  Can usually talk myself into chilling out and appreciating a little extra island flavor in my rock music because, well, why not have influences everywhere.

Part of the pathos and humor comes from how totally the song leans on the narrator being a sad-sack.  The delivery is very whiny (deliberately, I mean) on

I didn't have to come to Maui
To be treated like a jerk
How do you think I feel
When I see the bellboys smirk?

 

 You kinda feel bad but you also want to tell the narrator that not everything is about him and to stop being so whiny.  I do think the effect is intentional.

Track Four:  "Jesus Mentioned"

So, slow ballad time.  This is around where I start getting, dare I say, a little annoyed with the record for not quite being what I want.  I feel like we're kinda trying for something in the vein of "Accidentally Like A Martyr."  Since it's under three minutes, I'm sure if some particular part clicked with me I'd forgive the fact that the song is basically one open chord.  I know I can be hook focused, yet, well, I need a hook, or something to latch onto, otherwise the song is kinda nothing.   

I'm sure I'm missing something here lyrically; do not get it at all.  I don't understand paying tribute to Elvis with a song that doesn't rock.  I don't understand how one gets from Elvis to Jesus apparently "mentioning" mansions, or what that even means.**  Special mention that things being so damn slow doesn't help the gradual unwinding of the line "I'm going down to Memphis... Memphis, Tennessee."  Well, I'm really glad he spent what feels like fifteen minutes clarifying that, because I totally thought he was referring to Memphis, NE.  Can we get on with it, please?

Track Five:  "Let Nothing Come Between You"

Since nobody is all one thing, I guess it's not a huge shock that the same individual who could so convincingly inhabit the unhinged narrators of "The Overdraft" and "Ain't That Pretty At All" also had a naked sentimental streak.  I don't think I'm missing any irony in "Let Nothing Come Between You" - I think it actually is an earnest paean to the idea of marriage from a guy who himself never figured out long-term relationships.  Sadly, the sentimental type of Zevon song is the sort that I find most damaged by that omnipresent slick, layered, '80s production.  I'll allow that it's maybe my fault for wanting him to be a vulnerable crooner instead of a pop star, instead of judging the music on its own terms.  C'mon, though, with that voice, wouldn't even the poppy numbers sound better coming from an unprocessed voicebox with a bit of a rough edge?

I grew up a rockist and struggle some with overtly pop music.  That's partly my issue, and I am working on myself.  I do believe that writing a catchy tune with mass appeal is an admirable thing to strive for.  It is a simple fact, however, that that is not what I listen to Zevon for.  Why is half of the chorus "de-de-de-de?"  This isn't a "Bill Lee" situation - it's a normal song, why not give it actual lyrics?  Why is there that bell in the middle of it, if you're not trying to be funny?  I actually kinda hate that I enjoy the chorus as much as I do.  Because I do enjoy listening to this song.  I'm not sure I like that I like it.  I "shouldn't" like this.

Track Six:  "Ain't That Pretty At All"

Not the most musically dynamic track here, sure.  Sometimes there's no substitute for intensity, though, which ATPAA has in spades.  Another unhinged one that one in the right mood takes someone to a definite place.  Just an agitated two-note keyboard and other riff, not a "chorus" so much as repeated statements that nothing's "that pretty at all" and the narrator's feeling alive only when hurling himself at a wall.  Warren does not sound like he's speaking figuratively.  He sells the fuck out of it.  There's something next-level about ending a scheme about international travel by coming right back to start:

I'd like to go back to Paris someday and go to the Louvre museum...
Get a good running start and hurl myself at the wall!

Ow.

An absolutely classic Zevon aside almost on par with the ending of "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" comes during the third verse, when he replaces the expected five millionth repetition of the title lyric with a delayed "... guess what?!"  Heh.  We did indeed know what you were going to say, song.  Thank you for making us feel heard. 

Track Seven:  "Charlie's Medicine"

If there were some way to bottle up the feeling that the chord progression from this song gives me, well, nobody would ever want for good music.  I do think that beautiful noise is coming from just a regular guitar... sounds like some kind of hybrid between a harp and a harpsichord.  In just four seconds, the song sells me on a gorgeous haunting sort of ache.  

