Warren Zevon always stood out among his songwriting peers for his ability to inhabit characters who were desperate and downtrodden, rendering them with dignity while also imbuing them with a sharp sense of humor. Considering Zevon trod some of the same rough alleyways, both figuratively and literally in his own life, his protagonists always came off as touchingly authentic.
Zevon brought those skills to bear on the song “Carmelita,” which can be found on his stellar self-tiled album from 1976. The song had been around a while and had also been recorded once before (and has been covered many times since). But it took Zevon’s version to truly reveal the song’s heartbreaking depths.
Chicken Stands and Typewriters
Warren Zevon took a circuitous route to singer/songwriter immortality. In the ’60s, he built up some momentum as a songwriter-for-hire whose work was covered by acts like The Turtles. But his solo debut album Wanted Dead or Alive went nowhere.
To make ends meet, he continued writing songs for others, while also working as a member of The Everly Brothers’ touring band. One of the songs which found a home was “Carmelita,” which was recorded by the Canadian artist Murray McLauchlan in 1972.
McLauchlan’s version of the song includes an extra verse, whereby the narrator worries the titular character’s Samoan boyfriend is going to come and beat him up. It adds an extra layer to the song, in that it suggests that the guy is relying on someone who might not even consider him her top choice.
The other main difference is that McLauchlan’s version includes the narrator pawning his Smith and Wesson, which is a type of gun, to get money for drugs. When Zevon did the song, he changed that to a Smith Corona, a brand of typewriter. Somehow that makes more sense, as Zevon could certainly identify with being a frustrated writer at the time he penned the song.
What Do the Lyrics to “Carmelita” Mean?
Warren Zevon’s version of “Carmelita” finally arrived when he got another chance at his recording career. His good friend Jackson Browne championed him to Asylum Records, and then kept up the support by producing Zevon’s 1976 self-titled comeback record.
“Carmelita” presents the main conundrum for the protagonist in the chorus, as he pines for the titular girl while in a state of severe disrepair: And I’m all strung out on heroin / On the outskirts of town. The verses then set about putting a finer point on the situation, as we listeners are made privy to the depths of his despair.
In the first verse, he listens to the radio, specifically mariachi music, in order to remind him of her because they’re only together in his imagination: And I’m there with you in Ensenada / And I’m here in Echo Park. He explains in the second verse he’s not the only who has fallen on hard times, as Carmelita is also feeling the crunch: The county won’t give me no more Methadone / And they cut off your welfare check.
The final verse makes it clear why he had to pawn that typewriter, as he needs money to meet his drug connection. That’s where Zevon’s knowledge of the area brings a lived-in feel to the song, as he mentions the Pioneer Chicken Stand. It’s Zevon’s way of displaying how the Southern California in that era contained kitsch and squalor in equal parts.
It’s kind of amazing how many different feelings Zevon manages to evoke in just three short verses and a chorus on “Carmelita.” There’s something romantic about it, but it’s also deeply sad and sneakily funny. And that kind of marvelous writing is pretty much Warren Zevon in microcosm.
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