{"id":139880,"date":"2025-09-15T23:09:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/139880\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T23:09:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T23:09:03","slug":"the-hidden-meaning-in-warren-zevon-werewolves-of-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/139880\/","title":{"rendered":"The hidden meaning in Warren Zevon ‘Werewolves of London’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Warren<\/p>\n

(Credit: Alamy)<\/p>\n

Mon 15 September 2025 21:45, UK <\/p>\n

Warren Zevon<\/a> was one of the more unsuspecting presences in the LA music scene. Linda Ronstadt even once described him as someone who \u201chardly lifted his eyes off the floor\u201d. His shyness meant it was his music that did all the talking.<\/p>\n

But this also meant that most of it was free to be interpreted however people pleased. People like Ronstadt loved his songs because there was also this mystery around them all. Like discovering a painting by an artist whose identity was mostly concealed. You knew how it made you feel, but you rarely knew the original intent behind it, which is also why songs like \u2018Werewolves of London\u2019 became so popular.<\/p>\n

Bob Dylan once described Zevon as \u201ca musician\u2019s musician, a tortured one\u201d. Coming from Dylan, the self-professed curator of so-called tortured poetry, that comment probably said more about Zevon\u2019s dark wit than anything else. Which is also a mainstay of \u2018Werewolves of London\u2019. Now, it\u2019s no secret that Zevon is funny in a different way than most of his peers. But his wit is also what makes people regard the opening line as one of the best in all of history: \u201cI saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The title itself \u2013 which naturally speaks to some kind of darker, London underbelly \u2013 came from Phil Everly<\/a>, who drew inspiration from the 1935 film, Werewolf of London. Thus was borne a chic, suave werewolf character that destroys and mutilates, but looks good while doing it. A beautifully brutal fashionista whose movement catches on, spawning into some kind of dance craze centred around being dark, but cool.<\/p>\n

Pair that with Jackson Browne, and you\u2019ve got yourself one of the most sensually endearing hits in history. According to Browne himself, the whole idea was how hedonistic pleasures become dark, tragic, almost, but branch out into cultural moments. \u201cIt\u2019s about a really well-dressed, ladies\u2019 man, a werewolf preying on little old ladies,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Continuing, \u201cIn a way, it\u2019s the Victorian nightmare, the gigolo thing. The idea behind all those references is the idea of the ne\u2019er do-well who devotes his life to pleasure: the debauched Victorian gentleman in gambling clubs, consorting with prostitutes, the aristocrat who squanders the family fortune. All of that is secreted in that one line: \u2018I\u2019d like to meet his tailor.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The humour is what brings it to life \u2013 and also what brings its hidden meaning to the surface. And, whether it was intended or not, it comes from the way Zevon\u2019s wit comments on how we, as a society, as music lovers, process the darker, more tragic sides of culture, especially when they relate to class and privilege. The \u201chairy-handed gent who ran amok in Kent\u201d, walking around, \u201cpreying on little old ladies\u201d, also has perfect hair and a charisma about him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The focus on these parts trivialises the darker elements, but it\u2019s also so lighthearted that the deeper meaning doesn\u2019t actually mean anything sinister. As Zevon said whenever he\u2019d introduce it, this is \u201ca dumb song for smart people\u201d. It\u2019s meant to lead by feeling first; everything else is background. And in the process, the chorus of howls became more of a mantra of the simple pleasures of fun than anything broadly commenting on society at large.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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