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Hold Out

Released: 1980

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Hold Out

Hold Out is a fine record; perhaps his finest, overall. It confirms his growth as an artist. It represents a welcome broadening of idiom.

John Rockwell, The New York Times, July 13, 1980

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Everything that's right and everything that's wrong about Hold Out, Jackson Browne's first studio album since The Pretender (1976), can be found in its climax: the spoken confession at the end of the last cut, "Hold On Hold Out." Eight minutes long, "Hold On Hold Out" is the LP's anthem, its farewell address and would-be summation. With Technicolor clarity, the drive of the drums, the zing of the string synthesizer and the shoulders-thrust-back momentum of the piano jump out at you-big and bright and basic. So the drama is real when the instruments drop back and Browne stops singing and starts speaking. (RS 325)

Kit Rachlis, Rolling Stone, 1980

  • 1. DISCO APOCALYPSE
    Down the side streets and the avenue
    There be sisters walkin' two by two
    Their dresses and their shoes are new
    But their hearts are weary thru and thru
    And it's a long way into the light of day
    While the juke box and the radio play

    Where the days turn into nights,
    People move into the sounds and sights
    Like a moth is drawn into the lights
    Like the tight-rope walker into the heights
    It's in their hearts, it's in their hips
    It's in their feet, it's on their lips

    Tonight's the night I'm gonna make you mine
    Gonna dance right out onto the edge of time
    When the sound starts pumpin'
    And the lights are flashin'
    And my heart's-a-thumpin'
    And I feel the passion
    And the world is right there waiting
    At my fingertips
    Disco...apocalypse

    In the dawn, the city seems to sigh,
    And the hungry hear their children cry
    People watch the time go by
    They do their jobs and live and die
    And in their dreams they rise above
    By strength, or hate, or luck, or love

    Tonight's the night I'm gonna make you mine
    Gonna dance right out onto the edge of time
    When the world starts a-turnin'
    And the floors are shakin'
    And the dreams are burnin'
    And the skies awaken,
    Through the wind and the fire
    They will be dancing still

    It's in their hearts, it's in their hips
    It's in their feet, it's on their lips
    A single sound that never ends..
    They die each night and live again

    I'm gonna make you mine
    Tonight's the night,
    Out on the edge of time,
    With the dreams of flesh and love dancin' in my mind
    Dancing through the fire on the edge of time

    Words and music by Jackson Browne
    1980 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
    All Rights Reserved
  • 2. HOLD OUT
    Baby, I guess you know my story
    Baby, I guess you know my side
    It seems I've traded love for glory
    But I'm still not satisfied

    Given all the years
    All the cries and cheers
    Don't amount to much more than pride
    Take my love for you
    Take tomorrow too
    There's not much left inside

    How we laughed when we first knew love
    Singing dum-de-lum-de-lie
    I taught you how to see life through love
    Then I taught you how to fly
    And though I must have known
    How easily love is thrown
    I took some chances, I don't know why
    There's not much you can do
    You wish that I'd been true
    Darlin', so do I

    Now you better hold out
    Go on and hold out
    Go ahead and hold out
    For what you know love can be
    Move on and hold out
    Don't let your love be sold out
    If there's anyone who knows about it
    Baby, that's me

    Ah, you're right
    You can't forget the way I lied
    Time has seen you grow
    To lead your life alone
    Though you tried and tried
    Cried and cried

    Baby, I guess you know my story
    Maybe there's not much left to say
    You know, the more we talk, the more we
    Turn each other's hearts away
    Now, I'll be leaving in the morning
    Leaving half of me behind
    To find the pieces life's been torn in
    And take whatever love I find

    But you better hold out
    Go on and hold out
    Just walk away and hold out
    For what you know love can be
    Move on and hold out
    Don't let your love be sold out
    It's starting to be cold out
    For people who live like me
    Move on and hold out
    And somewhere later, no doubt
    You'll find another hold out
    Someone just like you, baby, wait and see

    Words and music by Jackson Browne
    1980 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
    All Rights Reserved
  • 3. THAT GIRL COULD SING
    She was a friend to me when I needed one
    Wasnt for her, I dont know what Id done
    She gave me back something that was missing in me
    She could have 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 wasnt much good at stickin around
    But that girl could sing
    She could sing...

    In the dead of night
    She could shine a light
    On some places that youve 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 shed 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 couldnt have been any kinder
    If shed come back and tried to explain
    She wasnt much good at saying goodbye
    But that girl was sane

    Words and music by Jackson Browne
    1980 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
    All Rights Reserved
  • 4. BOULEVARD
    Down on the boulevard they take it hard
    They look at life with such disregard
    They say it cant be won
    The way the game is run
    But if you choose to stay
    You end up playing anyway
    Its okay -

    The kids in shock up and down the block
    The folks are home playing Beat the Clock
    Down at The Golden Cup
    They set the young ones up
    Under the neon light
    Selling day for night
    Its all right -

    Nobody rides for free
    Nobody gets it like they want it to be
    Nobody hands you any guarantee
    Nobody

