Ray Mancini
Boob Boom Mancini is a song on Warren Zevon's 1987 album, Sentimental Hygiene.
Theme
The song is greatly based on lightweight boxer Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini. The chorus documents, in the first verse the Mancini-Arturo Frias fight in Las Vegas on May 8, 1982. In what was often called the best first round in boxing history, Frias wobbled Mancini and bloodied the challenger's nose in the fight's opening minute, only to have Mancini drop him and win the fight by knockout in the last minute of the first round. ("And he put him away in round number one.")
The song documents Mancini's now legendary fight with Alexis Arguello for the lightweight title, as he started out strong, however was defeated in the end.
The song's bridge also documents Mancini's match against the South Korean challenger, Duk Koo Kim, his first title defense. It was a 14 round fight. Kim suffered brain injuries that led to his death five days later and Mancini went to the funeral in South Korea, but he fell into a deep depression afterwards. He has said that the hardest moments came when people approached him and asked if he was the boxer who "killed" Duk Koo Kim. William Zevon, Warren's father, also worked as a boxer, and this may have been what lead to Zevon to write this song.
Music
Tribute Album
The song is heavy on distorted electric guitar. The song sounds in the key of F minor, however, written in E minor. The guitars are tuned to standard "E" tuning with a capo on the first fret making the song being playing in the position of E minor, but toned in F minor. The song features two blues based guitar solos and a piano solo as the outro fades out.
The song was also played on the live acoustic album Learning to Flinch. This version is, in fact played in E minor, not F minor. Also, instead of fading out the ending segues into the intro of "Jungle Work". The song also appears on the compilation albums I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (An Anthology) and Genius: The Best of Warren Zevon. The lyric "hurry home early" later served as the title of the Warren Zevon tribute album Hurry Home Early: the Songs of Warren Zevon, on which a version of the song is performed by Tom Flannery. The song is also available in sheet form in The Warren Zevon Guitar Songbook.
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.
Hurry home early - hurry on home
Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon
Hurry home early - hurry on home
Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon
From Youngstown, Ohio, Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini
A lightweight contender, like father like son
He fought for the title with Frias in Vegas
And he put him away in round number one
Hurry home early - hurry on home
Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon
Hurry home early - hurry on home
Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon
When Alexis Arguello gave Boom Boom a beating
Seven weeks later he was back in the ring
Some have the speed and the right combinations
If you can't take the punches it don't mean a thing
Hurry home early - hurry on home
Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon
Hurry home early - hurry on home
Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon
When they asked him who was responsible
For the death of Du Koo Kim
He said, "Someone should have stopped the fight, and told me it was him."
They made hypocrite judgments after the fact
But the name of the game is be hit and hit back
Hurry home early - hurry on home
Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon
Hurry home early - hurry on home
Boom Boom Mancini's fighting Bobby Chacon