The Pretender can be any of us. Pretending in life. Putting on a smile even though your dreams may not have come true. Resigning yourself to a life that doesn’t fulfill you. And he describes the happiness he perceives in others, questioning the decisions he made. I could go on and on. Brilliant song. ❤️🥰
I liked this song as a teen, but listening to it now has a whole new meaning. The dreams that didn't materialize, etc.. This song is so much more profound when you listen to it at 60 vs. listening to it at 16.
There's that great line from Jackson's "Before the Deluge" where he sings, "...In the end, they traded their tired wings/ for the resignation that living brings/ and exchanged love's bright and fragile glow for the glitter and the rouge/ and in a moment, they were swept before the deluge."
@@curtisduncanmusic7645 Curtis l read a book decades ago by a guy named Mason. I don't remember anything about the book. But the title. "You were born original Don't die a copy." Very profound.
Ok I’ll tell you what he means. We start off young and full of possibilities but we let our dreams sail out of sight. We settle for second best, apaint by number dream, we put dark glasses on to hide ourselves and we go through the motions, pretending it is all ok. We surrender. It is a heart wrenching song. And brilliant. And true.
Asia & BJ, you’ll love his “The Loadout/Stay”, “Tender Is The Night” and “Somebody’s Baby”!!!! The Loadout/Stay are meant to be played together!! “The Pretender”- now that’s what you call songwriting. This song is about a man who gives up his dreams and lives a life of routine monotony in order to accumulate money. He is the pretender.
Don't forget "Here Come Those Tears". It wasn't just about accumulating money. We're sucked in by grandios visions presented by corporations about how happy you'll be if you just buy whatever they're selling. Thus, we end up debt-slaves with no 'apparent' way out.
Jackson Browne writes very deep and meaningful songs that reflect the real life most of us live. His soul is a soft strength. He is coming to Brisbane Australia at the end of this year. I can't wait to finally see and hear him in person👌
One of the best songwriters to ever live. “Two of me, Two of You”, “Late for the Sky”, “Barricades of Heaven”, “In the Shape of a Heart”, “Sleep’s Dark and Silent Gate”. So good.
In answering the question of who The Pretender is, Browne said - "...it's not me exactly, although sometimes people applaud for me at that moment in the song as if I am, but in truth there is a bit of The Pretender in me, but it's anybody that's sort of lost sight of some of their dreams...and is going through the motions and trying to make a stab at a certain way of life that he sees other people succeeding at. So maybe it's a lot of people of a certain generation who sort of embraced a very material lifestyle in place of dreams that they had that sort of disintegrated at some point."
He is both an environmentalist and a humanist. Those are two of his most common writing themes. That is where the song touches me deepest, materialism never appealed to me much, "those things that money can't buy." And yeah, those hopes and dreams sailed out of sight for me. Beautiful salt in my wounds.
Jackson Browne is such a great songwriter and storyteller. I grew up listening to him and many other artists in his genre because my parents had music on a lot. This song in particular, gives me chills whenever I hear it. Great reaction y'all! Peace and love! Sending y'all positive vibes!
For a Dancer, In the Shape of a Heart, These Days, Doctor My Eyes, Fountain of Sorrow, and so many more. Saw him first in 1978. Seen him many times since and will see him this September.
This song is a song writing masterpiece! It is about how life becomes a drudgery compared to how we started out. We become pretenders. "These Days" "Shape of a Heart" "Late For the Sky" are great song.
Jackson Browne quite possibly has the best lyrics in Rock and Roll. So many great songs. "Lives in the Balance " and " In the Shape of a Heart " come to mind. To me, lyrics are the foundation and backbone to a song and Mr. Browne nails it every time!
This is probably my favorite Jackson Browne song. Growing up, there weren't a ton of J. Browne fans, but I loved the simplicity of melodies and creative songwriting. Thank you for sharing this on the channel.
He says it in the last line "started out so young and strong only to surrender'. Meaning the dreams you had when you were young snd bright eyed are not always realized, but you go on living life wishing and hoping just the same as the Pretender. Jackson Browne is a prolific song writer best known for Running on Empty, the.Load Out/Stay, Lying Eyes that his friends the Eagles recorded, Somebodys Baby, Here Come those Tears Again, Rock Me on the Water, You Love the Thunder, You Love the Rain and others. Jackson was a part of the California 70s music scene and the singer-songwriter Era of the 70s. Worth listening to more of his music.
