Zevon replied, “Just how much you’re supposed to enjoy every sandwich.” Letterman asked Zevon if there was anything he understood now, facing his own mortality, that he didn’t before. The album’s title comes from an interview Zevon did on The Late Show with David Letterman following Zevon’s having been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. It includes two unreleased Zevon songs: “The Wind,” sung by actor Billy Bob Thornton and “Studebaker,” sung by Warren’s son Jordan Zevon. Wikipedia: Enjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren ZevonĮnjoy Every Sandwich: Songs of Warren Zevon is a tribute album released in 2004 to the late Warren Zevon by many famous musicians. In the green room after the show, Zevon presented Letterman with the guitar that he always used on the show, with a single request: “Here, I want you to have this, take good care of it.” For his final song of the evening, and his final public performance, Zevon performed “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” at Letterman’s request. He noted, “I may have made a tactical error in not going to a physician for 20 years.” It was during this broadcast that Zevon first offered his oft-quoted insight on facing death: “Enjoy every sandwich.” He also took time to thank Letterman for his years of support, calling him “the best friend my music’s ever had”. Zevon was a frequent guest and occasional substitute bandleader on Letterman’s television shows since Late Night first aired in 1982. Zevon performed several songs and spoke at length about his illness. The band played “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” as his introduction. On October 30, 2002, Zevon was featured on the Late Show with David Letterman as the only guest for the entire hour. At the request of the music television channel VH1, documentarian Nick Read was given access to the sessions his cameras documented a man who retained his mordant sense of humor, even as his health was deteriorating over time. Schmit, Joe Walsh, David Lindley, Billy Bob Thornton, Emmylou Harris, Tom Petty, and others. The album, The Wind, includes guest appearances by close friends including Bruce Springsteen, Don Henley, Jackson Browne, Timothy B. Refusing treatments he believed might incapacitate him, Zevon instead began recording his final album. After a long period of untreated illness and pain, Zevon was encouraged by his dentist to see a physician when he did so he was diagnosed with inoperable mesothelioma (a form of cancer associated with exposure to asbestos, and also the same cancer that killed Steve McQueen). Shortly before playing at the Edmonton Folk Festival in 2002, he started feeling dizzy and developed a chronic cough. In interviews, Zevon described a lifelong phobia of doctors and said he seldom received medical assessment. He was a frequent guest on the the David Letterman show. Other well known Zevon songs include “Accidentally Like a Martyr”, “Mutineer” and “Mohammad’s Radio”.Īlong with his own compositions Zevon recorded an occasional cover, including Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan”. Zevon’s best-known compositions include “Werewolves of London”, “Lawyers, Guns and Money”, “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” and “Johnny Strikes Up The Band”, all of which are featured on his 1978 release, Excitable Boy. Warren William Zevon (Janu– September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer-songwriter and musician noted for weaving his offbeat, sardonic view of life into his music, composing dark, sometimes humorous songs often laced with political or historical themes. Zevon stated that he was trying to enjoy life and to “enjoy every sandwich.”Įnjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Zarren Zevon was the title of a tribute album released in 2004. Letterman asked Zevon what life was like living with a terminal disease. The rock musician Warren Zevon (1947-2003) had been diagnosed with lung cancer and made his final appearance on Late Night with David Letterman in a tribute show (no other guests were booked for the hour) on October 30, 2002.