"Lawyers, Guns and Money" is a song by

Warren Zevon Warren William Zevon (January 24, 1947 – September 7, 2003) was an American rock singer and songwriter. His most famous compositions include "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner". All t ...

, and the closing track on his 1978 album '' Excitable Boy''. ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' called it "rock 'n' roll at its angriest."

Versions

An edited version of the song was released as a single and this edited version is on the ''A Quiet Normal Life'' best of compilation on the physical CD and LP, although the lyrics on the rear cover are the full un-edited version. The digital download and streaming version of the compilation use the album version.

Covers

The song was first covered by Rick Derringer on the 1978 album '' If I Weren't So Romantic, I'd Shoot You'' and was released as a single. It was also covered by Hank Williams Jr. in 1983 for his album '' Five-O'' and released as the B-side of his single " I'm for Love".

Meat Loaf Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally by his stage name Meat Loaf, was an American singer and actor. He was known for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. ...

covered the song on his 1999 live album ''VH1 Storytellers''. It was later covered by

The Wallflowers The Wallflowers are an American rock music, rock solo project of American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jakob Dylan. The Wallflowers were originally a roots rock band formed in Los Angeles by Dylan and guitarist Tobi Miller. It ha ...

on the album '' Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon'' in 2004. It has also been covered by Micky & The Motorcars, with a recording of it on their 2009 album "Live at Billy Bob's Texas", and is regularly played live by

Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...

. In April 2025, Zach Bryan covered the song at Stagecoach Festival.

Uses in popular culture

The song lent its title to a light-hearted radio program on the

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

community radio station

3RRR 3RRR (pronounced "Three Triple R", or simply "Triple R") is an Australian community radio station, based in Melbourne. 3RRR first commenced broadcasting in 1976 from the studios of 3ST, the student radio station of the Royal Melbourne Instit ...

, which looked at the legal fraternity in the city. The program started in 1985 and ran for several years, hosted by the pseudonymous duo " Donoghue & Stevenson"—Dennis Connell and Ross Stevenson. The song was used as both intro and exit music for the program. In the movie ''

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

'', Kevin Kline is listening to this song in his car when a gang approaches to menace him. The song was used for the opening of the show ''

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

,'' with Victor Garber, in 2006. There is a blog called ''Lawyers Guns and Money''. The third episode of the HBO series ''The Staircase'' featured the song for its end credits.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawyers, Guns And Money Warren Zevon songs 1978 songs Songs written by Warren Zevon Hank Williams Jr. songs American hard rock songs