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DISCID=6e085c08
DTITLE=Jackson Browne / The Pretender (Gold CD)
DYEAR=1976
DGENRE=Rock
TTITLE0=The Fuse
TTITLE1=Your Bright Baby Blues
TTITLE2=Linda Paloma
TTITLE3=Here Come Those Tears Again
TTITLE4=The Only Child
TTITLE5=Daddy's Tune
TTITLE6=Sleep's Dark And Silent Gate
TTITLE7=The Pretender
EXTD= 1993 DCC Compact Classics\n\nOriginally Released November 1976\n
EXTD=CD Edition Released 1987 ??\nDCC Gold CD Edition Released October
EXTD= 22, 1993\nRemastered CD Edition Released 1995 ??\n\nAMG EXPERT R
EXTD=EVIEW: On The Pretender, Jackson Browne took a step back from the
EXTD= precipice so well defined on his first three albums, but doing s
EXTD=o didn't seem to make him feel any better. Employing a real produ
EXTD=cer, Jon Landau, for the first time, Browne made what sounded lik
EXTD=e a real contemporary rock record, but this made his songs less e
EXTD=ffective; the ersatz Mexican arrangement of "Linda Paloma" and th
EXTD=e bouncy second half of "Daddy's Tune," awith its horn charts and
EXTD= guitar solo, undercut the lyrics. The man who had delved so deep
EXTD=ly into life's abyss on his earlier albums was in search of escap
EXTD=e this time around, whether by crying ("Here Come Those Tears Aga
EXTD=in"), sleeping ("Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate"), or making peace 
EXTD=with estranged love ones ("The Only Child," "Daddy's Tune"). None
EXTD= of it worked, however, and when Browne came to the final track -
EXTD=- traditionally the place on his albums where he summed up his cu
EXTD=rrent philosophical stance -- he delivered "The Pretender," a cyn
EXTD=ical, sarcastic treatise on moneygrubbing and the shallow life of
EXTD= the suburbs. Primarily inner directed, the song's defeatist tone
EXTD= demands rejection, but it is also a quintessential statement of 
EXTD=its time, the post-Watergate '70s; dire as that might be, you had
EXTD= to admire that kind of honesty, even as it made you wince. -- Wi
EXTD=lliam Ruhlmann\n\n\nAmazon.com Editorial Review\nA songwriting pr
EXTD=odigy since his teens, Jackson Browne had already reached a zenit
EXTD=h in confessional writing with 1974's Late for the Sky, a song cy
EXTD=cle of his guitar and piano based anthems, reveries, and rockers,
EXTD= distilling themes of disillusionment, apocalypse, friendship, an
EXTD=d fragile romances. Teaming with Bruce Springsteen's producer, Jo
EXTD=n Landau, Browne himself clearly sought to up the ante with more 
EXTD=epic settings, while Landau worked on pumping up the star's vocal
EXTD= attack. But personal tragedy, in the suicide of his partner and 
EXTD=mother of his young son, cast an unplanned shadow across these so
EXTD=ngs, giving The Pretender a darker, heartbroken edge and an authe
EXTD=ntic, scarred toughness. Fatherhood, mortality, and resignation i
EXTD=nform brilliant songs like "Your Bright Baby Blues" (featuring Lo
EXTD=well George's plangent slide guitar and vocal counterpoint), "Her
EXTD=e Come Those Tears Again" (with Bonnie Raitt), and the prayerful,
EXTD= desolate "Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate," but it's the title tune
EXTD= that remains the haunting highlight. --Sam Sutherland \n\n\nAMAZ
EXTD=ON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nBrowne is No "Pretender", January 5, 2002
EXTD= \nBy  Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA)\nJackson Browne followed u
EXTD=p the two best albums of his career ("For Everyman" and "Late for
EXTD= the Sky") with an album that suffers only by comparison. "The Pr
EXTD=etender" is a strong effort, the best cuts of which ("Here Come T
EXTD=hose Tears Again," "The Fuse" and "The Only Child") rank with his
EXTD= best work. Like the previous two albums, this one ends with a le
EXTD=ngthy signature song in the title track the lyrics of which seem 
EXTD=to define the then soon-to-come yuppie generation. It's a good so
EXTD=ng, but doesn't have the gravity of the standout "For Everyman" a
