Jackson Browne

[fox69]

"The Only Child"

"The Only Child"



Boy of mine
As your fortune comes to carry you down the line
And you watch as the changes unfold
And you sort among the stories you've been told
If some pieces of the picture are hard to find
And the answers to your questions are hard to hold

Take good care of your mother
When you're making up your mind
Should one thing or another take you from behind
Though the world may make you hard and wild
And determine how your life is styled
When you've come to feel that you're the only child
Take good care of your brother

Let the disappointments pass
Let the laughter fill your glass
Let your illusions last until they shatter
Whatever you might hope to find
Among the thoughts that crowd your mind
There won't be many that ever really matter

But take good care of your mother
And remember to be kind
When the pain of another will serve you to remind
That there are those who feel themselves exiled
On whom the fortune never smiled
And upon whose life the heartache has been piled
They're just looking for another
Lonely child

And when you've found another soul
Who sees into your own
Take good care of each other

 

[fox69]

"The Painter"

"The Painter"



We see him dancing in the morning
Stars depart the yawning sky
He'll take the hour that is passing
And leave it in his lover's eye
And if you want he'll make it seem
As though you're walking in his dream
A mystic sea

We hear him laughing in the shadows
As he smuggles in the sand
He's found another kind of color
In the magic he has donned
And if you want he'll take the time
To ask the sun and moon to rhyme
And then combine
He draws no lines between what he's imagining

 

[fox69]

"The Pretender"

"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 our 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
Though 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

 

[fox69]

"The Rebel Jesus"

"The Rebel Jesus"



The streets are filled with laughter and light
And the music of the season
And the merchants' windows are all bright
With the faces of the children
And the families hurrying to their homes
As the sky darkens and freezes
Will be gathering around the hearths and tables
Giving thanks for all God's graces
And the birth of the rebel Jesus

They call him by the "Prince of Peace"
And they call him by "The Saviour"
And they pray to him upon the sea
And in every bold endeavor
As they fill his churches with their pride and gold
And their faith in him increases
But they've turned the nature that I worshipped in
From a temple to a robber's den
In the words of the rebel Jesus

We guard our world with locks and guns
And we guard our fine possessions
And once a year when Christmas comes
We give to our relations
And perhaps we give a little to the poor
If the generosity should seize us
But if any one of us should interfere
In the business of why there are poor
They get the same as the rebel Jesus

But pardon me if I have seemed
To take the tone of judgement
For I've no wish to come between
This day and your enjoyment
In this life of hardship and of earthly toil
We have need for anything that frees us
So I bid you pleasure and I bid you cheer
From a heathen and a pagan
On the side of the rebel Jesus.

 

[fox69]

"The Road"

"The Road"



Highways and dancehalls
A good song takes you far
Your write about the moon
And you dream about the stars
Blues in old motel rooms
Girls in daddy's car
You sing about the nights
And you laugh about the scars
Coffee in the morning cocaine afternoons
You talk about the weather
And you grin about the rooms
Phone calls long distance
To tell how you've been
Forget about the losses, you exaggerate the wins
And when you stop to let 'em know
You've got it down
It's just another town along the road

The ladies come to see you
If your name still rings a bell
They give you damn near nothin'
And they'll say they knew you well
So you tell 'em you'll remember
But they know it's just a game
And along the way their faces
All begin to look the same
And when you stop to let 'em know
You got it down
It's just another town along the road

Well it isn't for the money
And it's only for a while
You stalk about the rooms
And you roll away the miles
Gamblers in the neon, clinging to guitars
You're right about the moon
But you're wrong about the stars
And when you stop to let 'em know
You got it down
It's just another town along the way

 

[fox69]

"The Road And The Sky"

"The Road And The Sky"



When we come to place where the road and the sky collide
Throw me over the edge and let my spirit glide
They told me I was going to have to work for a living
But all I want to do is ride
I don't care where we're going from here
Honey, you decide

