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LINDA RONSTADT AND ‘POOR POOR PITIFUL ME’

LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-JAN 16, 2020…FORTY TWO YEARS AGO THE SINGLE ‘POOR POOR PITIFUL’ ME WAS RELEASED BY LINDA RONSTADT. I’VE ALWAYS LOVED RONSTADT’S VOICE AND HER INTERPRETATION OF WARREN ZEVON’S SONG WAS PURE GOLD. WARREN ZEVON’S VERSION WAS A LITTLE MORE CRUDE AND RISQUE. HIS CHARACTER WAS A MESS AND TRIED COMMITTING SUICIDE BY PUTTING HIS HEAD ON THE TRACKS, BUT THE TRAIN STOPPED RUNNING. HE THEN MET A WOMAN AND ENGAGED IN A LITTLE S&M. RONSTADT’S VERSION IS GENDER REVERSED AND CLEANED UP A LITTLE. THE CHARACTER STILL FAILS AT SUICIDE, BUT ALL THE S&M REFERENCES WERE TAKEN OUT. HERE’S A GREAT VERSION OF ‘POOR POOR PITIFUL ME’ FROM 1996 WHEN SHE PERFORMED AT THE WHITE HOUSE.