If you didn’t know better, you’d swear he knew it was coming.
It’s been twenty years since Warren Zevon released his eleventh studio album, My Ride’s Here. Zevon described the album as a meditation on death, attacking a morbid subject with verve and his trademark wit and wordplay, particularly in the title track that closes the album.
Because much attention was paid to Zevon’s terminal illness when it became public in late 2002, it would be natural to assume My Ride’s Here was inspired by his ticking clock. But in a stroke of tragic irony, Zevon only learned of his cancer after the album was released, rendering his latest work eerily prescient and painfully resonant.
Once diagnosed, Zevon lived longer than anyone expected, finally passing away on September 7, 2003. Three days later, Bruce Springsteen took the stage at the SkyDome in Toronto on the Rising Tour, and it was immediately clear to all assembled that he was not going to open his show in the usual fashion.
Bruce and Warren had been friends as far back as the 1970s; Bruce’s unreleased (at the time) “Janey Needs a Shooter” inspired Zevon’s song of a similar name. And when Warren learned of his limited remaining time, Bruce was one of the friends he called to contribute two of his final recordings, “Disorder in the House” and “Prison Grove.”
So Bruce used his opening moments on that late summer night to remember and pay tribute to his departed friend, choosing the morbidly witty song that closed Zevon’s penultimate album.
Bruce’s version of “My Ride’s Here” is slower than Zevon’s, almost elegiac. We can hear both his respect for the art and his love for its creator in his warm and tender vocals.
It was a beautiful moment, and a spellbinding performance–so much so that it was officially released on Enjoy Every Sandwich, a tribute album released the following year.
My Ride’s Here
First performed: September 10, 2003 (Toronto, ON)
Last performed: September 10, 2003 (Toronto, ON)