EXTD=nd "After the Deluge" that end the previous two albums. The album
EXTD='s one clinker is "Linda Paoloma," which attempts to incorporate 
EXTD=latin influences into Browne's sound with less than successful re
EXTD=sults.\nOverall, "The Pretender" is still among the best of Jacks
EXTD=on Browne's original albums, recorded at a time when his was stil
EXTD=l one of the biggest names in rock music. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOM
EXTD=ER REVIEW\nA Highpoint In Jackson Browne's Amazing Recording Care
EXTD=er!, August 26, 2000 \nBy  Barron Laycock "Labradorman" (Temple, 
EXTD=New Hampshire United States)\nAnyone owning the original album co
EXTD=uld tell by the interesting dichotomy represented in the photogra
EXTD=phy on the front and back covers recognized this one was gong to 
EXTD=be a stunner, especially since Jackson Browne at the time was ext
EXTD=remely focused on his rapidly growing son, who was busy transform
EXTD=ing himself from toddling first steps to rambunctious childhood u
EXTD=nder his father's steady inquisitive gaze. The inclusion of a stu
EXTD=nning translation of poet Pablo Neruda's lovely "Brown And Agile 
EXTD=Child" was superimposed on a striking photo of the boy striding i
EXTD=nnocently out of the surf. All that said, this is another in the 
EXTD=string of Browne albums examining the world according to Jackson,
EXTD= his long and endlessly interesting observations of his own feeli
EXTD=ngs, motivations, and thoughts as well as his meaningful entangle
EXTD=ments with others. \nRight out of the batter's box comes "The Fus
EXTD=e", setting a thoughtful and reflective tone of a contemplative B
EXTD=rowne ready to go on, apparently after the devastation of his wif
EXTD=e's unexpected suicide. As Browne concludes, life must go on. Thi
EXTD=s is followed by "Your Bright Baby Blues", a diverting look at co
EXTD=ntemplation, drug use, the games people play with themselves, and
EXTD= the difficulty of really coming to terms with yourself. Througho
EXTD=ut the song cycle, Browne keeps returning to the idea that one mu
EXTD=st find the unique answers that make life worthwhile for oneself,
EXTD= attempting to live life for one's own goals and sense of purpose
EXTD=, and he again and again rejects the notion of copping out by acc
EXTD=epting the easy and simplistic compromises others have settled fo
EXTD=r. This is all summarized beautifully and poetically in the final
EXTD= song, the smash hit "The Pretender", in which Browne ironically 
EXTD=slides across a vast space of surf while speculating on the futil
EXTD=ity of living life conventionally.\n\nAll the songs here are well
EXTD= done, but I especially enjoy listening to "Linda Paloma", a dece
EXTD=ptively simple love song laced with Spanish overtones that takes 
EXTD=a wry look at his disappointing love affair with a simple and unc
EXTD=omplicated woman, and his telling advice to his son in "The Only 
EXTD=Child" about how to lovingly think of and remember his mother. I 
EXTD=also like the dreamy and evocative "Sleep's Dark And Silent Gate"
EXTD=, and of course, "The Pretender", whose run up to the top of the 
EXTD=Billboard charts provided the motive force for the album's commer
EXTD=cial success. It is a dreamy, well-written, arranged, and perform
EXTD=ed song cycle by a talent do prolific and so consistently thought
EXTD=ful that it is hard to imagine he is still out there writing and 
EXTD=singing and performing some thirty years later. Enjoy. \n\n\nAMAZ
EXTD=ON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nflawed, but fascinating, and often brilli
EXTD=ant, May 7, 2005 \nBy  Dave "missing person" (United States)\nJac
EXTD=kson Browne left no doubt about his songwriting genius with 1974'
EXTD=s "Late For The Sky", an artistic triumph in the truest sense of 
EXTD=the word, and also a solid commercial breakthrough. However, by t
EXTD=he time Jackson started to record his follow-up album, 1976's "Th
