Discography
The Naked Ride Home
From the cool romanticism of 1993's I'm Alive to the textured ruminations of 1996's Looking East, Jackson Browne has explored, with a sense of flash that answers only to itself, just how far a polished singer-songwriter can go. The Naked Ride Home stays in this noble tradition. Looser, warmer and more live-sounding than Browne's recent work -- yet still as passionately crafted and sung -- the songs take on domestic mysteries (the title drama) and political realities ("Casino Nation") with a varied midtempo dependability that turns richer and more resonant upon re-listenings. "For Taking the Trouble" and "About My Imagination" integrate reggae and soul so unobtrusively that the music mirrors exactly the precise casualness of Browne's voice - he is the sound of unfrantic L.A. cool engaged with the long view. (RS 907)
James Hunter, Rolling Stone Magazine, October 17, 2002
- 1.THE NAKED RIDE HOMEJust take off your clothes and Ill drive you home I said
Knowing she never could pass on a dare
And knowing it sounded more desperate than reckless or bold
I just put it out there cold, too far gone to care
My eyes on the road, she slid herself down in the seat
And a vision of paradise swung into view
Across those five lanes not one driver glanced over to see
The beauty known only to me, and a big-rig or two
On that freeway the light was receding
Her beauty, a sight so misleading
I failed to hear the heart that was beating alone
On the naked ride home
With the trace of a smile and that defiant look in her eye
She hurtled through space in a world of her own
And turning aside my caress, spoke of all that shed not yet done
As if I was the doubting one who would have to be shown
On that freeway the light was receding
Her beauty, a sight so misleading
I failed to hear the heart that was beating alone
On the naked ride home
She gathered her clothes
And ran through the yard in the dark
Up onto the porch like a flash, and inside
Then one room at a time
I watched every light in our house come on
Like the truth that would eventually dawn
Forcing me to decide
But on that freeway the light was receding
Her beauty, a sight so misleading
I failed to hear the heart that was beating alone
On the naked ride home
Words and music by Jackson Browne
2002 Swallow Turn Music ASCAP
All Rights Reserve - 2.THE NIGHT INSIDE MEI used to lay out in a field under the Milky Way
With everything that I was feeling that I could not say
With every doubt and every sorrow that was in my way
Tearing around inside my head like it was there to stay
Night in my eyes, the night inside me
There where the shadows and the night could hide me
Night in my eyes
Sky full of stars turning over me
Waiting for night to set me free
I caught a ride into the city every chance I got
I wasnt sure there was a name for the life I sought
Now Im a long way gone down the life I got
I dont know how I believed some of the things I thought
Night in my eyes, the night inside me
Here where the shadows gather to decide me
Night in my eyes
Out at the end of light and gravity
Waiting for night
It takes the night to clear all of this mess away
The obligation, the burden and the light of day
It takes the night to fall between the world I obey
And a world where I hear angels play
Maybe I should go back to Spain
I walk around inside the questions of my day
I navigate the inner reaches of my disarray
I pass the altars where fools and thieves hold sway
I wait for night to come and lift this dread away
Night in my eyes, the night inside me
Here where the shadows and the light divide me
Night in my eyes
Night full of promise and uncertainty
Waiting for night to set me free
Lyrics by Jackson Browne Music by Jackson Browne, Kevin McCormick, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Jeff Young
2002 Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP; Eye Cue Music, ASCAP; Bossypants Music/Songs of Windswept Pacific, BMI; Bateria Music, ASCAP; Glad Brad Music, Inc., ASCAP
All Rights Reserved - 3.CASINO NATIONIn a weapons producing nation under Jesus
In the fabled crucible of the free world
Camera crews search for clues amid the detritus
And entertainment shapes the land
The way the hammer shapes the hand
Gleaming faces in the checkout counter at the Church of Fame
The lucky winners cheer Casino Nation
All those not on TV
Only have themselves to blame
And don't quite seem to understand
The way the hammer shapes the hand
Out beyond the ethernet the spectrum spreads
DC to daylight, the cowboy mogul rides
Never worry where the gold for all this glory's gonna come from
Get along dogies, it's coming out of your hides
The intentional cultivation of a criminal class
The future lit by brightly burning bridges
Justice fully clothed to hide the heart of glass
That shatters in a thousand Ruby Ridges
And everywhere the good prepare for perpetual war
And let their weapons shape the plan
The way the hammer shapes the hand
Lyrics by Jackson Browne Music by Jackson Browne, Kevin McCormick, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Jeff Young
2002 Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP; Eye Cue Music, ASCAP; Bossypants Music/Songs of Windswept Pacific, BMI; Bateria Music, ASCAP; Glad Brad Music, Inc., ASCAP
All Rights Reserved - 4.FOR TAKING THE TROUBLEFor taking the trouble, for hanging on and tryin'
Now you've been working through the rubble of a shattered mind
Yeah Baby, tell me why the tears are falling from your eye
Tears of laughter, tears of grief, are they the tears of a captured thief?
