I’m Alive

Discography

Released: 1993

I’m Alive

I'm Alive is a striking return to the kind of romantic subject matter that the Los Angeles singer and songwriter seemed to have abandoned after 1980 in favor of political songwriting. His finest album in nearly two decades, it has much in common with his 1974 masterpiece, Late For The Sky, whose songs also described the disintegration of a relationship. The album's best lyrics offer glimpses of phrase-making brilliance. "I wanted to live in the realm of the senses/You've got to know how/And for some kinds of pleasure there are no defenses/I know that now," he sings in "My Problem Is You." Describing the perils of extreme intimacy in "Two of Me, Two of You," he finds the perfect words to evoke emotional tumult: "And together we went crashing through/Every bond and vow and faith we knew." In moments like these, Mr. Browne speaks with the authority of someone who has risked a great deal to pursue a romantic ideal.

Stephen Holden, The New York Times, November 14, 1993

Putting Third World and rain forest politics on hold, Jackson Browne delivers a near-definitive collection of lost-love laments. Sinatra used to make brilliant records capturing a single mood; "I'm Alive" is that kind of tone poem, and its color is blue. Browne's voice is a marvel of yearning on "Too Many Angels," "Sky Blue and Black" and "Take This Rain," and by delving into the bitterness, regret, accusation, self-pity and fragile hope that compose the emotional catalog of the jilted, he has made beautiful songs. (RS 672-673)

Paul Evans, Rolling Stone, 1993

1. I'M ALIVE
Its been a long time since I watched these lights alone
I look around my life tonight and you are gone
I might have done something to keep you if Id known
How unhappy you had become

While I was dreaming of you
With my heart in your hands
And I was following though
With my beautiful plans

Yeah, now Im rolling down this canyon drive
With your laughter in my head
Im gonna have to block it out somehow to survive
Cause those dreams are dead
And Im alive

I want to go where I will never hear your name
I want to lose my sorrow and be free again
And I know Ive been insane
When I think of places I could have been

But I was dreaming of you
With my heart in your hands
And I was following through
With my beautiful plans

Standing here by the highway side
Watching these trucks blow by
Inches from my face
Yeah, thinking bout the time Ive wasted
And the pleasure we once tasted
Looking up and down this road
Ive been here before
Cant be here no more

Yeah, now Im rolling down California five
With your laughter in my head
Im gonna have to block it out somehow to survive
Cause those dreams are dead
And Im alive

Hey, look at the way I believed in you
And loved you all these years
Now you can fill a swimming pool with all my salty tears
If youd have told me what was in your heart
Instead of all your lies
I thought that it would kill me
But Im alive
Yeah, Im alive

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved
2. MY PROBLEM IS YOU
To love and get away before the walls have arisen
You've got to be free
But to go on attempting to break into the prison
You'd have to be me
I wait for the sun to rise over the mountain
I wait for your touch
I wait for your angels to carry me home
But I wait too much
Waiting for you
I have no problem telling right from wrong
Fiction from what's true
No problem telling the dream from the dawn
My problem is you
Waiting here for you

I wanted to live in the realm of the senses
You've got to know how
And for some kinds of pleasure there are no defenses
I know that now
Our love is a crackling ladder of lightning
Our love is a fire
Our love is a wave moving deep in an ocean
Of need and desire
Waiting for you
I have no problem with this crooked world
I play the cards I drew
No problem with the changes life has hurled
My problem is you
Waiting here for you
I need your wonder and I need your light
I need your tender touch to heal the night
I need you laughing and I need you free
And I need to lock you away deep inside of me
Waiting for you
I have no problem telling right from wrong
The way some people do
I know exactly where these arms belong
My problem is you
Waiting here for you

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved
3. EVERYWHERE I GO
I hear your heart beating everywhere
When we're apart I can hear you there
I hear your heart beating everywhere
Everywhere I go

People say that I must be in love
The way I forget what we're speaking of
The way I stand there smiling straight ahead
And walk away without hearing a word they said

I hear your heart beating everywhere
When we're apart I can close my eyes and hear you there
I hear your heart beating everywhere
Everywhere I go