EXTD=e Pretender", things had changed drastically for for him with the
EXTD= suicide of his first wife with whom he'd had a son. This tragedy
EXTD= seems to have dramatically impacted his music, because, although
EXTD= Jackson's vocal phrasing and melodic style are carried over from
EXTD= "Late For The Sky", "The Pretender" is a big change from its pre
EXTD=decessor. Without a doubt, a big part of this change is due to Jo
EXTD=n Landau who produced the album. Known for his work with Bruce Sp
EXTD=ringsteen, and having produced his "Born To Run" album from the p
EXTD=revious year, Landau may on the surface seem like an unlikely guy
EXTD= to have teamed up with Jackson, but it actually proved a unique 
EXTD=match. Browne's voice sounds a lot different here on many of the 
EXTD=songs, much tougher and more 'from the gut' than it had sounded b
EXTD=efore. The album is also much slicker and punchier than any of hi
EXTD=s previous albums, and opposed to the 5 piece combo used for "Lat
EXTD=e For The Sky", this one features a load of legendary session mus
EXTD=icians including Jeff Porcaro, Leland Sklar, Chuck Rainey, Jim Go
EXTD=rdon, and Fred Tackett, as well as appearances from Lowell George
EXTD=, Don Henley, J.D Souther, Bonnie Raitt, John Hall (of Orleans), 
EXTD=plus JB regulars David Lindley, Russ Kunkel, and Craig Doerge; as
EXTD=ide from vocals, Jackson's only performance credit on the entire 
EXTD=album is the acoustic guitar on "Your Bright Baby Blues"--some wi
EXTD=ll try to tell you that Jackson was trying to make a "contemporar
EXTD=y pop-rock record", but don't let that give you the wrong idea; t
EXTD=his is far from a sell-out. Jackson, hurting from the devastating
EXTD= loss of his wife, sounds like he's desperately seeking redemptio
EXTD=n on here, and in turn, the album is a step away from the wistful
EXTD=ness that was at the core of "Late For The Sky", even on songs li
EXTD=ke the eulogy "For A Dancer". Reportedly, the material here was m
EXTD=ostly written prior to suicide of Phyllis, but it sure doesn't so
EXTD=und that way--from the opening moments of "The Fuse", you can tel
EXTD=l this isn't going to be a repeat of "Late For The Sky". "The Fus
EXTD=e" is marvelously powerful, containing masterful use of dynamics,
EXTD= as well as Jackson layering his own voice several times, somethi
EXTD=ng he rarely did, and doing so to great effect. The yearning, exp
EXTD=ansive epic "Your Bright Baby Blues" is absolutely brilliant as w
EXTD=ell with a marvelous Jackson vocal. The mid-tempo pop-rocker "Her
EXTD=e Come Those Tears Again" was the obvious choice for a single, an
EXTD=d it's a cathartic, flawlessly melodic song with a phenomenal Jac
EXTD=kson vocal, and it's the only track here that isn't a Jackson Bro
EXTD=wne solo composition. "The Only Child" is a wonderfully bitterswe
EXTD=et song--indeed, it's the one track here that really sounds like 
EXTD=it could have been on "Late For The Sky". The atypically short, o
EXTD=rchestrated ballad "Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate" is weepy, but s
EXTD=till works pretty well. However, a couple of tracks add a diversi
EXTD=ty to the proceedings that unfortunately doesn't come off well--"
EXTD=Linda Paloma", with its Mexican-style arrangement, is really corn
EXTD=y with ultra-lame background vocals near the end; and the bouncy 
EXTD=horn-laden section of "Daddy's Tune" feels awkward and badly out 
EXTD=of place. Still though, this is a fascinating album that also ver
EXTD=y much points the way to the future for Jackson. I see "The Prete
EXTD=nder" as the beginning of a trilogy that also includes 1977's "Ru
EXTD=nning On Empty" and 1980's "Hold Out"--each album is a piece of a
EXTD=n ongoing journey, like chapters in a book, so to speak. "The Pre
EXTD=tender" isn't one of Jackson's very best albums, but it's still u
EXTD=nquestionably a must for all of his fans. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOM
EXTD=ER REVIEW\nLooking up from down on the ground, May 3, 2005 \nBy  