You thought that you were home free, thought you had her well in hand
But there were things about her you didn't understand
Yeah Baby, tell me how you're gonna keep that promise now?
To live your life without regret and make it work with what you get
You didn't then, but now you know
When she began to lie - you really should have let her go
You're learnin' how to talk about it, you're learnin' how to bend
It's like you're learning how to walk all over again
Yeah Baby, tell me who you're gonna give your lovin' to?
That girl who catches every eye
Or the one you can set your compass by
You set it by her soulful smile
The fire in her eye
And the way she goes that extra mile
The love you wanted this to be
Is somewhere down the line
You'll find her eventually
Your grandma and her grandma
Sittin' 'round heaven discussin' the law
Lovin' that girl was not your crime,
Livin' without her gonna take some time
Lovin' that girl next thing you knew,
You'd turned away from the thing you do
Lovin' that girl, you couldn't see
Living without her gonna make you free
Words and music by Jackson Browne
2002 Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP
All Rights Reserved - 5.NEVER STOPThere are times when I see you, Baby
Looking back the way we came
Through some hard places, choices we made
You never held me to blame
But you had some dreams when you were a girl
Some ideas about the world
And you see how some things will never be the same
(And how some things never change)
And I remember how you helped me, Baby
And all the times you had my back
And how you wrapped me in your sweetness
And held my eyes with your eyes
When my train was off the track
Now I've got some things that I want to do
And I want to do them with you
If you'll just stand by me, and don't look back
And never stop coming up with all of that love for me
Never stop coming with your faith in what a love can be
Never stop coming up with all of that love
Keep on rising above
And never stop coming up on the world love wants to see
And the world has been showing you how
It's no place for your tender heart now
In a world that keeps turning you down
Only the heart knows where the strength can be found
Never stop coming up with all of that love for me
Never stop coming with your faith in what a love can be
Never stop coming up with all of that love
Keep on rising above
And never stop coming up on the world love wants to see
Remember when you look into my eyes
I'm the one who took you by surprise
The time has come and gone and come back 'round again
And I'm still here to take you by surprise my friend
Show me your eyes, tell me again
Where you want to go
Now the night is glowing beneath your skin
And when you smile I'm the richest man I know
Lyrics by Jackson Browne
Music by Jackson Browne, Kevin McCormick, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Jeff Young
2002 Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP; Eye Cue Music, ASCAP; Bossypants Music/Songs of Windswept Pacific, BMI; Bateria Music, ASCAP; Glad Brad Music, Inc., ASCAP
All Rights Reserved - 6.WALKING TOWNOne foot after the other
One place pretty much like another
Some folks got a pretty good deal
Some are just looking for their next meal
Out here where the days go by
And the glances never meet the eye
It's a walking town
And I'm just out here walking 'round
Walking 'round this walking town
You got a house on top of a hill
And a powerful automobile
The windows up, the AC high
In a world of comfort speeding by
Stressed out in the latest style
How long has it been
Since you walked a mile
In yours or anybody else's shoes
Well, in any life there will be dues
It's a walking town
And I'm just out here walking 'round
Walking 'round this walking town
Walking up, walking down
Walking back, walking 'round
Walking mute, walking bound
Walking through your walking town
One foot on the concrete shore
One foot in the human sea
Night falls on the streets of the city
And it falls over you and me
And all our dreams and our descriptions
Of the life this was supposed to be
Drift above the rooftops and the houses
Until the sunlight finds me where I lay
And it's a walking town
And I'm back out here walking 'round
Walking 'round this walking town
Lyrics by Jackson Browne
Music by Jackson Browne, Kevin McCormick, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Jeff Young
2002 Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP; Eye Cue Music, ASCAP; Bossypants Music/Songs of Windswept Pacific, BMI; Bateria Music, ASCAP; Glad Brad Music, Inc., ASCAP
All Rights Reserved - 7.ABOUT MY IMAGINATIONI kept my eyes open and tried to see
The point of what went on in front of me
I kept what moved me, forgot about the rest
And took my young imagination to the acid test
And it was easy then to say what love could do
It's so easy when your world is new
It's been so hard sometimes to find my way
I let my pleasure lead my little world astray
And if I'm truthful I'll say that I was blind
To everything about this life but what I had in mind
And it was easy then to say where love could go
It's so easy when there's so much you don't know
About my imagination, it got me through somehow
Without my imagination, I wouldn't be here now
And it was easy then when love was guaranteed
It's so easy when love is all you need
About my imagination
I'm making this investigation
Into my imagination
According to my computations
We're overdue for a transformation
Or is it my imagination?
