Discography
For Everyman
For inwardly panoramic songwriting of an apocalyptic bent, Jackson Browne's second album is rivaled only by his first (the second one wins), and Jackson himself is rivaled by nobody. Brilliantly conceived, imcoparably immediate, For Everyman truly earns its title. (RS 148)
Janet Maslin, Rolling Stone, November 22, 1973
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The title track of Jackson Browne's second album, For Everyman, was a response to the escapist vision of Crosby, Stills and Nash's Wooden Ships. As violence, fear and paranoia overtook Sixties utopianism, Wooden Ships imagined a kind of hipster exodus by sea from a straight world teetering on the edge of apocalypse.
Browne wasn't giving up so easily. Browne sings in his characteristic long, fluid lines: "Everybody I talk to is ready to leave with the light of the morning/They've seen the end coming down long enough to believe that they've heard their last warming.../But all my fine dreams, well-thought-out schemes to gain the motherland/Have all eventually come down to waiting for everyman." Deliverance must come for everyone, Browne insisted, not just hippie troubadours.
Browne is still searching for his true voice on For Everyman. He was testing his various talents with obvious joy, because, like his audience, he was just discovering them. (RS 818)
Anthony DeCurtis, Rolling Stone, 2000
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1.
TAKE IT EASY
Well Im runnin down the road tryin to loosen my load
Ive got seven women on my mind
Four that want to own me, two that want to stone me
One says shes a friend of mine
Take it easy, take it easy
Dont let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
Dont even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
And take it easy
Standin on the corner in Winslow, Arizona
With such a fine sight to see
Its a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford
Slowin down to take a look at me
Come on baby, dont say maybe
Ive got to know if your sweet loves gonna save me
We may lose and we may win
But we will never be here again
Open up, Im climbin in
To take it easy
Well Im a-runnin down the road tryin to loosen my load
Got a world of trouble on my mind
I lookin for a lover who wont blow my cover
Shes just a little hard to find
Take it easy, take it easy
Dont let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy
Come on baby, dont say maybe
Gotta know if your sweet loves gonna save me
Words and music by Jackson Browne and Glen Frey
Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved -
2.
OUR LADY OF THE WELL
It is a dance we do in silence
Far below this morning sun
You in your life, me in mine
We have begun
Here we stand and without speaking
Draw the water from the well
And stare beyond the plains
To where the mountains lie so still
But it's a long way that I have come
Across the sand to find this peace among your people in the sun
Where the families work the land as they have always done
Oh it's so far the other way my country's gone
Across my home has grown the shadow
Of a cruel and senseless hand
Though in some strong hearts
The love and truth remain
And it has taken me this distance
And a woman's smile to learn
That my heart remains among them
And to them I must return
But it's a long way that I have come
Across the sand to find you here among these people in the sun
Where your children will be born
You'll watch them as they run
Oh it's so far the other way my life has gone
If you look for me, Maria
You will find me in the shade
Wide awake or in a dream
It's hard to tell
If you come to me, Maria
I will show you what I've made
It's a picture for our lady of the well
Words & music by Jackson Browne
Open Window Music ASCAP -
3.
COLORS OF THE SUN
Colors of the sun
Flashing on the water top echo on the land
Digging for a coin
Many other tiny worlds slipping past my hand
Awake to understand you are not dreaming
It is not seeming just to be this way
Dying men draw numbers in the air
Dream to conquer little bits of time
Scuffle with the crowd to get their share
But fall behind their little bits of time
Voices in the air
Sympathetic harmony coming from the trees
Hanging at my door
Many shiny surfaces clinging in the breeze
Oh, leave me where I am, I am not losing
If I am choosing not to plan my life
Disillusioned saviors search the sky
Wanting just to show someone the way
Asking all the people passing by
Doesn't anybody want the way
Oh, say good-bye to Joseph and Maria
They think they see another sky
From my fallen window I still see them
I'll never free them from the sky
Words & music by Jackson Browne
Open Window Music ASCAP -
4.
I THOUGHT I WAS A CHILD
It's such a clever innocence with which you do your sorcery
As if somehow the years just bow and let that young girl go free
I thought I was a child until you turned and smiled
I thought I knew where I was going until I heard your laughter flowing
And came upon the wisdom in your eyes
Surprise--
I've spent my whole life running 'round
Chasing songs from town to town
Thinking I'd be free so long as I never let love slow me down
So lonely and so wild until you turned and smiled
By now I should have long been gone
But here I am still holding on
As if I didn't know which way to run
It's such a clever innocence with which you show myself to me
As if you know how it feels to never quite be who you wanted to be
I thought I was a child until you turned and smiled
I thought that I was free but I'm just one more prisoner of time
Alone within the boundaries of my mind
I thought I was a child
Words & music by Jackson Browne
Open Window Music ASCAP -
5.
THESE DAYS
Well Ive been out walking
I dont 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
Its 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 its just that Ive been losing so long
Ill keep on moving
Things are bound to be improving these days
One of these days
These days I sit on corner stones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten, my friend
Dont confront me with my failures
I had not forgotten them
Words and Music by Jackson Browne
1973 Open Window Music ASCAP, Companion Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved -
6.
