Hold Out

Discography

Released: 1980

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

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