Recording and release
Following My Ride's Here Zevon had begun working on new music, writing "Dirty Life and Times" and "She's Too Good for Me" prior to his cancer diagnosis; and having begun to incorporate "Dirty Life and Times" into his live set. [7] Around the time he would perform what would become his final live show at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival on August 9th, 2002; Zevon was found sick and short of breath by his tour managers and encouraged to see a doctor. Zevon would be diagnosed with cancer on the 28th later that month. [8]
Upon learning of his cancer diagnosis, Zevon became determined to record a final studio album. For this, Zevon entrusted his long time friend Jorge Calderón to help produce and write the album with him; and ensure it would be seen to completion. [7] Zevon's record label gave him a large budget to record, and he got assistance from high-profile friends such as Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty, Jackson Browne, and Billy Bob Thornton. Zevon was also joined by his son Jordan Zevon as a backing vocalist on the album. Zevon was inspired to include a Bob Dylan cover after Dylan performed several of his songs in concert in 2002. [9]
Calderón would often struggle with Zevon during the recording process, as his terminal diagnosis had caused Zevon to relapse into alcoholism and suffer regular bouts of depression causing him to sometimes disappear for several days at a time. [7] Zevon would also take a break from working on the album to travel to New York City to Studio 50 where he would film a final appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman , which would air at the end of October. A film crew from VH1 would produce a documentary on the album, which would air posthumously as (Inside) Out - Warren Zevon: Keep Me In Your Heart. [10]
Calderón viewed the album's creation as giving Zevon a purpose to live for and encouraged Zevon to continue working on the album, while Zevon would also note his desire to complete the album and live long enough to see his grandchildren born. [7] Lyrics often took inspiration from frequent conversations and phone calls between the two, for example Zevon once described on a phone call to Calderón his prescription pills as leaving him feeling "as numb as a statue" which lead to a song of the same title. The "davenport of despair" mentioned in "Disorder in the House" was a reference to the couch in Zevon's home that Calderón and Zevon had nicknamed "the couch of pain" and the "divan of despair" while first working on lyrics for Mr. Bad Example and subsequent albums on the couch prior to The Wind. [11] [7] Other lyrics in the song referenced the recent War on Terror.
As Zevon's cancer worsened during the production of the album, Calderón would frequently push for Zevon to record "Keep Me in Your Heart" a song which Zevon had begun writing shortly after his diagnosis. Following the birth of his twin grandsons, Zevon would be joined by his daughter Ariel and Calderón who would prop him up on his couch to record the finished "Keep Me in Your Heart" as the final track of the album on April 12, 2003. [7]
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