EXTD=Greg Brady "columbusboy" (Capital City)\nWhen you've just been ki
EXTD=cked about as hard as life can kick you, (Browne's wife Phyllis, 
EXTD=mother of their son, killed herself before these songs were writt
EXTD=en) it's certain to make you take a long look at how you're livin
EXTD=g your life. This album finds Browne coming to grips with her dea
EXTD=th, single fatherhood, estrangements with his own father, and str
EXTD=uggling to decide how to go on living now. Along the way, some of
EXTD= the finest talent of the decade joins him: Bonnie Raitt (harmony
EXTD= vocal for "Here Come Those Tears Again"), Bruce Springsteen pian
EXTD=ist Roy Bittan ("Your Bright Baby Blues"), Lowell George (slide g
EXTD=uitar, harmony vocal for "Your Bright Baby Blues"),The Eagles' J.
EXTD=D. Souther and Don Henley (harmonies for "The Only Child"), and G
EXTD=raham Nash and David Crosby (harmonies for the title track). \n\n
EXTD=HIGHLIGHTS: \n"Here Come Those Tears Again" finds Browne struggli
EXTD=ng with a lover who comes and goes, but it's easy to read between
EXTD= the lines and see it as his pain over losing Phyllis ("Just when
EXTD= I was going to make it through/Another night without missing you
EXTD=/Thinking I might just be strong enough after all/When I hear you
EXTD=r footsteps echoing in the hall") \n\n"The Only Child" reads like
EXTD= advice Browne wishes he'd given his young boy before her death (
EXTD="Take good care of your mother/When you're making up your mind/Sh
EXTD=ould one thing or another take you from behind") then shifts pers
EXTD=pective to his boy's actual situation, urging him to find a woman
EXTD= who's dealt with her own grief to share his life with ("When the
EXTD= pain of another will serve you to remind/That there are those wh
EXTD=o feel themselves exiled/On whom the fortune never smiled/And upo
EXTD=n whose life the heartache has been piled/They're just looking fo
EXTD=r another lonely child"). \n\nThe title tune finds Browne seeking
EXTD= significance in his own life ("I'm going to pack my lunch in the
EXTD= morning/And go to work each day/And when the evening rolls aroun
EXTD=d/I'll go on home and lay my body down/And when the morning light
EXTD= comes streaming in/I'll get up and do it again") only to decide 
EXTD=that he won't find it until he finds a new soulmate ("Thought tru
EXTD=e love could have been a contender/Are you there?/Say a prayer fo
EXTD=r the Pretender/Who started out so young and strong only to surre
EXTD=nder") \n\nLOWS: \n"Linda Paloma" is a Spanish tinged number with
EXTD= thick harp (not harmonica...an actual harp) that just sounds out
EXTD= of place stylistically here. It breaks the flow of the album for
EXTD= me. \n\nBOTTOM LINE: \nJackson Browne was one of the biggest sta
EXTD=rs of the "singer-songwriter" movement of the 1970s. This is one 
EXTD=of his finest albums and one of the decade's defining moments mus
EXTD=ically. Recommended. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nI'm Gonna 
EXTD=Be A Happy Idiot!, April 14, 2004 \nBy  billy c bowden "Jett" (da
EXTD=llas,texas)\nDavid Geffen must have pooped his tightey whiteys wh
EXTD=en he realized what he had, when he signed Jackson Browne to his 
EXTD=first record deal..  It was pure serendipity..  Geffen's secretar
EXTD=y found a discarded kit of Jackson Browne in the office trash can
EXTD=, and told David, don't toss that out without sampling it..  "He 
EXTD=is nice looking, well mannered, serious..  Listen to his demo, pl
EXTD=ease!"..  Geffen acquiesed, and called Jackson back for an auditi
EXTD=on..  It apparently went well..  And Geffen took an immediate shi
EXTD=ne to Jackson..  Saw his "Boy Genuis" songwriting qualities, righ
EXTD=t away!..  In fact, for awhile they were roomies,   until Jackson
EXTD= got some financial momentum of his own, and could pay his own re
EXTD=nt..  The rest is Country Rock lore..  "The Pretender", Jackson's
EXTD= first Big Album (units sold) put him on the Country Rock A-List.