Now I'm not sure I would have expected that melody to be.. a lament for a murdered pill-pusher.  But there ya go.  He totally makes it work.  Love the way the rock guitars and drums come in on the last line of the verse to match the moments of emotional release, but let the original riff keep playing underneath and breathe.  Adore the way the chorus ends, where the vocal goes up a note and is joined by the slightly off kilter synthesizer, so "I came to finish paying my bills" sounds eerie and menacing.  I love Zevon taking on the role of a complicated narrator, mostly focused on his own concerns and how it affects him, making the plain-spoken regret that he does feel hit harder.  "I came to say goodbye; I'm sorry Charlie died."  Just because something's inevitable doesn't mean it isn't sad.  I... don't love the pointless repetition of the first verse, an annoyingly overused trick.  Still, rest of the song is a piece of compositional brilliance.  Where was the guy who was capable of writing this hiding all record long?

Track Eight:  "Looking For The Next Best Thing"

A keyboard driven song that's instantly dated to the early '80s.  Zevon gives a solid vocal performance and I've always**** liked the hook.  Don't think I've ever once successfully paid attention to the entire song.  To be fair to me, the second half is basically the hook and the main keyboard figure over and over.  The conceit of the lyrics brushes against the edges of clever without quite getting there.

Track Nine:  "Never Too Late For Love"

Zevon again as the elder giving wise advice.  Of all the Zevon piano ballads, this is... well, one of them.  On the whole I enjoy the song, particularly the unusual choice to build the chorus around the idea of the word "tired" as an out for those giving up.  It's funny, when I'm listening to the song I get a few feels from the increasing insistence and passion that Zevon's narrator puts into telling "you," regardless of whether you're pining for "him" or "her" to "don't stop believing in tomorrow."  I wish it hit harder more consistently.  I mean, I had to listen to the song while typing just to come up with something to say about it, and there's a good chance I'll forget what it sounds like by tomorrow.

Common phrases are common.  Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" had been out for a year when this record dropped but probably not long enough to get embedded int he public consciousness yet, whilst future Zevon collaborators R.E.M. were a decade away from releasing "Everybody Hurts." 

Overall thoughts:

I was ready to write off The Envoy as the overproduced uninspired mess that its reputation suggests of it.  I can't imagine listening and not immediately registering that it's not as good a record as Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School.  Everyone knows it's not as good, right?  The thing is, those sometimes great and sometimes insipid choruses wrap themselves around your brain.  I got to the point where I was humming these songs a lot.  "Let Nothing Come Between You" steadfastly refused to be forgotten about.  "Charlie's Medicine" just kept climbing from "one of the good ones" to legendary.  A bit of a rare phenomenon - a grower of a pop record, where the main reason it grows is that the tunes get catchier the more you listen to them.  Still, the songs just aren't as interesting to me or as tight as on even the chaotic moments of the previous three records.

I've mentioned both above (in the bit about LNCBY) and previously what kind of baggage I'm bringing in here; specifically, in my head Zevon's primary mode is sardonic singer-songwriter, letting a lone voice and a lone guitar or piano tell stories.  I try to put aside the fact that that, rather than glossy synthy production numbers, is what I personally want most from him.  "My" version of Zevon certainly wasn't always actual-Zevon's vibe.  The man definitely had some glitzy pop star in his DNA.  And also some guy who incoherently howls and screams at things but makes it musical in that same DNA.  I personally don't think those two modes are Zevon at his best.  The Envoy disagrees with me, leans into those sides, and makes it work... in spots at least.

Favorite track:  "Charlie's Medicine"

Runner up:  "Ain't That Pretty At All"

Least favorite track:  "Jesus Mentioned"

Rating:  3.5/5

On to Sentimental Hygiene, whenever I get around to it!

 

 

Definitive list of records by Warren Zevon profiled so far, in order of what I have decided is unambiguously their quality

1)  Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School

2)  Excitable Boy

3)  Warren Zevon

4)  The Envoy

5)  Wanted Dead Or Alive

 

 

*Whenever I... well, you know.

** What's a Jew** from Chicago doing talking about Jesus's mansions in Memphis anyway?

***By ancestry, anyway, although I guess not by halackha since his mom wasn't of the tribe

****LFTNBT is the only Envoy track on the Genius compilation, which is the record through which I learned about Zevon in the first place.  Not sure if I've ever mentioned that.  Ergo, the only song with which I was familiar coming into this record.