In the middle of the football game
At the beach in the pouring rain
Standing on a hillside staring at the sun
People hurry by the unfortunate one
With the faraway eyes and the mystery smile
Moving my body in a ragamuffin style
I can't sit down when I hear it start
I hear your heart everywhere I go
People say that I must be a fool
Cause when I'm near you I cannot be cool
I don't quite make sense when I talk to you
And when you smile I forget everything I knew

I hear your heart beating everywhere
When we're apart I can close my eyes and hear you there
I hear your heart beating everywhere
Everywhere I go

Standing in the market where I buy my bread
With a hunger in my belly and a rhythm in my head
Looking all around for something good to eat
Between the butter and the beans and the mops and the meat
Coffee from the mountain, honey from the bee
Nothing tastes as good as you taste to me
Rocking in the aisle to my inside song
People staring at me think I got a Walkman on

I hear your heart beating everywhere
I hear your heart
I hear your heart beating everywhere
I hear your heart
Beating everywhere I go

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved
4. I'LL DO ANYTHING
You hold a life there in your hands
You probably don't know
Somehow your dreams became my plans
Somewhere long ago
Think about the things we've done and where we've been
Your touch made me a king
I don't want to live without your love again
I'll do anything

To make you see what I'm imagining
To know the pleasure your smile can bring
To keep the light from vanishing
I'll do anything

I fly this airplane upside down
I walk out on the wing
To see you watching from the ground
I'll do anything
When I see the light upon your upturned face
I can hear the angels sing
Don't ever let another take my place
I'll do anything

To make you see what I'm imagining
To know the pleasure your smile can bring
To keep the light from vanishing
I'll do anything

I make this world a place for you and me
I make your happiness my responsibility
To make this world the world you want to see
I'll do anything

When I see the light upon your upturned face
I can hear the angels sing
To see that no one ever takes my place
I'll do anything

To make you see what I'm imagining
To know the pleasure your smile can bring
To keep the light from vanishing
I'll do anything

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved
5. MILES AWAY
I got my head down between my knees
I got my back against this bedroom wall
I hear my voice saying baby please
But I know that you don't hear me call

You're staring at that far horizon
I don't even know why you stay
It's like you're already miles and miles away

We got this life so far turned around
We only talk about what happened last
We try to move ahead but we're losing ground
To the heartache and the pain of the past

Staring at that far horizon
I don't even know why I stay
You're already miles and miles away

Miles away
From these sad deliberations
From a life in disarray
And all these recriminations
And these stones all in your passway

You got this rage choking up your voice
And you're behaving like an orphan child
I want to be your friend but I got no choice
Than to fight when you're so mean and wild

Staring at that far horizon
I don't even know why you stay
It's like you're already miles and miles away

Miles away
From these sad deliberations
From the innocence betrayed
The abandoned expectations
And the stones that we have laid

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved
6. TOO MANY ANGELS
There's an angel on a ribbon
Hanging from the armoire door
There's a cupid with his feet crossed
On the bird cage by the door
There's a baby angel drummer
His eyes are open wide
And two more tiny cherubs
On the mantle side by side
Too many angels
Have seen me crying
Too many angels
Have heard you lying

There are photographs of children
All in their silver frames
On the window sills and tabletops
Lit by candle flames
And upon their angel faces
Life's expectations climb
Where the moment has preserved them
From the ravages of time
Too many angels
Have seen me crying
Too many angels
Have heard you lying

Bring the morning on
Voices sing of day
I want to step out in the morning sun
Through the flood of tears
I want this darkness gone
Your sweet face appears
These apparitions coming one by one
But there's no end in sight
Only the dead of night

And too many angels

Too many angels
Have seen me crying
Too many angels
Have heard you lying
Too many angels
Bring the morning on
Voices sing of day
I want to step out in the morning sun
Through this flood of tears
I want to greet the dawn
Cast away these fears
Forget about the things we could have done
Bring the morning on
Voices sing of day
I want to watch the children as they run
Through the broken years
I want this darkness gone
Your sweet face appears
These apparitions coming one by one
But there's no end in sight
Only the dead of nightv
And too many angels