EXTD=.  \n\nThough he and Glenn Frey (Co-founder of The Eagles) and th
EXTD=eir other Laurel Canyon cronies (the Buffalo Springfield) had bee
EXTD=n stumping around LA, playing Sunset Blvd. club dates for years, 
EXTD=anonymously..  Waiting for that elusive break..  The nexus betwee
EXTD=n Geffen and Jackson Browne became the platform for Geffen's fort
EXTD=une, his billions..  Because Jackson Browne introduced Geffen to 
EXTD=all the hot country rock acts emerging around Sunset Blvd.  (Joni
EXTD= Mitchell, Poco, for starters) as payback for Geffen's unyielding
EXTD= faith in him..  Geffen to his credit, left Browne alone, to crea
EXTD=te his own brand of brilliant, confessional, West Coast Country R
EXTD=ock.."  The Pretender" is Browne's defining anthem..  His ethos..
EXTD=  And to appreciate Jackson Browne one has to know "The Pretender
EXTD="..  This CD is either the first, or second best Browne compilati
EXTD=on ever..  "For A Dancer", being that other close competition for
EXTD= best CD..  Like copper, this CD gets better with age, and more p
EXTD=lay..  The classics always do..  And Jackson never wrote or sound
EXTD=ed better than he does on "The Pretender"..  "So put your dark gl
EXTD=asses on and make love til all your strength is gone"..  Sounds l
EXTD=ike "Risky Business", another Geffen project..  And "Be a happy i
EXTD=diot and struggle for the legal tender"..  Buy the CD!..  It's mo
EXTD=ney well spent and likewise money well earned..  "Become a happy 
EXTD=idiot where junkmen pound their fenders, and believe in whatever 
EXTD=may lie, in the things that money can buy, and beware true love c
EXTD=ould have been a contender"!   "The Pretender" was JB's bounce ba
EXTD=ck from the loss of his first wife to suicide..  And obviously Ja
EXTD=ckson was looking to ascend to happier times, higher ground, with
EXTD=out minimalizing the hard-learned lessons of life..  To JB's cred
EXTD=it, the album shares alot of pain, without becoming morose or sel
EXTD=f-indulgent..  Once again, Jackson stands up straight, to be coun
EXTD=ted among rock's better voices, brighter lights..illustrating tha
EXTD=t a paint by number dreams life handbook, might not be the perfec
EXTD=t portrait it's advertised to be? \n\n\nHalf.com Details \nContri
EXTD=buting artists: Bonnie Raitt, David Crosby, David Lindley, Don He
EXTD=nley, Graham Nash, Jim Gordon, John Hall, Lowell George \nProduce
EXTD=r: Jon Landau \n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel includes: Jackson Browne
EXTD= (vocals, acoustic guitar); Fred Tackett (acoustic & electric gui
EXTD=tars); Luis F. Damian (guitar, vijuella, background vocals); Wadd
EXTD=y Wachtel (guitar); Roberto Gutierrez (guitaron, violin, backgrou
EXTD=nd vocals); Arthur Gerst (harp, background vocals); Chuck Finley,
EXTD= Dick Hyde, Quitman Dennit (horns); Roy Bittan, Craig Doerge (pia
EXTD=no); Mike Utley (organ); Bob Glaub, Chuck Rainey, Leland Sklar (b
EXTD=ass); Russell Kunkel, Jeff Porcaro (drums); Gary Coleman (percuss
EXTD=ion); Rosemary Butler, Jon Landau (background vocals); Albert Lee
EXTD=, Jim Horn, Billy Payne, John David Souther.\n\nRecorded at Sunse
EXTD=t Sound, Hollywood, California. \nIncludes a poem by Pablo Neruda
EXTD=.\n\nJackson Browne was one of the leading singer/songwriters of 
EXTD=the '70s, and THE PRETENDER, his fourth album, under the supervis
EXTD=ion of Bruce Springsteen's producer, Jon Landau, remains his defi
EXTD=nitive '70s record. Part of the cadre of L.A. musicians that incl
EXTD=uded the Eagles, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joni Mitchell and Linda R
EXTD=onstadt, Browne stood out as the spokesman for baby boomer angst.