Jackson Browne, don't forget the final "e", is a great storyteller and performer. Seen him twice in concert, once on each coast, and he didn't disappoint either time, excellent shows. I think my favorite JB songs are "The Loadout>Stay", with "Stay" being a cover of a Maurice Williams original, but Jackson makes it his own. "The Loadout" tells the story of the roadies who make his concerts happen, it is a haunting song. Jackson is the piano player himself, he's quite good on that instrument.
If this song doesn’t provoke introspection and thought nothing will . I believe this to be one of the finest lyrics I’ve ever heard put to music , and take my word there’s been plenty
He is the Pretender, because he gets up each day, day after day, and goes to a job and comes home on repeat. Pretending he is living a fulfilled life. He's chosen the pursuit of "legal tender" over love. But he dreams that someday he will find a girl who will color his dreams, and he'll even pursue "legal tender" a "happy idiot" when that happens. No longer "the Pretender" . Great, great song. Love conquers all.
I’ve seen him 5 times. I know of people who just travel the country, seeing him at every venue. A dream! I’m pretty obsessed & my husband is very generous about it. Jackson is always my phone wallpaper, I switch out images every 2-3 weeks, lol. He was in Boston last year at my favorite venue, but he’s not coming to Boston on this tour. Last year we were in the third row. I need to see him in the front row before he retires. He’ll be 75 in October, but his voice is still strong. And don’t get me started about all of the charities & causes he supports. The many awards. He walks his talk!
Amazing health, especially considering all the drugs. Good lord these guys could party like no other. I would have been honored to share some blow with them 😂. Brownes song "cocaine" Is one of those you either don't get or really get it. "Such a fine line, hate to see it go" 🤌
One of my favorite lyrics in from The Pretender. "I'm gonna find me a girl who can show me what laughter means. And, we'll fill in the missing colors in each other's paint-by number dreams." That guy is one hell of a writer. Singer/songwriters helped propel Rock'n'Roll into history in the '60s and '70s. I think Jackson was 16 when he wrote Doctor My Eyes, living in the same apartments as the Eagles.
The pretender is the soul starting out in life, strong and idealistic, but has to fit into this world, the mundane world, find a job, work at something he doesn't necessarily like, set aside his ideals, and do what everybody else does. He started out so young and strong, only to surrender. This is especially true of artists.
My favorite all-time song that has so much meaning for me. Jackson Browne IS the Pretender, and he's also the one playing the piano in this. Thank you so much for this great reaction! ✌💙✌
Jackson Browne, a wonderful lyricist, writing to and for the common man. I've always loved the line, "Where the veterans dream of the fight, fast asleep at the traffic light", what an interesting slice of Americana.
Jackson Brown plays the piano and sings... Pretender is all of us and none of us. We go through life usually predetermined to make our future, for some, it works. For others it may not, comewhatmay, it's always nice to pretend the way it is now, is what we wished and wanted.
There are so many hidden gems from the 70s and 80s you’ve not even scratched the surface. Some of the best songs actually come from their albums. Enjoy searching 😊
I remember when this came out. Thought it was a pleasant song. Only after a solid amount of life's battering, did I start to grasp what he's saying. I find it beautiful and a bit profound. p.s.- Time to set the goal to 300K.
Jackson Browne! What an artist, what a great time. I remember hauling equipment on my first day of work (back in the day) and as soon as I released the brakes and turned on the radio "Running On Empty" by Jackson Browne came on. Coincidentally, my first stop was at the gas station to fill up the tanks. Jackson Browne, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, etc. What a great time for music! Keep up the great adventures in discovering music and educating the next generation!👍👍
With aldue respect i heard younger ppl with they're music podcasts refer to two as big sharks only thing I can come up with its a compliment coming from them meaning how good you two are 👍
Pretending or wishing. He's talking about you , me, anyone who wishes /daydreams but then reality sets in , surrenders to reality then carry's on with daily life. Jackson Brown plays the piano and writes his songs. Try "THE LOADOUT" its a great song
Just caught your reaction to this. All I can say about the lyrics, BJ, is it's one of those "you had to be there" things; mid '70s (written in '75), as the "love" generation was winding down, facing the fact that love won't pay the rent or put food on the table. It could be interpreted as a final protest song.
