Jackson Browne - C or D?

there's a version of "call it a loan" on this that's just ridiculously effective - emotional, but so measured; subservient to the melody, standing in service to it. unbelievable.

singing with studied ease indeed; his voice has aged extraordinarily well, barely any deterioration to my ears, esp. for a guy in his 60s who's been pro singer since his teens.

okay... um... looks like I'm nearly a year late on this (sorry amateurist!) and i hate hate hate to go all songmeanings on such a finely-crafted lyric... so i'ma keep a gentle touch here but...

Of course, the title means what it says - "we've both got places to be that aren't this bed."

But it gets its punch from some pretty clever songcraft. Up until the final lines, we're drifting in the night... the last sleepless hours of a failed affair, the eyes shut tight, the dream of getting it right this time... and then against that, suddenly, at last, the volta. The rising sun. The morning flight that it will surely carry you up, away, into daylight and romantic love, if only this time you can catch it. It's as much a fantasy as the hope of making this one the right one, but and if we trace our steps from the beginning we know it's there waiting for us, but we dust ourselves off and grab our bag and step into the morning and gun the engine and we're off down the canyon in a plume of dust toward the 101 and LAX and if we can just drive fast enough, this time, this time we can make the sky.

Or something, no?

Somebody's Baby describes my defeatist attitude towards approaching women to a T -- circa 2008.

I don't know how they mic'd him on the last studio album but it muffled him & made him sound tired

The title track, Time The Conqueror was his best song in decades

This is really great:
http://www.indierockreviews.com/2011/02/a-tribute-to-jackson-browne-by-grails/

fav cover of one of his songs i think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MHdPKCOB2A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqYiHkx7ils

kills me.

"Last night I watched the news from Washington, the capitol
The Russians escaped while we weren't watching them, like Russians will
Now we've got all this room, we've even got the moon
And I hear the U.S.S.R. will be open soon
As vacation land for lawyers in love"

--in 1983! motherfucker predicted the end of history six years in advance.....pretty good for an El Lay softhead, no? (#fakechristgau)

Binging on 'Late for the Sky' today. JB is undoubtedly classic in my book (doesn't mean he's the coolest guy in the world, btw), but what is even more classic is JB + David Lindley. The latter consistently elevates every thing of Browne's he's on.

This is pretty nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZFRPwrYeNA

One more - 9 minutes of 'Before the Deluge':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8y45mAGJRA

side one is just unfathomably perfect. The Road and the Sky however - fucking hell what a terrible terrible way to start side 2.

Otm on both accounts. That tune sure sticks out like a sore thumb.

totally unbelievable live. his band kills

ok wait i think the lines were "you've heard that hollow sound/of your own steps in flight." what a precious-precious line.

quoting this v v old post to say i think this is an incredible lyric

totally unbelievable live. his band kills

indeed - and they played for 2½ hours when I saw them friday!

Few things are able to make the flesh crawl all the way off of my body quite like David Lindley's falsetto in the middle of 'Stay'.

ok wait i think the lines were "you've heard that hollow sound/of your own steps in flight." what a precious-precious line.

quoting this v v old post to say i think this is an incredible lyric

― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Thursday, February 26, 2015 2:49 AM (1 year ago)

an ilxor mentioned this line on his FB page recently and yes this is a devastating piece of writing imo

I love this song, but I don't see the full magic in any one line in particular. It takes a lot of words for him to get at what he's describing, but it's the whole analysis of his experience that I love:

But when you see through love's illusions, there lies the danger
And your perfect lover just looks like a perfect fool
So you go running off in search of a perfect stranger
While the loneliness seems to spring from your life
Like a fountain from a pool

Maybe I'll try again. His voice tends me to vague me out pretty quickly. But always loved Bonnie Raitt's versions of "Under The Falling Sky" and "I Thought I Was A Child"---did she do any more of his? A whole album of Bonnie Sings Jackson would be a definitive Boomer move, but/and I'd buy it (maybe not even wait for the NPR pledge drive). Equally definitive: Nico, "These Days."

Oh yeah, and his own performance of the epic "You Know The Night" on Note of Hope, where various artists provide new music for words from W.Guthrie's notebooks, diaries, letters, telephone pads etc---this is a 14 minute setting (there's also ace 4-minute "Radio Edit") of G.'s note to self after meeting Marjorie, his next wife and mother of Nora, Arlo etc. Browne said he wrote out the whole thing on loose pages and set them up around the room while he was recording, maybe writing too. Another artist's inspired verbosity rang a bell!

But when you see through love's illusions, there lies the danger

I'm surprised this fusspot didn't write "therein."

ha, alfred, your take on Jackson itt completely baffles me!

It baffles me too.

Three songs are all I need for my Browne fix: "Lawyers in Love" on the political end, "In the Shape of a Heart" for L-O-V-E, and "Running on Empty" for '70s angst.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Tuesday, January 24, 2006 12:27 PM (10 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean you are completely right that these are the best songs ever

it's possible i mentioned in some other jb thread that i saw him live in orlando last year and "in the shape of a heart" was particularly incredible

People speak of love don't know what they're thinking of

xxp they are good songs, but I'd take the first 4 albums over them

gotta do what you can to keep your love alive

I know "These Days" has been mentioned a number of times but I really love his original

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcJDI7a_1lk

The '67 demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtZ04BxrYf0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzCD8YzDFD4

beautiful '67 demo

can't believe he came up with (most of?) it at age 16

i think browne was a better melodist than a lyricist, actually

most of his lyrics from his 'confessional' period -- the ones that sing well -- don't really add up to much IMO. they are often either needlessly vague or just break down into banalities. he did hit a few out of the park, though.

this song's pretty flawless

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6pT_BDpnog

I love the electric strummin'.

never heard the demo! nice

Somebody's Baby is anything I could want in a song, so good

it's from Fast Times at Ridgemont High OST iirc, always liked it, after getting to know Jackson from the Pretender I was happy to find out this was his song

highlight of the album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeM6pX2kCtc

um, so 'The Pretender' the song - I always thought of it as a personal song of, I dunno, existential ambivalence... but according to this 'article' "Browne is writing about a guy who could easily be described as a yuppie"

https://americansongwriter.com/2012/05/the-pretender-by-jackson-browne/

can we all agree this is bullshit or should I change my view on this song?

well, I'm glad Jackson himself is well aware of the complexity of the songs protagonist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNKT_tfWx6w

It's a beautiful and complex song.

love these two dudes in the audience as Browne starts the piano riff:

https://media.giphy.com/media/pl9Y1c82F2wWQ/giphy.gif

also, thx MFB :)

in the intro to this one he 'dedicates' it to a session player

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76uSiz6fQh0

(not a v good video apart from that, sry 4 embed)

can we all agree this is bullshit or should I change my view on this song?

it's a very complex song and you should probably change your view

with every listen

yuppies are very complex people!

He's poet laureate of yuppies, don't forget.

http://www.asburyrecords.com/public/cover/3137_1.jpg

Prescient!

Last night I watched the news from Washington, the capital
The Russians escaped while we weren't watching them, like Russians will
Now we've got all this room
We've even got the moon
And I hear the USSR will be open soon
As vacation land for lawyers in love