#WARREN ZEVON HIT SOMEBODY FULL#

#WARREN ZEVON HIT SOMEBODY FULL#

The chorus lays out his dilemma: “There were Swedes to the left of him, Russians to the right/ A Czech at the blue line looking for a fight/ Brains over brawn that might work for you/ But what’s a Canadian farm boy to do?”īuddy’s career progresses, full of “blood on the ice” and many minutes in the penalty box. “There’s always room on our team for a goon,” a scout tells him.

Ironically, Buddy’s only way to reach the big-time is to embrace his pugnacious side. But he does prove useful on the ice: “Buddy’s real talent was beating people up.” The song tells the story of Buddy, a would-be hockey star who, unfortunately, isn’t able to master the glamorous aspects of the game. Nor could Albom have imagined who would end up helping Zevon with the song: most of David Letterman’s Late Show band, including Paul Shaffer on organ, with Dave himself belting out the refrain of “Hit somebody!” throughout the proceedings. “He said, ‘You know, I’d like to do a sports song that nobody has done before.’ And I said, ‘Hockey’ And he said, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘I can’t think of a single hockey song.’ And he said, ‘Great! You should write me one!’” Albom began the process and the two later got together to complete it, with Albom never thinking the song would end up on Zevon’s 2002 album My Ride’s Here. “This song came about when my friend Warren Zevon and I were talking one day,” Albom writes.

On his website, Albom explains the origins of the song. And, in the case of “Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song)”, sportswriter Mitch Albom helped Zevon on this wonder of tragicomic storytelling. Thompson), even mercenaries (David Lindell). We’re talking novelists (Carl Hiassen), gonzo journalists (Hunter S. But it’s doubtful that anyone has ever cultivated a list of co-writers as eclectic as the late, great Warren Zevon. Just about every songwriter worth their salt has collaborated with other writers during their career.

Warren zevon hit somebody