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved
7. TAKE THIS RAIN
It used To be There were two sets of footprints in the sand
And there were two silhouettes in the sunset hand in hand
But now here beside the sea are the footprints of three
And I can't find my own
Among the directions they're all going

Baby it's alright
Break this chain of love and madness
It's alright
Take this rain as your new address
It's alright
Take this rain
It's alright
Take this rain

'cause I've been running all over creation out of my mind
Trying to keep our hearts beating together all of the time
Going crazier every day
Watching our love slipping away
'cause you're the only home I've ever wanted
And the only light I've known

But baby it's alright
Break this chain of love and madness
It's alright
Take this rain as your new address
It's alright
Take this rain
It's alright
Take this rain
You're going to be free

Some people go through life seeing just what they want to see
Take the way I went on believing
You might still believe in me
And I still want the love I always thought our love could be
But some things can't be changed
Take this rain

You're going to hear my voice in the morning calling your name
And know my love and my desperation were one and the same
And where our footprints used to be
There'll be nothing but the sea
And the tide and the wind and the open sky
And the unbroken horizon

Baby it's alright
Break this chain of love and madness
It's alright
Take this pain and all this sadness
It s alright
Make this rain into your fortress
It's alright
Take this rain
It's alright
Take this rain
It's alright
Take this rain
You're going to be free

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved
8. TWO OF ME TWO OF YOU
There are two of me
And two of you
Two who have betrayed love
And two who have been true
And together we went crashing through
Every bond and vow and faith we knew
Me and the fool I've been
And the two of you

Of the two of me
One always knew
That I would always love you
Whatever you might do
And the more unfree and troubled you grew
I could feel the whole world splitting in two
Trying to make the room
For the two of you

So like a fragile little child
More than a little lost and wild
How the light would leave the sky when you cried
And return again when you smiled
And how the light would invade and divide
The darkness I have inside

There were two of me
And two of you
Searching for a passageway
Hidden from our view
And together we went crashing through
Every bond and vow and faith we knew
Me and the fool I've been
And the two of you

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved
9. 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, Ill be there
If you ever need holding
And no holding back, Ill see you through
Sky blue and black

Where the touch of the lover ends
And the soul of the friend begins
Theres 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 Id 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 itll never fold back
Sky blue and black

And Id have fought the world for you
If I thought that you wanted me to
Or put aside what was true or untrue
If Id known thats 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, Ill be there
If you ever need holding
And no holding back, Ill see you through

Youre the color of the sky
Reflected in each storefront windowpane
Youre the whispering and the sighing
Of my tires in the rain

Youre the hidden cost and the thing thats lost
In everything I do
Yeah, and Ill never stop looking for you
In the sunlight and the shadows
And the faces on the avenue
Thats the way love is
Thats the way love is
Thats the way love is
Sky blue and black

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved
10. ALL GOOD THINGS
All good things got to come to an end
The thrills have to fade
Before they come 'round again
The bills will be paid
And the pleasure will mend
All good things got to come to an end

God I wish I was home
Laying 'round with my friends
The call of the wild
Caution thrown to the wind
The fall of the child
Where the longing begins
All good things got to come to an end

Like a river flows
Rolling 'till it ends in the sea
Our pleasure grows
Rolling 'till it ends in you and me

Now as the dark gathers into the sky
And legions of might go thundering by
Regions of light grow dim and then die
And we with our wings
Wait for morning to fly

Like a river flows
Rolling 'till it ends in the sea
Our pleasure grows
Rolling 'till it ends in you and me
Rolling 'till it ends in you and me
Here where the angels
Have appeared and are gone
Your face like an ember
Glows in the dawn
But I want you to remember
All wild deeds live on
Ail good times, all good friends

All good things got to come to an end
The thrills have to fade
Before they come 'round again
The bills will be paid
And the pleasure will mend
All good things got to come to an end

All good times, all good friends
All good things got to come to an end

Words and music by Jackson Browne
1993 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved