"Lawyers, Guns and Money" is a song by Warren Zevon, and the closing track on his 1978 album Excitable Boy.
Zevon composed the song based on a real-life incident he had experienced while vacationing on Kauai. The "long day of improbable and grotesque mischief" prompted him never to take vacations again in his lifetime.
Record World called it "rock 'n' roll at its angriest."
Plot
The story is told from the perspective of a man whose one-night stand with an undercover Russian waitress embroils him in Cold War espionage involving "gambling in Havana" and going into hiding in Honduras. Its title comes from the singer calling his father with the instructions to extricate him out of trouble: "Send lawyers, guns and money."
Uses in popular culture
The song lent its title to a light-hearted radio program on the Melbourne community radio station 3RRR, which looked at the legal fraternity in the city. The program started in 1985 and ran for several years, hosted by the pseudonymous duo "Donoghue & Stevenson"—Dennis Connell and Ross Stevenson. The song was used as both intro and exit music for the program.
In the movie Grand Canyon, Kevin Kline is listening to this song in his car when a gang approaches to menace him.
The song was used for the opening of the show Justice, with Victor Garber, in 2006.
The third episode of the HBO series The Staircase, as well as the documentary Boom! Boom! The World vs. Boris Becker featured the song for their end credits.