I love Jackson Browne. I was born in 1970 and remember riding with my dad in his '67 Barracuda he always had music playing. My sons are growing up with music playing all the time, too. Thank you for reviewing this song, takes me back.
Three recommendations for you. THESE DAYS ( written when he was 16), FOUNTAIN OF SORROW, and FOR A DANCER. I recommend the versions from the Solo Acoustic Volume 1 album. Enjoy! Also nice to listen to the intros to each track.
He literally told you who The Pretender was. A guy going through the motions of life after heartbreak and disillusionment. This album came out after his first wife committed suicide, if that helps you figure it out.
Asia and BJ, love your Detroit hat by the way, Jackson Browne is so good one of my all time favorite artists , great songs in his music catalog, ty guys✌️😎😁🙂
I love it when Asia loses the smile and you watch her actually grappling with something she has noticed in the lyrics. You are willing her to get there.
He’s one of my fav singer songwriters. Was always on my travel mixed tapes I made for me and my girlfriends road trips. Check out “these Days”. Wrote when he was 15. Unbelievable. Underrated.
That song brings me to tears. More so now that I've been alone in life for 6 years now. It's a kind if pride almost that I can connect with a song so much. It's an amazing feeling to have this cranked all the way up as I drive.
To me hr's describing what happrns to most of us as we get older. Our high hopes and dreams kind of drift away just in the ordinary living and one day we wake up and wonder what the heck happened. And we need to recapture that original feeling.
Running On Empty and The Load Out/Stay are absolute "must listen"s from Jackson Brown. As mentioned below, The Load Out and Stay are engineered in the studio to flow one to the next as though they are just one big song. Cutting off Stay would really change the vibe of the experience to where you really wouldn't "get it". I am loving watching you two discovering just how good and thought provoking the music of the 60s, 70s and into the 80s really was. They had a message back then and wanted to share it with the world. It was an incredible time to be alive
The Load out/Stay were recorded live, as was the whole Running on Empty record. One of the first albums of brand new music recorded live. Some at shows, some on the bud or in hotel rooms.
No, guys...he is talking about the struggle between the material things and love...!!!! The pretender is the one that tells you he is doing both, happy and all...!!!
This guy right here is hands down on of THE BEST Songwriters. If im feeling the highest highs ill hangout with Browne. When im at my lowest lows he brings out the tears and picks me up. If im not mistaken he helped the eagles with finishing "take it easy" Songs i think are worth your reactions would be "these days" "blue and black" "disco apocalypse" and my personal favorite "cocaine" ive ended many snow filled parties with that song. Works every time.
Nice reaction, Mr Brown on the Pretender. " Is 2 people really. It's that person in all of us that has a higher ideal, and the part that has settled for compromise. The Pretender' is about '60s idealism, the idea of life being about love and brotherhood, justice, social change and enlightenment, those concepts we were flooded with as our generation hit its stride; and how, later, we settled for something quite different."
I LOVE Jackson Brown. I think he’s talking about the man that commits his life to a situation he may not be privy to. I think we all pretend when we accept and choose to live within the moral constraints of live.
Something about the message of this song reminds me of Billy Joel's song, "The Stranger" which is about the masks we wear in public and questions whether we know the stranger within ourselves. If you haven't reacted to it, I recommend it highly.
Starting out in life being young and full of dreams but the reality of life kicks in sometines goals are not met. So like most of us your path gets many forks in the road get married have kids and you settle for the life that living has created on the path that no one can really predict. So all your dreams and goals that you started with sometimes gets derailed so you make the best out of the path that you went down. So you have to make the best of your path so you are pretending because your goals are not what you invisioned , but it doesn't mean you can't be happy and fulfilled. Thats my take on it. Jackson is a wonderful song writer and performer. He was huge in the 70's. I had the pleasure of seeing him then.
Thank you for doing this song! He sacrificed true love for the legal tender! And he is pretending it’s ok! Sad story but true for many! Not necessarily Jackson browns story but the story of many!
