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Looking East

Released: 1996

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Looking East

In "Information Wars," the most provocative cut on Jackson Browne's new album, Looking East, Mr. Browne, a 47-year-old Los Angeles singer and songwriter, mounts an attack on America's television culture that includes an ingenious collage of variations on familiar advertising slogans. Reiterated without their brand names, the slogans are turned against themselves in a way that reveals the Orwellian seductiveness of television. For well over a decade, Mr. Browne has been a staunch practitioner of that most questionable of genres: the protest song - questionable because melding rhymed editorials with pop tunes usually trivializes the subject being addressed. "Information Wars" transcends the genre because it doesn't merely editorialize it; it illustrates the uneasy symbiosis between pop music and advertising. The catchiest melodic hooks, after all, are those that lend themselves most readily to instant exploitation by Madison Avenue.

Stephen Holden, The New York Times, February 18, 1996

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"Culver Moon" is Browne's breakthrough; musically raw, lyrically caustic, an ode to love and lust in a decomposing world. The album's overall message is clear: He intends to keep growing. Beneath that preternaturally pretty exterior, we're finding, is a core of stubborn creativity. Browne's a shrewd craftsman who industriously seeks, and finds ways to mirror his open-eyed passage through life. In his last album, he had to tell us he was alive; here, he proves it.

Tony Scherman, Entertainment Weekly, February 16, 1996

  • 1. LOOKING EAST
    Standing in the ocean with the sun burning low in the west
    Like a fire in the cavernous darkness at the heart of the beast
    With my beliefs and possessions, stopped at the frontier in my chest
    At the edge of my country, my back to the sea, looking east

    Where the search for the truth is conducted with a wink and a nod
    And where power and position are equated with the grace of God
    These times are famine for the soul, while for the senses its a feast
    From the edge of my country, as far as you see, looking east

    Hunger in the midnight, hunger at the stroke of noon
    Hunger in the mansion, hunger in the rented room
    Hunger on the TV, hunger on the printed page
    And theres a God-sized hunger underneath the laughing and the rage
    In the absence of light
    And the deepening night
    Where I wait for the sun
    Looking east

    How long have I left my mind to the powers that be?
    How long will it take to find the higher power moving in me?

    Power in the insect
    Power in the sea
    Power in the snow falling silently
    Power in the blossom
    Power in the stone
    Power in the song being sung alone
    Power in the wheat field
    Power in the rain
    Power in the sunlight and the hurricane
    Power in the silence
    Power in the flame
    Power in the sound of the lovers name
    The power of the sunrise and the power of a prayer released
    On the edge of my country, I pray for the ones with the least

    Hunger in the midnight, hunger at the stroke of noon
    Hunger in the banquet, hunger in the bride and groom
    Hunger on the TV, hunger on the printed page
    And theres a God-sized hunger underneath the questions of the age
    And an absence of light
    In the deepening night
    Where I wait for the sun
    Looking east

    By Jackson Browne, Jeff Young, Kevin McCormick, Scott Thurston, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Luis Conte
    1996 Swallow Turn Music, Glad Brad Music, Inc., Eye Cue Music, adm. by Almo Music Corp, Bateria Music, Irague Music, ASCAP / Neurp Songs, Faux Music, Longitude Music Co., all rights on behalf of Faux Music, adm. by Longitude Music Co. BMI
    All Rights Reserved
  • 2. THE BARRICADES OF HEAVEN
    Running down around the towns along the shore
    When I was sixteen and on my own
    No, I couldnt tell you what the hell those brakes were for
    I was just trying to hear my song

    Jimmy found his own sweet sound and won that free guitar
    Wed all get in the van and play
    Life became the Paradox, the Bear, the Rouge et Noir
    And the stretch of road running to L.A.

    Pages turning
    Pages we were years from learning
    Straight into the night our hearts were flung
    Better bring your own redemption when you come
    To the barricades of Heaven where Im from

    All the world was shining from those hills
    The stars above and the lights below
    Among those there to test their fortunes and their wills
    I lost track of the score long ago

    Pages turning
    Pages we were years from learning
    Straight into the night our hearts were flung
    Better bring your own redemption when you come
    To the barricades of Heaven where Im from

    Childhood comes for me at night
    Voices of my friends
    Your face bathing me in light
    Hope that never ends

    Pages turning
    Pages torn and pages burning
    Faded pages, open in the sun
    Better bring your own redemption when you come
    To the barricades of Heaven where Im from.
    Better bring your own redemption when you come
    To the barricades of Heaven where Im from

    By Jackson Browne, Jeff Young, Kevin McCormick, Scott Thurston, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Luis Conte
    1996 Swallow Turn Music, Glad Brad Music, Inc., Eye Cue Music, adm. by Almo Music Corp, Bateria Music, Irague Music, ASCAP / Neurp Songs, Faux Music, Longitude Music Co., all rights on behalf of Faux Music, adm. by Longitude Music Co. BMI
    All Rights Reserved
  • 3. SOME BRIDGES
    Every day I walk out in this torn up world
    And I fight to survive
    I'm laughing when I make it to the Saturday
    And I'm alive
    Carrying your smile with me
    Carrying your smile with me

    Everywhere I look I see this world slipping down
    That low road, day by day
    And I just go on working for the things I need
    And making my own way
    Carrying your smile with me
    Carrying your smile with me
    Take a walk on the troubled side of this old town
    Take a walk on the broken streets and the buildings falling down
    Look at all these kids with nothing but trouble in their eyes
    Trouble in their future, trouble in their lives
    Some bridges are falling down
    Some bridges are still around

    Take a walk on the shaded uptown avenue
    Some people are doing well no matter how they do
    And I know there's more to life than what you own
    But I see so many good things, things I've never known
    Some bridges are falling down
    Some bridges are still around

    Every night I listen to the sound of the street
    Lying in my bed
    I love to see the dreams that are dancing there
    In the light above your head
    And sometimes I get so weary
    And when hope is caving in
    You fill me with your love and your laughter, Baby
    Until I get back up again
    Carrying your smile with me
    Take a walk on the streets of this divided town
    Carrying your smile with me
    Take a walk on the smoking edge of the battleground
    Carrying your smile with me
    Take a look at the situation
    The poverty and the desperation
    Take the time for the realization
    Every day I'm
    Take a walk in the daylight
    Carrying your smile with me
    Some bridges are falling down
    Carrying your smile with me
    Some bridges are still around

    By Jackson Browne, Jeff Young, Kevin McCormick, Scott Thurston, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Luis Conte
    1996 Swallow Turn Music, Glad Brad Music, Inc., Eye Cue Music, adm. by Almo Music Corp, Bateria Music, Irague Music, ASCAP / Neurp Songs, Faux Music, Longitude Music Co., all rights on behalf of Faux Music, adm. by Longitude Music Co. BMI
    All Rights Reserved
  • 4. INFORMATION WARS
    Give us twenty minutes and we'll give you the world
    We bring good things to life
    The news you need from people you can count on
    Doing what we do best
    The heartbeat of America
    Your true voice
    You're in good hands
    Now more than ever before

    And in the flickering light and the comforting glow
    You get the world every night as a TV show
    The latest spin on the shit we're in, blow by blow
    And the more you watch, the less you know
    Beyond the hundred million darkened living rooms
    Out where the human ocean roars
    Into the failing light, the generations go
    Heading for the information wars

    Do people really spend millions upon millions
    To make us think we care about the planet
    At the same time polluting and looting the only world we've got
    So they can maximize their profit?
    People do.

    The heartbeat of America
    Your true voice
    For the life of your business
    It's everywhere you want to be

    And there's a front row seat for the precious few
    The latest war as a pay-per-view
    Famine and disaster right in front of you
    And the more you watch, the less you do
    Beyond the hundred million darkened living rooms
    Out where the human ocean roars
    Into the failing light, the generations go
    Heading for the information wars

    By Jackson Browne, Jeff Cohen, Jeff Young, Kevin McCormick, Scott Thurston, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Luis Conte
    1996 Swallow Turn Music, Glad Brad Music, Inc., Eye Cue Music, adm. by Almo Music Corp, Bateria Music, Irague Music, ASCAP / Neurp Songs, Faux Music, Longitude Music Co., all rights on behalf of Faux Music, adm. by Longitude Music Co. BMI
    All Rights Reserved
  • 5. I'M THE CAT
    Baby, I'm around you enough to know when you're coming down
    And I am there with a smile, prepared to bring you around
    You're thinking that you've got me trained
    I'm aware of that
    But when you need your outlook changed
    Baby, I'm the cat

    Baby, I'm allowed to be late when I'm coming home
    You know I'll be there when I want to
    And you let me roam
    You think you've got me figured out
    I don't know about that
    But when you want to twist and shout
    Baby, I'm the cat