Well I spend my time at the bottom of a wishing well
And I can hear my dreams singing clear as a bell
I used to know where they ended and the world began
But now it's getting hard to tell
I could be just around the corner from Heaven or a mile from Hell

I'm just rolling away from yesterday
Behind a wheel of a stolen Chevrolet
I'm going to get a little higher
And see if I can hot-wire reality

Now can you see those dark clouds gathering up ahead?
They're going to wash this planet clean like the Bible said
Now you can hold on steady and try to be ready
But everybody's gonna get wet
Don't think it won't happen just because it hasn't happened yet

I'm just rolling away from yesterday
Behind the wheel of a stolen Chevrolet
I'm going to get a little higher
And see if I can hot-wire reality

 

[fox69]

"The Times You've Come"

"The Times You've Come"



In the time we've known
That we each are a part of one another
We've lost as much as we have won
And as our lives have grown
We have found that it only brings us pain
That hangs on to the things that we have done
Still I've loved the times you've come

When you went away
Taking all that I'd built my false road on
I dropped my life and couldn't find the pieces
Now you come and go
And it's hard but I feel my strength returning
We'll see how far this new road reaches
We'll see a little more each time we come

Now everybody's gonna tell you it's not worth it
Everybody's gotta show you their own thing
You might try to find your way up around it
But the need for love will still remain

Now we're lying here
So safe in the ruins of our pleasures
Laughter marks the place where we have fallen
And our lives are near
So it wouldn't occur to us to wonder
Is this the past or the future that is calling

You know I've loved these times you've come.

 

[fox69]

"The Word Justice"

"The Word Justice"



A man stands up before God and country
Raises his right hand and takes an oath
Swears he has acted in the line of duty
And he more than anyone wants to tell the truth

But there is a need to keep some things a secret
Some weapons shipments-some private wars
In the future democracy will be defended
Behind closed doors

Now the men of Congress who convene to determine
If covert war is a business or a crime
Are the same men who routinely give their permission
For the shedding of blood in security's name

And there is a need to keep some things a secret
The names of some countries-the terms of some deals
And above all the sound of the screams of the innocent
Beneath our wheels

Does the word justice mean anything to you?
Are the features of a lie beginning to come through?

In the streets of America the children are buried
Caught in an avalanche of weapons and drugs
They live and they die in the bowels of a business
That's disguised as a war between The Crips and The Bloods

And there is a need to keep some things a secret
The C.I.A. deals protecting the source
And the government policies directly connecting the drugs and our wars
Does the word justice mean anything to you?

As the battlefield comes home and democracy falls through
I am waiting for the time to come
When the word will be real for everyone
And not just a word but a thing that can be done
But justice must be won

 

[fox69]

"These Days"

"These Days"



Well I've been out walking
I don't do that much talking these days
These days-
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
For you
And all the times I had the chance to

And I had a lover
It's so hard to risk another these days
These days-
Now if I seem to be afraid
To live the life I have made in song
Well it's just that I've been losing so long

I'll keep on moving
Things are bound to be improving these days
These days-
These days I sit on corner stones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten, my friend
Don't confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them

 

[fox69]

"Till I Go Down"

"Till I Go Down"



Till I go down
Till I go down
Till I go down
I'm not gonna shut my eyes
Till I go down

I'm not gonna shut my eyes
I've already seen the lies
On the faces of the men of war
Leading people to the killing floor
Till I go down
Till I go down
Till I go down
I'm not gonna shut my eyes
No no

Till I go down
Till the world stops spinning around
Till I'm six feet under the ground
Till there's no sound
Till there's no pain
I'm gonna swing this chain
Till I go down

I'm not gonna shut my mouth
I'm for the truth to come out
About the leader with the iron will
And his allegiance to the dollar bill

Till I go down
Till I go down
Till I go down
I'm not gonna shut my eyes
Till I go down