EXTD= This low-key rocker sings in a plaintive tone, concentrating mor
EXTD=e on lyrics than melody. But his music is complicated and off the
EXTD= beaten-path of standard folk-rock songwriting, sometimes soundin
EXTD=g like the soulful Van Morrison, especially on "Your Bright Baby 
EXTD=Blues."\nThe title track is a scornful indictment of middle-class
EXTD= America, while "Linda Paloma," led by a Latin beat and harp, is 
EXTD=a dreamy South-Of-The-Border love song. Many tracks are just plai
EXTD=n confessional and primal. "Daddy's Tune" deals with issues regar
EXTD=ding his father ("...make room for my 45's along beside your 78's
EXTD=...nothing survives, but the way we live our lives...") and is a 
EXTD=wonderful companion to "The Only Child," a love song to his child
EXTD=.\n\nLost love is a common theme, and the nostalgic "Sleep's Dark
EXTD= And Silent Gate" ("...I don't know what love has to do with happ
EXTD=iness...") is yet another deep reflection into his soul. Musicall
EXTD=y, "Here Come Those Tears Again" is one of the most accessible an
EXTD=d well-rounded songs on the album, and this time the lost lover w
EXTD=ants to come back. The opening cut, "The Fuse," sums up his quest
EXTD= for salvation from his existential dilemmas.\n\n\nROLLING STONE 
EXTD=REVIEW\nLike most performers who transcend their genre, Jackson B
EXTD=rowne often seems more a symbol than an artist. Singer songwriter
EXTD= fans find in him the fulfillment of the style's promise: Browne'
EXTD=s songs really do merge poetic vision and rock. But there are als
EXTD=o those (like my friend who suggested that this album's proper ti
EXTD=tle is The Pretentious) who find the genre symptomatic of all of 
EXTD=rock's current weaknesses. Browne is the epitome of everything th
EXTD=ey find disagreeable, both lyrically and musically.\n\nIt is odd 
EXTD=that Browne is surrounded by such certainty of opinion, for ambiv
EXTD=alence is the hallmark of his style. He has managed to make confu
EXTD=sion an advantage, partly because he never hedges: he knows he do
EXTD=esn't know. The Pretender, the most complete development of his m
EXTD=usic, is bounded by contradiction. In "The Fuse," the record's fi
EXTD=rst song, Browne professes: "There's a part of me .../Alive in et
EXTD=ernity/That nothing can kill." In "The Pretender," the final numb
EXTD=er, he dismisses such spiritual hope: "I'm going to be a happy id
EXTD=iot/And struggle for the legal tender." Both of these statements 
EXTD=are naive; for Browne they are equally true and false. So he admo
EXTD=nishes his son, in "The Only Child": "Let your illusions last unt
EXTD=il they shatter."\n\nIf Browne has been heralded as a songwriter,
EXTD= this is due mostly to his lyric gift. The music itself has usual
EXTD=ly been ignored (at least by his admirers) and for good reason. H
EXTD=is three earlier albums are sluggish and cluttered, a hodgepodge 
EXTD=of California studio effects, without a solid center.\n\nThe Pret
EXTD=ender uses identical rudiments, but focuses them. The results are
EXTD= often moving and compelling. The album's spareness is accentuate
EXTD=d by passages of almost dreamy lushness (the strings on "Sleep's 
EXTD=Dark and Silent Gate") and echoing vocals, which are a recurrent 
EXTD=mannerism. Part of the improvement can be attributed to producer 
EXTD=(and Rolling Stone contributing editor) Jon Landau, although it i
EXTD=s also indicative of the artist's increased maturity. Browne's vo
EXTD=ice is notoriously weak, for instance, but the strength of the rh
EXTD=ythm section forces the singing past its limits. On "Sleep's Dark