    Baby, I might not be all that
    Your fortune cookie promised you
    But I will do
    I'm the cat
    Baby I Baby I'm the cat
    Oh yeah, Baby I'm the cat

    Baby, I'm in love with the way you scratch my back
    You've got the only thing I want
    And that's a fact
    And when sometimes we disagree
    You take me to the mat
    But when I get you spinning free
    Baby I'm the cat

    Baby, I might not be all that
    The gypsy woman prophesized
    But be advised
    I'm the cat
    Baby I might not be all that
    Your Magic 8 Ball said I'd be
    But you will see
    I'm the cat
    Baby I Baby I'm the cat
    Oh yeah, Baby I'm the cat

    By Jackson Browne, Jeff Young, Kevin McCormick, Scott Thurston, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Luis Conte
    1996 Swallow Turn Music, Glad Brad Music, Inc., Eye Cue Music, adm. by Almo Music Corp, Bateria Music, Irague Music, ASCAP / Neurp Songs, Faux Music, Longitude Music Co., all rights on behalf of Faux Music, adm. by Longitude Music Co. BMI
    All Rights Reserved
  • 6. CULVER MOON
    I live in a small town, deep in LA
    About five miles north of where the Lakers play
    Everybody here's from some place else
    Working all together just like Santa's elves
    Baby, Culver me and I'll Culver you
    When the streets are shining with the smoggy dew
    When the lights are glowing with the mists of June
    And the whole world is lit up by the Culver Moon

    Baby don't worry 'bout Angelyne
    She ain't the prettiest thing I've ever seen
    Nothing she wears ever fits her right
    And her complexion is just a little too tight
    And the way she looks down from so high above
    Makes me think the poor child's never been in love
    Baby, Culver me and I'll Culver you
    When the streets are shining with the smoggy dew
    When the lights are glowing with the mists of June
    And the whole world is lit up by the Culver Moon

    Baby I'm going to love you 'til the stars come down
    'Til they park their limos and they walk to town
    'Til the LA river overflows its banks
    'Til the whole alternative nation bows its knobby head in thanks
    'Til the fish are jumping in Ballona Creek
    'Til the earth is inherited by the meek
    Baby, Culver me and I'll Culver you
    When the streets are shining with the smoggy dew
    When the lights are glowing with the mists of June
    And the whole world is lit up by the Culver Moon

    Under the rainbow and behind Versailles
    From the aisles of Fedco to the 405
    From MGM to Veteran's Park
    Way down at Chippendale's fumblin' in the dark
    Where the ghostly specter of Howard Hughes
    Hovers in the smoke of a thousand bar-b-ques
    Baby, Culver me and I'll Culver you
    When the streets are shining with the smoggy dew
    When the lights are glowing with the mists of June
    And the whole world is lit up by the Culver Moon

    By Jackson Browne, Jeff Young, Kevin McCormick, Scott Thurston, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Luis Conte
    1996 Swallow Turn Music, Glad Brad Music, Inc., Eye Cue Music, adm. by Almo Music Corp, Bateria Music, Irague Music, ASCAP / Neurp Songs, Faux Music, Longitude Music Co., all rights on behalf of Faux Music, adm. by Longitude Music Co. BMI
    All Rights Reserved
  • 7. BABY HOW LONG
    How long did you blind me baby how long?
    How long did you blind me baby how long?
    With your little girl laugh and your siren song

    Was I right about you girl or was I wrong?
    Was I right about you lyin' or was I wrong?
    You had another man lovin' you all along

    You said "Baby I love you, I wouldn't trade you in if I could"
    You said "Look at me baby, if I wanted to leave you I would"
    Yeah you had me hangin' on
    Every time while you were gone
    I believed you were hurryin' home to me, baby
    But you were never on time

    How long did you lie to me baby how long?
    How long did you lie to me baby how long?
    With your love light shut off and your runnin' light on

    You said "Baby I love you, I wouldn't trade you in if I could"
    You said "Look at me baby, if I wanted to leave you I would"
    Yeah you had me hangin' on
    Every time while you were gone
    I believed you were hurryin' home to me, baby
    But you were never on time

    How long did you blind me baby how long?
    How long did you blind me baby how long?
    With your little girl laugh and your siren song
    With your little girl laugh and your siren song

    Word and music by Jackson Browne
    1996 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
    All Rights Reserved
  • 8. NIÑO
    Niño, walking around on Sunday
    Niño, just one more kid in LA
    With a hubcap and a stick in his hand
    In his own parade, leading the band
    His head in the sky,
    his feet nearly touching the sand
    Niño, three thousand miles away
    Niño, la familia stares at the bay
    Turning off Sunset Boulevard
    Playing the fence around somebody's yard