"The changes we waited for love to bring" was probably a Woodstock reference. Pretending to be happy with everything chasing the carrot of prosperity brings. Read the lyrics again. His generation was the Woodstock generation. They turned out to be the Yuppies of the 80s. Now they all sit downtown Telluride, CO wearing their ponytails,walking their dogs, drinking their lattes, reading their books in front of the cafes 😆
If we don't "go deep" on this song into its simplicity, we ARE the PRETENDERS!! I am. Should've chased those dreams a million miles ago!! Now, I watch young people reacting to songs I should've been more "in tune" with. Love Jackson Browne's music, messages, and life...he's no pretender.
To me, this song is about your daily life, work and home. Longing for love, if you’re single. It works, but you’re not really living your wildest dreams, but you might be living the American Dream:)
(He's the piano player, BTW). The Pretender is ...most of us. The average Joe. He gets up and goes to work, at a job he doesn't love; comes home tired and "lays his body down", and then gets up and does it again. And again. And again. He deals with the emptiness of his life by pretending that meaningless things (like "the things that money can buy"...which the advertisers sell him - making a " claim to the heart and soul of the Pretender") really mean something. But the observing songwriter, watching his neighbors and all the rest, just longs for, at the very least, a girl who can teach him about laughter and with whom he can make love. These are things that might be a cut more real. And...isn't it a beautiful song? It's hard to go wrong with Jackson Browne.
This song takes me back y'all. I'm a 62 year old white male and just retired from my job at the only BMW manufacturing assemby plant in the US in April and retired from the military in 2007 after serving 27 years. Now I can just relax. I pretended to be a soldier as a child playing Army with my friends. And finally at the age of 41 years old after serving over 23 years, I was called to duty in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003. The pretending was over and I lived the life of the soldier I pretended to be as a child.
Jackson is the pianist in this song. The pretender is one who gives up their early dreams in life for the chasing of the legal tender, as you said for greed and money and who forgoes true love which was a contender, but in the end became an idiot for choosing money over true love.
Me and my wife will have the privilege to go see Jackson Browne in concert in a few weeks. To me the pretender is about a guy who wanted something more out of life but realizes he's not going to get it so he settles for a life of a regular go to work every day guy and pretends he's living a fulfilled life.
Hey, Asia and BJ; I've been listening to this song ever since it was released in 1974, and this was the first time I saw how clearly the lyrics at the beginning of the song are describing his outer world, and after the bridge of the song (starting with "Caught between the longing for love...) he begins to describe his inner world. So glad you have given this a listen. Check out "Walking Slow" and/ or "In the Shape of a Heart." Great stuff.
Jackson Browne wrote this song after his wife committed suicide. He is the pretender talking about how he is going to "get up and do it again" and "be a happy idiot" every day to get through his life, and pain. He speaks about how you start young and full of promise, and then life happens. One of his saddest songs. By the way, he is the one that plays piano on his songs.
The Pretender can be any of us. Pretending in life. Putting on a smile even though your dreams may not have come true. Resigning yourself to a life that doesn’t fulfill you. And he describes the happiness he perceives in others, questioning the decisions he made. I could go on and on. Brilliant song. ❤️🥰
Amen
I liked this song as a teen, but listening to it now has a whole new meaning. The dreams that didn't materialize, etc.. This song is so much more profound when you listen to it at 60 vs. listening to it at 16.
There's that great line from Jackson's "Before the Deluge" where he sings, "...In the end, they traded their tired wings/ for the resignation that living brings/ and exchanged love's bright and fragile glow for the glitter and the rouge/ and in a moment, they were swept before the deluge."
@@curtisduncanmusic7645 Curtis l read a book decades ago by a guy named Mason. I don't remember anything about the book. But the title.
"You were born original Don't die a copy."
Very profound.
Perfectly said destinyreelly ... I can relate to this song. ❤
Ok I’ll tell you what he means. We start off young and full of possibilities but we let our dreams sail out of sight. We settle for second best, apaint by number dream, we put dark glasses on to hide ourselves and we go through the motions, pretending it is all ok. We surrender. It is a heart wrenching song. And brilliant. And true.
You got it, nailed it!!
Couldn't say it any better.
Yep - we're all a pretender
100% true
This song breaks my heart every time. We are ALL the pretenders.
Asia & BJ, you’ll love his “The Loadout/Stay”, “Tender Is The Night” and “Somebody’s Baby”!!!! The Loadout/Stay are meant to be played together!!
“The Pretender”- now that’s what you call songwriting. This song is about a man who gives up his dreams and lives a life of routine monotony in order to accumulate money.
He is the pretender.
