About The Song
“Poor Poor Pitiful Me” was written by Warren Zevon and first released on his 1976 self-titled album Warren Zevon. In Zevon’s original, the song is a sharp, darkly funny first-person rant: the narrator keeps stacking bad decisions and messy encounters, then tries to frame himself as the victim. That contradiction—self-inflicted chaos delivered with a wink—is the whole engine of the song, and it’s why it became such a strong cover vehicle for artists with personality and bite.
Linda Ronstadt recorded her version for Simple Dreams (1977), one of the defining albums of her peak commercial era. Her take keeps Zevon’s sly narrative intact but changes the impact through performance choices: cleaner vocal authority, tighter pop-rock polish, and a delivery that makes the lyric feel more like a confident recounting than a defeated complaint. The result is a cover that doesn’t soften the song’s rough edges—it spotlights them, turning Zevon’s sardonic character study into a radio-ready rocker with a grin.
Ronstadt didn’t just “borrow” the song; she helped amplify Zevon’s songwriting profile to a much wider mainstream audience. Zevon was respected in songwriter circles, and this track—along with other high-profile covers of his work—helped push his writing into the broader pop conversation of the late 1970s. That matters historically because “Poor Poor Pitiful Me” became one of the clearest examples of a cult songwriter breaking through partly via high-visibility interpreters.
As a single, Ronstadt’s version became a significant hit and is commonly described as a Top 40 pop success in the U.S., while also crossing into country-oriented charts—an example of how her “rock voice + country instincts” could travel across formats without changing the core record. It’s also a good illustration of Simple Dreams as an album strategy: big hooks, sharp song choices, and a repertoire that could pull from singer-songwriter circles while still sounding like mainstream radio.
Video
Lyric
Well, I lay my head on the railroad track
Waiting on the double E
But the train don’t run by here no more
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Oh, these boys won’t let me be
Lord, have mercy on me
Woah-woah, is me
Well, I met a man out in Hollywood
Now I ain’t naming names
Well, he really worked me over good
Just like Jesse James
Yes, he really worked me over good
He was a credit to his gender
Put me through some changes, Lord
Sort of like a waring blender
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Oh, these boys won’t let me be
Lord, have mercy on me
Woah-woah, is me
Well, I met a boy in the Vieux Carres
Down in Yokohama
Picked me up and he threw me down
He said, “Please don’t hurt me, mama”
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Oh, these boys won’t let me be
Lord, have mercy on me
Woah-woah, is me
Poor, poor, poor me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor, poor me
Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor, poor me
Poor, poor pitiful me