    The hearts are hard and the times are tough
    Down on the boulevard the nights enough
    And time passes slow
    Between the storefront shadows and the street lights glow

    Everybody walks right by like theyre safe or something
    They dont know -

    Nobody knows you
    Nobody owes you nothin
    Nobody shows you what theyre thinking
    Nobody, baby

    Hey, hey, baby
    You got to watch the street
    Keep your feet and be on guard
    Make it pay, baby
    Its only time on the boulevard

    Words and music by Jackson Browne
    1980 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
    All Rights Reserved
  • 5. OF MISSING PERSONS
    Your father was a rounder
    He played that rock and roll
    A leaper and a bounder
    Down to his gypsy soul
    The music was his angel
    And sorrow was his star
    And those of us who follow
    Might hope to reach as far

    They're walking slow in Houston
    Speechless in D.C.
    There's no way I could tell you
    What he meant to me

    Your mother's a survivor
    She'll do what must be done
    Her children will revive her
    And help her see the sun
    She almost knew that unison
    But the singing stopped too soon
    Now she shares the silence
    With a man up in the moon

    To speak of missing persons
    Tonight there's only one
    And we all carry with us what the man's begun

    And you can sing this song
    On July the Fourth
    In the sunny south and the frozen north
    It's a day of loss, it's your day of birth
    Does it take a death to learn what life is worth?

    Your brothers are all older
    And they'll take it in their stride
    The world's a little colder
    But manhood's on their side
    Now you're the little girl-child
    And you look so much like him
    And he's right there inside you
    Each time you want to sing

    Sing of missing persons
    Tonight there's only one
    But he's where you can find him when it's said and done

    And we will sing this song
    On July the Fourth
    From the sunny south and the frozen north
    This will always be your day of birth
    May always see what your life is worth

    Words and music by Jackson Browne
    1980 Inara Music
    All Rights Reserved
  • 6. CALL IT A LOAN
    In the morning when I closed my eyes,
    you were sleeping in paradise,
    And while the room was growing light,
    I was holding still with all my might.

    Oh. what if it's true?
    ah, what my heart says?
    Oh, what'll I do?
    What if this feeling becomes hard to part with.

    You were meant to play your part
    in the design of a desperate heart.
    And while you gave your love to me,
    I was betting I was getting in free.

    Oh, if I'd only known,
    ah, what your heart cost.
    Oh, can we call it a loan
    and a debt that I own
    on a bet that I lost?

    In the evening when you see my eyes
    looking back at you, no disguise,
    I'm not sure who you think you'll see.
    I'm just hopin' you'll still know that it's me.

    Oh, what if it's true?
    ah, better ask the man inside
    Oh, oh, there seem to be two.
    One steals the love, and the other one hides.

    Yeah, can we call it loan
    till I'm paid in full for the seeds I've sown?
    Yeah, can we say that I've grown
    in some way that we may have yet to be shown?

    Oh, if I'd only known,
    ah, what your heart cost.
    Oh, can we call it a loan
    and debt that I owe
    on a bet that I lost?

    By Jackson Browne and David Lindley
    1980 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP, Neuoleum Music ASCAP
    All Rights Reserved
  • 7. HOLD ON HOLD OUT
    Hold on, hold out, keep a hold on strong
    The money's in and the bets are down
    You won't hold out long
    They say you'll fall in no time at tall
    But you know they're wrong
    known it all along

    Hold on, hold out, keep a hold on still
    If you don't see what your love is worth
    No one ever will
    You've done your time on the bottom line
    And it ain't no thrill
    There's got to be something more
    Keep a hold on still
    You know what it is you're waiting for
    Now you just hold on
    Hold on hold out, hold on

    Give up your heart and you lose your way
    Trusting another to feel that way
    Give up your heart and you find yourself
    Living for something in somebody else
    Sometimes you wonder what happens to love
    Sometimes the touch of a friend is enough

    Hold a place for the human race
    Keep it open wide
    Give it time to fall or climb
    But let the time decide
    Sometimes you wonder what's in this for you
    But you wait and you see
    'Cause its all you can do
    Just to hold on
    Hold on hold out, hold on

    For the countless souls beaten by their goals
    Keep a hold on now
    And the one betrayed by the deals they made
    Keep a hold on
    If you hold your ground it'll turn around
    Keep a hold somehow

    Hold on hold out, keep a hold on tight
    Tonight's the night
    Wake up and turn on the light
    You fight and you're right -
    It's gonna take all your might...

    You're a hold out
    Well I'm a hold out too
    But it took me all this time to figure out
    Something you already know
    Will love be true? Can it pull you through?
    How long? How strong?
    Some things depend on you
    See - I always figured I was going to meet somebody here

    And I don't know why
    Why should love come down and suddenly just sweep me away
    I want to fly
    But there are so many things in my way

    Anyway...
    I guess you wouldn't know unless I told you
    But...
    I love you
    Well just look at yourself -
    What else would I do?

    Hold on -

    By Jackson Browne and Craig Doerge
    1980 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP, Fair Star Music ASCAP
    All Rights Reserved