#liam idiot

[rednape]

Liam is such an idiot, and Theo is just worried about his boyfriend

[mo1dymi1k]

[thesingingknives]

Listen/purchase: Demon Blues by Liam Idiot

The high life was the low road, and we had to pay the rent There were people in the pool halls that we thought were heaven sent Just a bunch of muscles, and a brand new pair of shoes There’s no way for us to beat these demon blues

That early in the mornin’ was the shipwreck time of day My dreams were all in Spanish tongues, and I had nothing to say When you start feeling like a human, you’ve got everything to lose And there’s no way for us to beat these demon blues

The taxman takes our taxes, and the walls are painted green And I’ve fallen half in love with every person that I’ve seen I hired a detective, but he ate up all the clues Now there’s no way for us to beat these demon blues

The bus was going backwards and my hands just felt like steel Took a handful of amphetamines, and got behind the wheel Lying in the ambulance, I thought: “We all gotta pay our dues” But there’s no way for us to beat these demon blues

Burned down my apartment, and I rode out on the rail I went digging through the bargain bins, but nothing was on sale And I found a wrinkled valentine that read: “Beggars cannot choose” So there’s no way for us to beat these demon blues

All my life I’ve mucked around, up to my neck in sin I have a hundred excuses, but they’re wearing kinda thin And everybody’s talkin’, and it just makes me confused There’s no way for us to beat these demon blues

[rustbeltjessie]

Liam (Idiot) Warfield, from War Against the Idiots #21 (2001)

[cleritaofficial]

Liam is an idiot

[rustbeltjessie]

It's very, very windy outside, and hot, and Jonathan Richman seems like a sensible thing to listen to. Clean, sincere music, good for a dirty, smoggy afternoon. Joey is cooking coffee that he bought across the street at the liquor store, hmm, maybe they spiked it. I should start drinking a cup of coffee for every can of beer I drink, one after the other. That way, I can be drunk all the time, but also enjoy the jacked-up clear-headedness that you get from too much cheap coffee. Right? I told Joey to write me a story, and he said, "Okay, but we need some coffee first." So when he got up to go to the liquor store to buy coffee grounds I stole his seat and the typewriter. I don't think he's too thrilled about it. I'm kind of stoned. I had to smoke some dope to calm myself down. I got all bent out of shape cause the washing machines ate two of my dollars and I had to attack them with a hammer to get my clothes started, and I got locked out of the laundry room twice. I flew off the fucking handle. See, Jonathan Richman sings about stupid hippies and makes sobriety sound very wonderful, but Jonathan Richman probably never had to deal with the washing machines from hell. Anyway, I feel much better, it's a heavy afternoon and I've been rolling cigarettes in the sun-room and fighting with Joey, and it's going to feel very nice when evening comes around and I've got all these starchy white t-shirts and springtime-fresh socks. I'll parade around the city, showing off my fancy clean clothes. I'll feel like fucking royalty. Plus, I'll be all fried on Joey's possibly alcoholic coffee. God, the Modern Lovers were a pretty terrific band! It's cool to hear kickass rock and roll that's not mean or fake or even especially pissed-off. I mean, pissed-off rock and roll is great, if they mean it, but you don't want to hear that shit all the time.

Liam 'Idiot' Warfield, "Jonathan Richman Seems Sensible" (from War Against the Idiots #20)

[rustbeltjessie]

I'd like, if I may, to make a few sweeping generalizations about punk kids here in Chicago as compared to punk kids in other parts of the country. We're not as easy-going and energetic as the kids I've met in California, or as quick and sardonic as kids in New York; we're not as resourceful and adventurous as the punks down South, or as unabashedly alcoholic as the punks in Minneapolis. We're extremely self-aware and self-critical. We're often nervous and have poor social skills. There is a vague sense of desperation in just about everything we do. We're pretty lousy at throwing parties, but some of us make some really brilliant rock and roll -- not in spite of our faults but because of them.

Liam 'Idiot' Warfield, from War Against the Idiots #22

[rustbeltjessie]

War Against the Idiots, by Liam 'Idiot' Warfield. (Featured: issue #22.)

This is the final 'official' post in my zine collection look-back 'series' (the other few being zines I no longer have but will still post about), and that seems appropriate, considering. Liam was another IRL friend, for a while, and I have written so much about him over the years. Like, maybe it is a little weird how much I have written about him. I just - I once described him as "Woody Guthrie, if Woody Guthrie were a punk-ass kid from Chicago," and that's pretty much it, and I guess he made such an impression on me cos I wanted some of that dirty'n'free mystique to rub off on me.

Also, War Against the Idiots was fucking great. Liam was one of those rare people whose writing persona was pretty much exactly the same as he came across in real life. His writing (his persona, his personality) was plainspoken, no bullshit, pulling no punches - but there was a definite sense of humor there, too, and more than a hit of wonder and poetry. He never came across like he was outright romanticizing anything, yet he made being unemployed and living in a shitty apartment or squat and getting drunk on the beach seem like just about the best goddamn things that you could ever do.

He does a new zine, now, called The Secret Beach, and I've read a few issues, but it just doesn't give me the same feeling that WATI did. Still, I'm glad that he hasn't given up on zines.

Last year, I traded zines with Mark Novotny (who does a great zine called The Fury), and he sent me a note after he read Reckless Chants #19. I mentioned Liam in it, briefly, and Mark apparently knew Liam, too, and he said: "I see a real similarity in your writing to what I remember of his; I'm not sure if it is an intentional influence or just a function of being part of the same place at the same time." Maybe, probably, a little of both.

(More Liam Warfield on my blog: I don't know why... That's what keeps me poor...)