EXTD=," "The Pretender" and "The Only Child," the vocals have a new pa
EXTD=ssion, equal to the themes.\n\nStill, much of this album is the m
EXTD=ellow California rock of which the Eagles are the alternate proto
EXTD=type. If Browne's music has more backbone than the rest, the genr
EXTD=e itself is not very challenging. There is a tendency to blandnes
EXTD=s, even in a song as strong as "Your Bright Baby Blues." So "The 
EXTD=Pretender," which uses the same musical conventions to achieve th
EXTD=e dramatic force of Rod Stewart's "The Killing of Georgie" or Bob
EXTD= Seger's "Night Moves," is all the more remarkable.\n\nIf Browne 
EXTD=were a different sort of performer, one might think he's outgrowi
EXTD=ng his environment. But all his music, perhaps even the singing, 
EXTD=is functional. The focus is always lyrical. The arrangements and 
EXTD=performances are successful precisely to the degree that they bri
EXTD=ng our full attention to the emotions and ideas he articulates.\n
EXTD=\nAnd it is Browne the lyricist who is often taken as a symbol, a
EXTD=nd most often misunderstood. He has been condemned as a rampant s
EXTD=exist, and with good reason: co writing the Eagles' chauvinistic 
EXTD=anthem, "Take It Easy," was inexcusable. But his romantic perspec
EXTD=tive is considerably more complicated. His affairs are never casu
EXTD=al, not even when he's dismissive, as in "Linda Paloma." And in "
EXTD=Here Come Those Tears Again," he uses his confusion to greatest a
EXTD=dvantage. The role of the singer isn't clear: is he anticipating 
EXTD=the return of a lover who has jilted him, or is he imagining the 
EXTD=reaction of a lover he's just jilted? Perhaps both. For this song
EXTD=, at least, his vision of love turns on something rare: friendshi
EXTD=p.\n\nBrowne may also be the apocalyptic visionary, the questing 
EXTD=hero in search of the Big Bang of final romance that his hard-cor
EXTD=e cult sees him as. But as someone who's always had reservations 
EXTD=about admiring him, I find that Jackson Browne touches me most de
EXTD=eply when he's most specific, least cosmic. Writing about mortali
EXTD=ty and parental roles, he is as mature as any writer in rock, and
EXTD= more cogent than most. The metaphysics are there, all right, but
EXTD= it is the characters and experiences on which they are based tha
EXTD=t make them compelling.\n\nThe most striking songs on The Pretend
EXTD=er are concerned with death and parenthood, subjects not necessar
EXTD=ily unrelated (see the earlier "For a Dancer"). Often, his apocal
EXTD=yptic imagery is merely a way of getting at his feelings of morta
EXTD=lity--the crumbling towers of Babylon in "The Fuse" are as much a
EXTD=bout the inevitable erosion of time as anything else. And parenth
EXTD=ood is seen as a symbol of the middle-class life he has experienc
EXTD=ed: it's both a joy and a trap. In "Daddy's Tune," he reaches out
EXTD= to his father, long ago alienated, in order to share with him th
EXTD=e turmoil of advising his son in "The Only Child." In a way, this
EXTD= is his ultimate dilemma--to be a father, or to be a son. And his
EXTD= ultimate triumph is to realize and reconcile the parent and the 
EXTD=child in each of us.\n\nSuch song-to-song concordances are not un
EXTD=usual. Lines and images overlap: the drum in "The Fuse" and "Dadd
EXTD=y's Tune," and the opening lines of "Your Bright Baby Blues" and 
EXTD="Sleep's Dark and Silent Gate," which is about both the horror of
EXTD= a marriage gone bad and man at his most mortal: "The only thing 
EXTD=that makes me cry/Is the kindness in my baby's eye." And all of t
EXTD=hese cross-references come rushing to a climax in "The Pretender.
