Tag Archives: Jackson Browne

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Song of the Day #4,688: “In the Shape of a Heart’ – Jackson Browne

With 1986’s Lives in the Balance, Jackson Browne made an unfortunate pivot from the personal to the political. The thoughtful poet who so successfully mined matters of the heart was now singing about Ronald Reagan.

I call this shift unfortunate because I have an aversion to overtly political songs, especially when they are dressed up with glossy production. It’s one thing for Bob Dylan or Joan Baez to sing about civil rights with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica in the 60s, but do I need Sting crooning “Hey, Mr. Pinonchet” over a bed of soft jazz? No, I do not.

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Song of the Day #4,687: ‘Lawyers in Love’ – Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne released his biggest hit between albums, when he wrote ‘Somebody’s Baby’ for the soundtrack of 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The song made it to #7, one spot higher than his first-ever single, and only other top ten hit, ‘Doctor My Eyes.’

The following year he released Lawyers in Love, another rock album in the vein of Hold Out. Again, the critical response wasn’t great, and again, I kind of dig it.

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Song of the Day #4,686: ‘That Girl Could Sing’ – Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne started the new decade with 1980’s Hold Out, an album considered his first dud by most critics. Nevertheless, it was also his first (and only) album to reach #1 on the Billboard chart, powered by his newfound popularity post-Running On Empty and a couple of minor hit singles.

I remember seeing this album in cut out bins back when I used to spend much of my free time CD shopping. Between that fact, the critical consensus, and the cheap-looking cover art, I did not have high hopes for this record.

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Song of the Day #4,683: ‘Running On Empty’ – Jackson Browne

The Jackson Browne album people know best, and the one that has sold more than any other by far, is the one least representative of his overall output.

1977’s Running on Empty, Browne’s fifth release, is a concept record about life on the road, with all of its tracks recorded during live shows or in hotel rooms, buses or backstage. Browne has solo writing credits on only two songs (the two best, as it turns out) and four are covers. The mood and style of this album is a long way from the cerebral folk rock of his earlier releases.

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Song of the Day #4,682: ‘The Pretender’ – Jackson Browne

Jackson Browne’s 1976 album The Pretender was his first to reach the Top Ten on the albums chart (it made it to #5) and it scored his highest-charting hit since ‘Doctor My Eyes’ in ‘Here Come Those Tears Again.’

Browne’s wife, Phyllis Major, took her own life during the recording of this album, but that loss isn’t really reflected in the music. One track, ‘Sleep’s Dark and Silent Gate,’ addresses the suicide, but the album is otherwise much more upbeat than its predecessor.

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