Hasten Down the Wind

"Hasten Down the Wind" is a song from Warren Zevon's 1976 self-titled album.

About the Song[]

The song describes a man's turbulent relationship with a woman. She tells him that "she thinks she needs to be free", a euphemism for leaving him, noting that the relationship does not seem to be really working out. In the end he comes to agree, she needs to be free. In response she says that she would actually rather be with him, but the man comes to realize that this is only her way to keep him on the limb. His perception of her personality has changed so much since they met that he can't find the woman he loved, and is only hanging on to half her heart. It is one of Zevon's more tender songs, even if dealing with such an unhappy relationship.

The song appears on the compilation albums I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (An Anthology) and Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon. It is also featured on the live albums Learning to Flinch and the 2007 reissue of Stand in the Fire. The song is also available in sheet form in The Warren Zevon Guitar Songbook. A strings version is on Dad Get Me Out Of This: The String Quartet Tribute To Warren Zevon. Jackson Browne, producer of the song's debut album, has stated that it is one of his favourite songs of all time. Linda Ronstadt covered the song and used the title for her 1976 album Hasten Down the Wind.

Lyrics[]

Note: the text of this song's lyrics is not under the same copyright license as the wiki's encyclopedic text, it is used under fair use/dealing.

She tells him she thinks she needs to be free

He tells her he doesn't understand

She takes his hand

She tells him nothing's working out the way they planned

She's so many women

He can't find the one who was his friend

So he's hanging on to half her heart

He can't have the restless part

So he tells her to hasten down the wind

Then he agrees he thinks she needs to be free

Then she says she'd rather be with him

But it's just a whim

By which she hopes to keep him on the limb