REDNECK FRIEND
Pretty little one, how has it all begun?
Theyre teaching you how to walk but youre already on the run
Little one, what you gonna do?
Little one, honey, its all up to you
Now your daddys in the den shootin up the evening news
Mamas with a friend, lately shes been so confused
Little one, come on and take my hand
I may not have the answer but I believe I got a plan
Honey, you shake and Ill rattle and well roll on down the line
And see if we cant get in touch with a very close friend of mine
But let me clue you in, it aint like him to argue or pretend
Honey, let me introduce you to my red neck friend
Well, theyve got a little list of all those things of which they dont approve
Theyve got to keep their eyes on you or you might make your move
Little one, I really wish you would
Little one, I think the damage would do you good
Honey, you shake and Ill rattle and well roll on down the line
Were gonna forget all about the battle, its gonna feel so fine
Cause hes the missing link, the kitchen sink, eleven on a scale of ten
Honey, let me introduce you to my red neck friend
Honey, you shake and Ill rattle and well roll on down the line
Going to try to swing you up into my saddle then well run but youll think were flyin
Honey, dont just stand there lookin like this dream will never end
Honey, let me introduce you to my red neck friend
Words and music by Jackson Browne
Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved -
7.
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 onto the things that we have done
Still I've loved the times you've come
When you went away taking all that I built my false road on
I dropped my life and couldn't find the pieces
Now you come and go and it's hard that I feel my strength returning
We'll see how far this new road reaches
We'll see a little more each time we come
Everybody's gonna tell you it's not worth it
Everyrybody's gotta show you their own thing
You may 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 pleasure
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
Words & music by Jackson Browne
Open Window Music ASCAP -
8.
READY OR NOT
Someone's going to have to explain it to me
I'm not sure what it means
My baby's feeling funny in the morning
She's having trouble getting into her jeans
Her waist-line seems to be expanding
Although she never feels like eating a thing
I guess we'll reach some understanding
When we see what the future will bring
I met her in a crowded barroom
One of those typical Hollywood scenes
I was doing my very best Bogart
But I was having trouble getting into her jeans
I punched an unemployed actor
Defending her dignity
He stood up and knocked me through that barroom door
And that girl came home with me
Now baby's feeling funny in the morning
She says she's got a lot on her mind
Nature didn't give her any warning
Now she's going to have to leave her wild ways behind
She says she doesn't care if she never spends
Another night running loose on the town
She's gonna be a mother
Take a look in my eyes and tell me brother
If I look like I'm ready
I told her I had always lived alone
And I probably always would
And all I wanted was my freedom
And she told me that she understood
But I let her do some of my laundry
And she slipped a few meals in between
And the next thing I remember, she was all moved in
And I was buying her a washing machine
Now baby's feeling funny in the morning
She says she's got a lot on her mind
Nature didn't give her any warning
But she's feeling better about it all the time
She says she's ready for some meaning
After all of her running around
Well bless my soul, she's got a rock-and-roll bandman
Thinking 'bout settling down
Words & music by Jackson Browne
Open Window Music ASCAP -
9.
SING MY SONGS TO ME
Sing my songs to me
Sing them to me softly
Sing me sunlight and shadows
Orange groves and meadows
Let your voice ring back my memories
Sing my songs to me
Bring my dreams to me
Bring them from the darkness
Let the minutes and hours
Show my mind strange new flowers
But I'd like to know where they go
When the morning comes
Bring my dreams to me
Because it seems to me that there may never be
A better chance to see who I am
Come timelessly dancing
Through my dreams to me
Words & music by Jackson Browne
Open Window Music ASCAP -
10.
FOR EVERYMAN
Everybody I talk to is ready to leave
With the light of the morning
Theyve seen the end coming down long enough to believe
That theyve heard their last warning
Standing alone
Each has his own
Ticket in his hand
And as the evening descends
I sit thinking bout Everyman
Seems like Ive always been looking for some other place
To get it together
Where with a few of my friends I could give up the race
And maybe find something better
But all my fine dreams
Well thought out schemes
To gain the motherland
Have all eventually come down to waiting for Everyman
Waiting here for Everyman
Make it on your own if you think you can
If you see somewhere to go, I understand
Waiting here for Everyman
Dont ask me if hell show
Baby, I dont know
Make it on your own if you think you can
Somewhere later on youll have to take a stand
Then youre going to need a hand
Everybodys just waiting to hear from the one
Who can give them the answers
And lead them back to that place in the warmth of the sun
Where sweet childhood still dances
Wholl come along
And hold out that strong
But gentle fathers hand?
Long ago I heard someone say something bout Everyman
Waiting here for Everyman
Make it on your own if you think you can
If you see somewhere to go, I understand
Im not trying to tell you that Ive seen the plan
Turn and walk away if you think I am
But dont think too badly of one whos left holding sand
Hes just another dreamer dreaming bout Everyman
Words and music by Jackson Browne
1973 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserved