Grand Valley State University ScholarWorks@GVSU Honors Projects Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice 4-2020 A Mad Magical Poet: Essays on the Life and Art of Warren Zevon Zachary E. Tenney Grand Valley State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/honorsprojects Part of the Comparative Literature Commons, and the Musicology Commons ScholarWorks Citation Tenney, Zachary E., "A Mad Magical Poet: Essays on the Life and Art of Warren Zevon" (2020). Honors Projects. 774. https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/honorsprojects/774 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice at ScholarWorks@GVSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Projects by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@GVSU. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. A Mad Magical Poet Essays on the Life and Art of Warren Zevon by Zachary E. Tenney Submitted for Completion of the Senior Project to the Frederik Meijer Honors College Grand Valley State University April 25th, 2020 1 Dedicated warmly to my high school buddy, Kyle Hodgson, whose simple “You should listen to this guy” sent me on the most meaningful music journey of my life. And, for giving Warren Zevon a career: Thanks always to Jackson! 2 Author’s Note and Acknowledgements The following text consists of an introduction detailing my personal relationship with Warren Zevon’s music, followed by three essays of a critical/analytical nature on different aspects of Zevon’s career: 1) a general overview of Zevon’s appeal as a literary and philosophical figure, 2) an exploration of his environmental crisis song, “Run Straight Down,” and 3) a commentary on the role of violence in Zevon’s songs.