Word For Word

From songwriter Warren Zevon (Werewolves of London) and sportswriter Mitch Albom comes one of rock's first encomiums to the enforcer, Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song). With backup vocals by David Letter-man (really!), the song has started to get airplay in several NHL arenas-although Minnesota refuses to play it because club officials believe it's too violent. Selected lyrics from the ballad of a bruiser:

Buddy's real talent was beating people up.
His heart wasn't in it but the crowd ate it up
Through peewees and juniors, midgets and mites
He must have racked up more than 300 fights.
A scout from the Flames came down from Saskatoon,
Said, 'There's always room on our team for a goon.
Son, we've always got room for a goon."

Hit Somebody! It rang in his ears.
Blood on the ice ran down through the years.
The king of the goons with a box for a throne,
A thousand stitches and broken bones,
He never lost a fight on his icy patrol.
But deep inside, Buddy only dreamed of a goal.
He just wanted one damn goal.

In his final season, on his final night
Buddy and a Finn goon were pegged for a fight.
Thirty seconds left, the puck took a roll,
And suddenly Buddy had a shot on goal.
The goalie committed, Buddy picked his spot.
Twenty years of waiting went into that shot.
The fans jumped up, the Finn jumped too
And coldcocked Buddy on his follow-through.
The big man crumbled, but he felt all right,
'Cause the last thing he saw was the flashing red light.
He saw that heavenly light.