“Perfect”: The Linda Ronstadt song she thought was best for her to sing
Any good singer usually searches for that one ideal song to wrap their voice around. Even if they haven’t lived every second of what the composer intended, any vocalist should understand the sentiment of the lyrics and deliver them rather than singing everything at exactly the right pitch. And despite having a slew of great tunes from the likes of Buddy Holly and the Eagles under her belt, Linda Ronstadt thought that ‘Poor Poor Pitiful Me’ was a textbook example of what she was looking for.
Then again, Ronstadt could have easily sung the name of every drink ever served at the Troubadour and still have the audience wrapped around her little finger. No matter what anyone else was saying on the Los Angeles club scene, Ronstadt’s voice soared above everything else, even giving Don Henley a run for his money when he cut his teeth as her touring drummer.
But outside of just searching for the right song, Ronstadt was also becoming an avid fan of what country music had to offer. Though the genres were never that far away, considering their roots in rockabilly music, Gram Parsons helped break down doors for the entire scene with The Byrds, leading to everyone adding a bit of twang to their repertoire.
Even when Ronstadt turned in songs like ‘Heat Wave’, there was still a little bit of a drawl in how she sang. While she was never looking to put on a voice for her audience, it was always about inhabiting a character whenever she sang, and ‘Poor Poor Pitiful Me’ checked every box that all good Ronstadt songs are built on.
While the song worked perfectly well for Warren Zevon, putting a female perspective over the top of it does a far better job of making someone feel bad for this person. Every male on the planet has tried to put on a pity party now and again, but if Zevon’s words are transposed over to Ronstadt’s voice, she felt like she was genuinely hurt but could still kick your ass if she needed to.
Compared to her flipping Buddy Holly’s ‘It’s So Easy’, Ronstadt thought turning ‘Pitiful’ around was a stroke of genius, saying, “I’ve never been into sadomasochism. I’ve never gotten that far out ever. To me, the song seemed like the purest expression of male vanity. That’s the way men are. I thought the verse turned around to a female point of view was just perfect.”
The same could be said about the way that Ronstadt transformed ‘Desperado’ as well. Although there are no real pronouns used in that song, hearing her talk about this man on the run needing to come to his senses sounds like it could either be from the love of his life waiting at home or from a concerned mother watching her son throw her life away.
Out of the two songs, though, ‘Poor Poor Pitiful Me’ works a lot better as a Ronstadt vehicle. Many people have had their down-and-out songs in the past, but in the case of Ronstadt, genuine heartache and pain had never sounded so sweet.