    Thinking of home and keeping tumbao
    on the hood of some car
    Niño, people will know you one day
    Niño, they're going to call you El Rey

    Niño de la playa y la ciudad
    Niño de las calles y la verdad
    El ritmo de tu pueblo se siente aqu
    Al canto de la tierra que vive en ti
    La magia de tu mano en el tambor
    Retumba aqu con alma y con sabor
    Y al toque de campanas al sonar
    Los angeles te guardan desde el mar

    With a hubcap and a stick in his hand
    In his own parade, leading the band
    His head in the sky, his feet nearly touching the sand of the homeland
    Niño, walking around in LA
    Niño, this will be your town one day

    [English translation of Spanish lyrics]
    Child of the beach and the city
    Child of the streets and of the truth
    The rhythm of your people is felt here
    To the song of the country that lives in you
    The magic of your hand on the drum
    Resonates here with soul and good feeling
    And at the strike of bells as they ring
    The angels guard you from the sea

    By Jackson Browne, Jorge Calderon, Jeff Young, Kevin McCormick, Scott Thurston, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Luis Conte, Valerie Carter
    1996 Swallow Turn Music, Glad Brad Music, Inc., Eye Cue Music, adm. by Almo Music Corp, Bateria Music, Irague Music, River Honey Music, ASCAP / Googoplex Music, Neurp Songs, Faux Music, Longitude Music Co., all rights on behalf of Faux Music, adm. by Longitude Music Co. BMI
    All Rights Reserved
  • 9. ALIVE IN THE WORLD
    I want to live in the world, not inside my head
    I want to live in the world, I want to stand and be counted
    With the hopeful and the willing
    With the open and the strong
    With the voices in the darkness
    Fashioning daylight out of song
    And the millions of lovers
    Alive in the world

    I want to live in the world, not behind some wall
    I want to live in the world, where I will hear if another voice should call
    To the prisoner inside me
    To the captive of my doubt
    Who among his fantasies harbors the dream of breaking out
    And taking his chances
    Alive in the world

    To open my eyes and wake up alive in the world
    To open my eyes and fully arrive in the world

    With its beauty and its cruelty
    With its heartbreak and its joy
    With it constantly giving birth to life and to forces that destroy
    And the infinite power of change
    Alive in the world

    To open my eyes and wake up alive in the world
    To open my eyes and fully arrive in the world
    To open my eyes and wake up alive in the world
    To open my eyes and fully arrive in the world

    Words and music by Jackson Browne
    1996 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
    All Rights Reserved
  • 10. IT IS ONE
    They shot a man into the sky
    The moon and stars became his bed
    He saw the sun rise seven times
    And when he came back down he said
    It is one, it is one
    One world spinning 'round the sun
    Wherever it is you call home
    Whatever country you come from
    It is one, it is one, it is one, it is one
    They shot a man if Africa
    At a time of rivalry and war
    He had some dreams of a good life
    But dreams aren't what they killed him for
    Now people stand themselves next to the righteous
    And they believe the things they say are true
    They speak in terms of what divides us
    To justify the violence they do
    But it is one, it is one
    One world spinning 'round the sun
    Wherever it is you call home
    Whatever country you come from
    It is one, it is one, it is one, it is one
    One - the deep blue ocean
    One - the endless sky
    One - the purple mountains
    One - you and I
    It's not a world of our own choosing
    We don'd decide where we are born
    This life is a battleground between right and wrong
    One way or other we are torn
    And people stand themselves next to the righteous
    And they believe the things they say are true
    And speak in terms of what divides us
    To justify the violence they do
    But it is one, it is one
    One world spinning 'round the sun
    Wherever it is you call home
    Whatever country you come from
    It is one, it is one, it is one, it is one
    It is one, it is one, it is one, it is one
    One - the purple mountains
    One - deep blue sea
    One - all of creation
    One - you and me

    By Jackson Browne, Jeff Young, Kevin McCormick, Scott Thurston, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Luis Conte. Valerie Carter
    1996 Swallow Turn Music, Glad Brad Music, Inc., Eye Cue Music, adm. by Almo Music Corp, Bateria Music, Irague Music, ASCAP / Neurp Songs, Faux Music, Longitude Music Co., all rights on behalf of Faux Music, adm. by Longitude Music Co. BMI
    All Rights Reserved