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jackson browne


desdemona

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one of my favorite songs from the latter 70's, jackson browne seemed to capture images and life experiences in his lyrics, he was also an activist, in later years he dedicated time to protesting with the "NO NUKES" campaign.

THE PRETENDER

I'm going to rent myself a house

In the shade of the freeway

I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning

And go to work each day

And when the evening rolls around

I'll go on home and lay my body down

And when the morning light comes streaming in

I'll get up and do it again

Amen

Say it again

Amen

I want to know what became of the changes

We waited for love to bring

Were they only the fitful dreams

Of some greater awakening

I've been aware of the time going by

They say in the end it's the wink of an eye

And when the morning light comes streaming in

You'll get up and do it again

Amen

Caught between the longing for love

And the struggle for the legal tender

Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring

And the junk man pounds his fender

Where the veterans dream of the fight

Fast asleep at the traffic light

And the children solemnly wait

For the ice cream vendor

Out into the cool of the evening

Strolls the Pretender

He knows that all his hopes and dreams

Begin and end there

Ah the laughter of the lovers

As they run through the night

Leaving nothing for the others

But to choose off and fight

And tear at the world with all their might

While the ships bearing their dreams

Sail out of sight

I'm going to find myself a girl

Who can show me what laughter means

And we'll fill in the missing colors

In each other's paint-by-number dreams

And then we'll put out dark glasses on

And we'll make love until our strength is gone

And when the morning light comes streaming in

We'll get up and do it again

Get it up again

I'm going to be a happy idiot

And struggle for the legal tender

Where the ads take aim and lay their claim

To the heart and the soul of the spender

And believe in whatever may lie

In those things that money can buy

Thought true love could have been a contender

Are you there?

Say a prayer for the Pretender

Who started out so young and strong

Only to surrender

some history of Jackson browne here:

http://www.jrp-graphics.com/jackson_browne.html

post-38-1086736324.jpg

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that song always seems to hit home with me, idealism lost with life's struggles I guess, but I think as we progress we tend to strive to get it back.

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even better

Oh people look around you

The signs are everywhere

You left him for somebody other than you

To be the one to care

You're lost inside your houses

There's no time to find you now

Oh your walls are burning

And your towers are turning

I've gotta leave you here

And try to get down to the sea somehow

Rock me on the water

Sister won't you soothe my fevered brow

O-oh rock me on the water

Gotta get down to the sea somehow

The road is filled with homeless souls

Every woman child and man

Who have no idea where they will go

But they'll help you if they can

Now everyone must have some thought

That's gonna pull them through somehow

Well the fires are raging hotter and hotter

But the sisters of the sun

Are gonna rock me on the water now

Rock me on the water

Sister won't you soothe my fevered brow

O-oh rock me on the water

I gotta get down to the sea somehow

Oh people look among you

It's there your hope must lie

There's a seabird above you gliding in one place

Like Jesus in the sky

We all must do the best we can

And then hang onto that gospel cloud

When my life is over

Gonna stand for the father

But the sisters of the sun

Are gonna rock me on the water now

Rock me on the water

Sister won't you soothe my fevered brow

O-oh rock me on the water

Then maybe I'll remember

Maybe I'll remember how

Rock me on the water

The wind is with me now

O-oh rock me on the water

Gotta get down to the sea somehow

I gotta get down to the sea somehow

(linda ronstadt did a killer version on a bootleg i have, but her album cut is just as good)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Jackson Browne is one of my all time favorite songwriters...

Last one I picked up by him was the "I'm Alive" album. <_ hmmmm have to listen the pretender again.>

SKY BLUE AND BLACK

In the calling out to one another

Of the lovers up and down the strand

In the sound of the waves and the cries

Of the seagulls circling the sand

In the fragments of the songs

Carried down the wind from some radio

In the murmuring of the city in the distance

Ominous and low

I hear the sound of the world where we played

And the far too simple beauty

Of the promises we made

If you ever need holding

Call my name, I'll be there

If you ever need holding

And no holding back, I'll see you through

Sky blue and black

Where the touch of the lover ends

And the soul of the friend begins

There's a need to be separate and a need to be one

And a struggle neither wins

Where you gave me the world I was in

And a place I could make a stand

I could never see how you doubted me

When I'd let go of your hand

Yeah, and I was much younger then

And I must have thought that I would know

If things were going to end

And the heavens were rolling

Like a wheel on a track

And our sky was unfolding

And it'll never fold back

Sky blue and black

And I'd have fought the world for you

If I thought that you wanted me to

Or put aside what was true or untrue

If I'd known that's what you needed

What you needed me to do

But the moment has passed by me now

To have put away my pride

And just come through for you somehow

If you ever need holding

Call my name, I'll be there

If you ever need holding

And no holding back, I'll see you through

You're the color of the sky

Reflected in each store-front window pane

You're the whispering and the sighing

Of my tires in the rain

You're the hidden cost and the thing that's lost

In everything I do

Yeah and I'll never stop looking for you

In the sunlight and the shadows

And the faces on the avenue

That's the way love is

That's the way love is

That's the way love is

Sky blue and black

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My favorite Jacksone Browne song and the one I can relate to most....

THAT GIRL COULD SING

She was a friend to me when I needed one

Wasn't for her I don't know what I'd done

She gave me back something that was missing in me

She could of turned out to be almost anyone

Almost anyone--

With the possible exception

Of who I wanted her to be

Running into the midnight

With her clothes whipping in the wind

Reaching into the heart of the darkness

For the tenderness within

Stumblin' into the lights of the city

And then back in the shadows again

Hanging onto the laughter

That each of us hid our unhappiness in

Talk about celestial bodies

And your angels on the wing

She wasn't much good at stickin' around--but

She could sing...

In the dead of night

She could shine a light

On some places that you've never been

In that kind of light

You could lose your sight

And believe there was something to win

You could hold her tight

With all your might

But she'd slip through your arms like the wind

And be back in flight

Back into the night

Where you might never see her again

The longer I thought I could find her

The shorter my vision became

Running in circles behind her

And thinking in terms of the blame

But she couldn't have been any kinder

If she'd come back and tried to explain

She wasn't much good at saying goodbye--but

That girl was sane

:wub:

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