Shamelessly stealing from Atch

Yeah, 2 updates in 2 days. Don't get used to it. AP's are just around the corner- blah.

I'm sure Chris will love the title of this blog. I know he does music stuff in his blog a lot, but I want to take a slightly different thing. While he does bands you don't know but should, I'm going to talk here about a musician you may have heard of but forget that you loved.

His name? Jackson Browne.

Mr. Browne was a very popular musician when your parents were your age. He wrote songs for many of that era's biggest names, including the hit "Take it Easy" performed by the Eagles. I admit I had never heard of him until my dad bought his solo acoustic album. For those of you who have never heard me say this, let me say it for the millionth time: acoustic guitar is about the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. Especially when it's accompanied by such compelling lyrics.

Here's Jackson Browne back in the day, at the Oscars nearly 20 years ago

I know, a hottie, right? Anyway, if you ask me, he's actually aged pretty well. Here's how he looks these days:

Anyway, now that you've seen the man, here's what I really want to talk about: the music. Browne wrote a lot of songs that express a sort of angry protest at the political practices of his day (on his solo album, he talks between songs about how bummed he is that Bush won the 2004 election). But he also has a lighter side, where he writes inspiring lyrics. I strongly recommend his Solo Acoustic album, especially songs like "These Days," "Birds of St. Mark's," "Fountain of Sorrow," and "For a Dancer."

I pulled off the lyrics from that last one because they're pretty inspiring, and have some Christian undertones. Here goes:

Keep a fire burning in your eye/Pay attention to the open sky/You never know what will be coming down/I dont remember losing track of you/You were always dancing in and out of view/I must have thought youd always be around/Always keeping things real by playing the clown/Now youre nowhere to be found//

I dont know what happens when people die/Cant seem to grasp it as hard as I try/Its like a song I can hear playing right in my ear/That I cant sing/I cant help listening/And I cant help feeling stupid standing round/Crying is to ease you down/cause I know that youd rather we were dancing/Dancing our sorrow away/right on dancing/there's nothing you can do about it anyway//

Just do the steps that youve been shown/By everyone youve ever known/Until the dance becomes your very own/No matter how close to yours/Anothers steps have grown/In the end there is one dance youll do alone//

Keep a fire for the human race/Let your prayers go drifting into space/You never know what will be coming down/Perhaps a better world is drawing near/And just as easily it could all disappear/Along with whatever meaning you might have found/Dont let the uncertainty turn you around/Go on and make a joyful sound//

Into a dancer you have grown/From a seed somebody else has thrown/Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own/And somewhere between the time you arrive/And the time you go/May lie a reason you were alive/But youll never know//

Anyway, that's his song. I think it's a cool example about living life to the fullest, and how we all help each other grow into the people we become. Just a thought for the day. And of course, as always...

Live big, stay classy.