EXTD="\n\n"The Pretender" is a breakthrough. Browne has always had tra
EXTD=ces of cynicism in his writing, but about romance he has remained
EXTD= firm. Love can make a difference, all of his songs say. But "The
EXTD= Pretender" is a song about why even that won't work, in the long
EXTD= run. In its most shattering moment, the hero imagines what he an
EXTD=d his dream-lover will do, if ever they manage to meet:\n\nAnd th
EXTD=en we'll put our dark glasses on\n\nAnd we'll make love until our
EXTD= strength is gone\n\nDaniel Blank, the irrational murderer of Law
EXTD=rence Sanders' novel, The First Deadly Sin, also made love wearin
EXTD=g sunglasses. This is what he found: "For me, it was a revelation
EXTD=, a door opening ... I can never forget it. It was the most sexua
EXTD=lly exciting thing I'd ever done in my life. There was something 
EXTD=primitive and exciting about it. But it shook me. I wanted to do 
EXTD=it again." The next week, he begins strolling the streets, murder
EXTD=ing strangers with an ice ax.\n\n"The Pretender" cruises a simila
EXTD=r street, but with a different aim. As a romantic he wants only l
EXTD=ove, but as a modern, middleclass southern Californian, he's unsu
EXTD=re what to do with it. Clawing at the world, trying to make sense
EXTD= of something, one choice seems almost as good as another. The ha
EXTD=ppy idiot who struggles for the legal tender is finally as free a
EXTD=s the romantic fool who waits for love to change everything--and 
EXTD=both are equally trapped. Each has only one certainty: "Get up an
EXTD=d do it again, Amen."\n\nThis is the prayer we are asked to say f
EXTD=or the Pretender, "who started out so young and strong/Only to su
EXTD=rrender." It is a prayer for Everyman, as much as any other praye
EXTD=r. What makes the song work, though, are its specifics, the way t
EXTD=hat even the junkman, pounding his fender, becomes a part of this
EXTD= cosmic cycle. The images are tied to a time and a place, as the 
EXTD=best of any writer's work is--and the horror is in just such deta
EXTD=il: the house beside the freeway, the packed lunch, the work, the
EXTD= endless evenings. Getting up and doing it again, seen this way, 
EXTD=is not so very mystical, but simply the way each of us--even the 
EXTD=artist--lives his life.\n\nRepeating this inhumane cycle, which d
EXTD=efines humanity, we are left with very little. Perhaps only that 
EXTD=particle: "Alive in eternity/That nothing can kill." Jackson Brow
EXTD=ne's contradictions, his ambivalence, are not resolved, but they 
EXTD=are reconciled. One might say that this is the end of the hero's 
EXTD=quest. But there is no end to searches such as this. They repeat 
EXTD=themselves from generation to generation, year to year, day to da
EXTD=y. Just as all of our illusions last, until they shatter. (RS 231
EXTD= -- Jan 27, 1977)  -- DAVE MARSH
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