Don't forget "Here Come Those Tears". It wasn't just about accumulating money. We're sucked in by grandios visions presented by corporations about how happy you'll be if you just buy whatever they're selling. Thus, we end up debt-slaves with no 'apparent' way out.
Jackson Browne writes very deep and meaningful songs that reflect the real life most of us live. His soul is a soft strength. He is coming to Brisbane Australia at the end of this year. I can't wait to finally see and hear him in person👌
One of the best songwriters to ever live. “Two of me, Two of You”, “Late for the Sky”, “Barricades of Heaven”, “In the Shape of a Heart”, “Sleep’s Dark and Silent Gate”. So good.
Jackson Browne is such a great song writer and preformer. He's not a pretender. He's for real.
My fave of all time, hands down
He’s a phenomenal songwriter and performer… one of my favorites of his is “Farther On.” A beautiful song!
Shape of a Heart is one of those songs that hardly anyone mentions in his catalogue. And it’s one his best imo.
Jackson Browne is so underrated.
This song is a brilliant and beautiful expose of the plight of the common man
In answering the question of who The Pretender is, Browne said - "...it's not me exactly, although sometimes people applaud for me at that moment in the song as if I am, but in truth there is a bit of The Pretender in me, but it's anybody that's sort of lost sight of some of their dreams...and is going through the motions and trying to make a stab at a certain way of life that he sees other people succeeding at. So maybe it's a lot of people of a certain generation who sort of embraced a very material lifestyle in place of dreams that they had that sort of disintegrated at some point."
This is what I've always taken to mean, a representation of the every man living out his everyday life and lost dreams.
YES!!❤️
He is both an environmentalist and a humanist. Those are two of his most common writing themes. That is where the song touches me deepest, materialism never appealed to me much, "those things that money can't buy." And yeah, those hopes and dreams sailed out of sight for me. Beautiful salt in my wounds.
He is a very under rated artist. Truly a gift.
Was? Did he pass away? NOPE, I just checked. 74 and still kicking
@@TonyM1961 oops sorry. Is an underated artist. Thanks for the correction.
Me and my dad don't get along no more but goddam I can't deny he showed me amazing music. For that I'm forever grateful.
Jackson Browne is such a great songwriter and storyteller. I grew up listening to him and many other artists in his genre because my parents had music on a lot. This song in particular, gives me chills whenever I hear it. Great reaction y'all! Peace and love! Sending y'all positive vibes!
For a Dancer, In the Shape of a Heart, These Days, Doctor My Eyes, Fountain of Sorrow, and so many more. Saw him first in 1978. Seen him many times since and will see him this September.
just saying he is a great songwriter is such an understatement! but i could just on and on and on about him!
This song is a song writing masterpiece! It is about how life becomes a drudgery compared to how we started out. We become pretenders. "These Days" "Shape of a Heart" "Late For the Sky" are great song.
Jackson Browne quite possibly has the best lyrics in Rock and Roll. So many great songs. "Lives in the Balance " and " In the Shape of a Heart " come to mind. To me, lyrics are the foundation and backbone to a song and Mr. Browne nails it every time!
This is probably my favorite Jackson Browne song. Growing up, there weren't a ton of J. Browne fans, but I loved the simplicity of melodies and creative songwriting. Thank you for sharing this on the channel.
He says it in the last line "started out so young and strong only to surrender'. Meaning the dreams you had when you were young snd bright eyed are not always realized, but you go on living life wishing and hoping just the same as the Pretender. Jackson Browne is a prolific song writer best known for Running on Empty, the.Load Out/Stay, Lying Eyes that his friends the Eagles recorded, Somebodys Baby, Here Come those Tears Again, Rock Me on the Water, You Love the Thunder, You Love the Rain and others. Jackson was a part of the California 70s music scene and the singer-songwriter Era of the 70s. Worth listening to more of his music.
Jackson Browne, don't forget the final "e", is a great storyteller and performer. Seen him twice in concert, once on each coast, and he didn't disappoint either time, excellent shows. I think my favorite JB songs are "The Loadout>Stay", with "Stay" being a cover of a Maurice Williams original, but Jackson makes it his own. "The Loadout" tells the story of the roadies who make his concerts happen, it is a haunting song. Jackson is the piano player himself, he's quite good on that instrument.
