"The Werewolf"
Written by Michael Hurley
Performed by Michael Hurley
From Armchair Boogie, 1971

He’s somebody like you and me. Always present and out of view, he emerged in song deep within a night of inspiration, when Michael spontaneously sang out the Werewolf’s woes on the guitar. That song has turned into a clear epic of Michael’s and has been covered often, to the greatest effect by Cat Power who helped introduce a new generation to Michael’s work.

The Werewolf is the voice of the outsider, never allowed into a home, nor given consideration for the pains he feels at his own unstoppable drives to do ill. Caught in a circulation out of the reach of kind comforts, the Werewolf is a bit worse off than the rest of us, no matter how far we’ve strayed from polite company. There are times when that’s a bolstering fact to recall, and one that also draws out a form of forlorn love for a creature so magnificent and so terribly flawed.