Cover: These Days (Jackson Browne)

Recorded 10/30/23 on my phone

I got to see Jackson Browne last month. It was hands down in my top 3 concerts of all time. I have been a big fan for the last 8 years or so of my life. A friend of mine showed me his music and prior to that, I had never even heard of him. I of course recognized the hits, but I didn’t know the name.

What I discovered, was a master of songwriting. You know those artists that people refer to as a “musicians musician”? Think Pavement, Wilco, Neutral Milk Hotel, Big Thief, etc. Jackson Browne is a “songwriters songwriter”. Listening to his music is like taking a masterclass on how to craft gorgeous melodies and pair them with heartbreakingly straight forward lyrics.

His album “Running on Empty” is a collection of hits that you’ve probably heard on the classic rock station a few times but if you are a touring musician, this album has a whole other meaning. I remember laughing my ass off the first time I heard “The Load Out” and he sang this verse:

But the band's on the bus
And they're waiting to go
We've got to drive all night and do a show in Chicago
or Detroit, I don't know
We do so many shows in a row
And these towns all look the same
We just pass the time in our hotel rooms
And wander 'round backstage
Till those lights come up and we hear that crowd
And we remember why we came

It was so ridiculously amazing to hear someone put touring life so plainly that I couldn’t help but laugh. Here’s another line from the song “The Road” that gets me:

Highways and dance halls
A good song takes you far
Your write about the moon
And you dream about the stars
Blues in old motel rooms
Girls in daddy's car
You sing about the nights
And you laugh about the scars
Coffee in the morning cocaine afternoons
You talk about the weather
And you grin about the rooms
Phone calls long distance
To tell how you've been
Forget about the losses, you exaggerate the wins.

I just fucking love it.

Now if you haven’t gotten into him at all, don’t worry! He’s more than some old fucker writing about tour buses. His album “Late For The Sky” is a devastating and beautiful collection of songs made for a generation that felt lost and had a massive identity crisis coming out of the Vietnam war. This lyric from the title track makes me cry:

How long have I been sleeping?
How long have I been drifting alone through the night?
How long have I been dreaming I could make it right?
If I closed my eyes and tried with all my might
To be the the one you need.

To make a long and potentially existential conversation short, he is incredible and to honor the amazing show I saw last month I recorded a shaky cover on my iphone. Fair trade? No. But here it is!

p.s. usually, I put songs behind the paywall. But I really want you guys to get into Jackson Browne so consider yourself lucky, punk.