Some Songs Considered - Posts Tagged 'Jackson Browne'

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A daily music blog of memories, analysis, criticism, and ramblings - soundtracked by rock, pop, hip-hop, indie, etc.

Written by Brian Wall

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March 24, 2009

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“These Days” – Nico
(Words/music: Jackson Browne, available on Chelsea Girl, Verve Records 1967)

Enough has been written about “These Days” having this melancholy cloud over it. I don’t need to tell you about its lyrically fixation on missed opportunities, or that most of the Velvet Underground played on Nico’s album, or that Jackson Browne (a criminally underrated songwriter, in my book) wrote this song as a teenager, or that Andy Warhol pulled most of the strings on this album. I don’t need to mention how Wes Anderson uses this scene to introduce Gwyneth Paltrow’s character in The Royal Tennenbaums (in a scene where Luke Wilson speaks volumes with his body language). This is the public persona of this song, and chances are that when you hear this song, you think of one of these things, and to a point rightfully so, as almost all of them are more significant than Nico, the German model turned singer.

That being said, Nico deserves more credit than she gets for this definitive version of the song. She sings the song in a dry, slightly detached way, and while that might sound like criticism in other circumstances, it’s an effective treatment for the song. Her voice fits the protagonist’s persona as someone jilted by mistakes and misfortunes in the past, and she sings that she’ll taking safer choices from now on. Rather than celebrating stability, Nico makes Browne’s words sound resigned and defeated – the youthful days of possibility are now the older days of “what if”s and “no thanks.” In the hands of a singer with a sweeter sounding voice, “These Days” would sound hollow. Instead, its Nico’s icy demeanor that makes her sound like she’s lived through the years that brought her to “These Days.”

More on Nico: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

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February 13, 2009

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“Somebody’s Baby” - Jackson Browne
(Words/music: Jackson Browne, available on Fast Times at Ridgemont High OST, Elektra 1982)

My dog Jack is named after Jackson Browne, somewhat in jest. While brainstorming names for him, “Jackson” was suggested with the stipulation that his full name would be Jackson and he would colloquially be Jack. I, of course, remarked that it was just like Jackson Browne, one of the more underrated songwriters of his era. It stuck and three years later, Jackson is stealing my socks like there’s no tomorrow.

But back to that point about Jackson Browne being overlooked – he’s had a reasonable amount of commercial success and plenty of critical acclaim, but he doesn’t seem to be cannonized the same way as many of his peers. It’s a shame because Browne’s written some of the finest songs of his era in a number of different styles. He wrote one of my favorite classic rock radio ballads (“The Load Out”), Nico’s signature song (“These Days”), and even co-wrote my favorite (read: one of the few I enjoy) Eagles songs (“Take it Easy”). In addition to many of his witty folk songs, Browne also composed “Somebody’s Baby,” one of my favorite pop songs. The arrangement flows flawlessly from one part of the song into the next; while some songs load up the chorus and settle for verses that seem like afterthoughts, Browne interlaces the hook throughout the whole song. Every bit of the song – the keyboard at the beginning, the tiny fills between lines, and the way Browne tosses off the details about this dream girl almost effortlessly – gets embedded in my brain for hours. Like the best pop arrangements of the 60s, every note is necessary and useful and works toward the common goal. It’s perhaps even a little too slick – without one single flawless line, it’s hard for the song to have a “calling card” - that one moment that makes it timeless. Instead, it has to settle for being that song that you’ll hum for the rest of the night. It’s this sort of understated genius that makes Browne a compelling musician and songwriter, even if you’ll rarely find yourself itching to put on one of his records.

More on Jackson Browne: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

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