I keep my eyes open and try to see
This life in terms of possibility
With so much changing, and changing for the worse
You got to keep your head up, Baby
From the cradle to the hearse
And it was easy then to say where love could go
It's so easy when love is all you know
About my imagination
I'm getting ready for the celebration
I'm bringing my imagination
Taking charge of my elevation
No fear, no trepidation
Register my affirmation
No doubt, no hesitation
People get ready for the embarkation
About my imagination
Calling out across the nation
It's time for some kind of re-dedication
Not talking 'bout just my generation
I'm sending out this invocation
I keep getting these excitations
More light, more love
More truth, and more innovation
Lyrics by Jackson Browne
Music by Jackson Browne, Kevin McCormick, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Jeff Young
2002 Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP; Eye Cue Music, ASCAP; Bossypants Music/Songs of Windswept Pacific, BMI; Bateria Music, ASCAP; Glad Brad Music, Inc., ASCAP
All Rights Reserved - 8.SERGIO LEONEHe came 'round here with his camera and some of his American friends
Where the money is immortal and the killing never ends
He set out from Cinecitt through the ruined streets of Rome
To shoot in Almeria and bring the bodies home
He said I'll be rich or I'll be dead
I've got it all here in my head
He could see the killers' faces and he heard the song they sang
Where he waited in the darkness with the Viale Glorioso gang
He could see the blood approaching and he knew what he would be
Since the days when he was first assisting The Force of Destiny
He worked for Walsh and Wyler with the chariot and sword
When he rode out in the desert he was quoting Hawks and Ford
He came to see the masters and he left with what he saw
What he stole from Kurosawa he bequeathed to Peckinpah
From the Via Tuscolana to the view from Miller Drive
He shot the eyes of bad men and kept their deaths alive
With the darkness and the anguish of a Goya or Van Cleef
He rescued truth from beauty and meaning from belief
Lyrics by Jackson Browne Music by Jackson Browne, Kevin McCormick, Mark Goldenberg, Mauricio Lewak, Jeff Young
2002 Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP; Eye Cue Music, ASCAP; Bossypants Music/Songs of Windswept Pacific, BMI; Bateria Music, ASCAP; Glad Brad Music, Inc., ASCAP
All Rights Reserved - 9.DON'T YOU WANT TO BE THEREDon't you want to be there, don't you want to go?
Where the light is breaking and the cold clear winds blow
Don't you want to be there in the golden glow
Don't you want to be there, don't you want to fly?
With your arms out, let a shout take you across the sky
Don't you want to be there when the time's gone by
Times there was love all around you
Times you were strong and alone
Times you believed love had found you
And you fell through time like a stone
And those you have wronged, you know
You need to let them know some way
And those who have wronged you, know
You'll have to let them go someday
Don't you want to be there?
Don't you want to cry when you see how far
You've got to go to be where forgiveness rules
Instead of where you are
Don't you want to be there, don't you want to know?
Where the grace and simple truth of childhood go
Don't you want to be there when the trumpets blow
Blow for those born into hunger
Blow for those lost 'neath the train
Blow for those choking in anger
Blow for those driven insane
And those you have wronged, you know
You need to let them know some way
And those who have wronged you, know
You'll have to let them go someday
Don't you want to be there?
Don't you want to see where the angels appear
Don't you want to be where there's strength and love
In the place of fear
Words and music by Jackson Browne
2002 Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP
All Rights Reserved - 10.MY STUNNING MYSTERY COMPANIONWhat with all my expectations long abandoned
And a future I no longer saw my hand in
How I found you is beyond my understanding
My stunning mystery companion
I know that you don't want to be
Out here forever on this road
Or live among the boxes
Where all my past lives have been stowed
Maybe you're thinking of someplace
With a garden by the sea
Where we could slow down
And you could put a little more work in on me
What with all my expectations long abandoned
My solitary nature notwithstanding
You're the one who pulled me
Out of that crash landing
My stunning mystery companion
Right now I can't quite remember
The cause of all my tears
I hear you laughing and somehow
The past just disappears
Maybe you were joking when you said
You'd take me for ten years and no more
Maybe you've had the best of me
But you could take another ten years and be sure
What with all my expectations long abandoned
And a life that just gets more and more demanding
There's no doubt that you're the reason I'm still standing
My stunning mystery companion
Words and music by Jackson Browne
2002 Swallow Turn Music, ASCAP
All Rights Reserved