The Pretender is someone who goes about his business, already having lost his dreams. Going through the motions. Like a lot of people are.
If this song doesn’t provoke introspection and thought nothing will . I believe this to be one of the finest lyrics I’ve ever heard put to music , and take my word there’s been plenty
For a lot of us ..."when the morning light comes streaming in I'll get up and do it again" is reality
He is the Pretender, because he gets up each day, day after day, and goes to a job and comes home on repeat. Pretending he is living a fulfilled life. He's chosen the pursuit of "legal tender" over love. But he dreams that someday he will find a girl who will color his dreams, and he'll even pursue "legal tender" a "happy idiot" when that happens. No longer "the Pretender" . Great, great song. Love conquers all.
Only a true person could write such a wonderful , understanding song about us all. What a gifted song writer he is. Full of love and understanding.
I’ve seen him 5 times. I know of people who just travel the country, seeing him at every venue. A dream! I’m pretty obsessed & my husband is very generous about it. Jackson is always my phone wallpaper, I switch out images every 2-3 weeks, lol. He was in Boston last year at my favorite venue, but he’s not coming to Boston on this tour. Last year we were in the third row. I need to see him in the front row before he retires. He’ll be 75 in October, but his voice is still strong. And don’t get me started about all of the charities & causes he supports. The many awards. He walks his talk!
Amazing health, especially considering all the drugs. Good lord these guys could party like no other. I would have been honored to share some blow with them 😂. Brownes song "cocaine" Is one of those you either don't get or really get it. "Such a fine line, hate to see it go" 🤌
I 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 your faces during this. Your expressions said you were really getting it and enjoying it. ♡
So good
One of my favorite lyrics in from The Pretender. "I'm gonna find me a girl who can show me what laughter means. And, we'll fill in the missing colors in each other's paint-by number dreams." That guy is one hell of a writer. Singer/songwriters helped propel Rock'n'Roll into history in the '60s and '70s. I think Jackson was 16 when he wrote Doctor My Eyes, living in the same apartments as the Eagles.
Perhaps my favorite song of all time.... we all just pretending
The pretender is the soul starting out in life, strong and idealistic, but has to fit into this world, the mundane world, find a job, work at something he doesn't necessarily like, set aside his ideals, and do what everybody else does. He started out so young and strong, only to surrender. This is especially true of artists.
My favorite all-time song that has so much meaning for me. Jackson Browne IS the Pretender, and he's also the one playing the piano in this. Thank you so much for this great reaction! ✌💙✌
Elton John played keys on this, check it out interesting story
Jackson Browne is definitely one of the best singer songwriters from the 70’s
Jackson Browne, a wonderful lyricist, writing to and for the common man. I've always loved the line, "Where the veterans dream of the fight, fast asleep at the traffic light", what an interesting slice of Americana.
I’m gonna be a happy idiot.
Jackson Brown plays the piano and sings...
Pretender is all of us and none of us. We go through life usually predetermined to make our future, for some, it works. For others it may not, comewhatmay, it's always nice to pretend the way it is now, is what we wished and wanted.
Jackson brown is one of my favorites. Saw him in concert with Bonnie raitt. They were both great!
Ahh yes, I was in HS when I heard Bonnie & Delaney, song on it was St James Infirmary - good stuff ( mid / late 60's )
'Rock Me on the Water' is my favorite Jackson Browne song
He helped write Take It Easy the Eagles big hit. Great songwriter
"It's a girl my lord! In a flatbed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me" fucking genius
@@declanflynn2580that line was Glenn Frey. Jackson wrote most of the song but Glen added a few lines including that one and recorded it first.
@@declanflynn2580That was Glen Frey's contribution! He talks about that being pure Glen- girl, Lord, Ford!
Actually, Jackson wrote all but the last verse, "I'm standing on the corner in Winslow,AZ..etc"!!!
ALWAYS SOOOOOO SMOOOOTH. He's one of my favorites
His first 5 albums are epic. Every song on every one is incredible!
There are so many hidden gems from the 70s and 80s you’ve not even scratched the surface. Some of the best songs actually come from their albums. Enjoy searching 😊
He’s describing life. You dream it’ll be this, and ends up being that
I remember when this came out. Thought it was a pleasant song. Only after a solid amount of life's battering, did I start to grasp what he's saying. I find it beautiful and a bit profound. p.s.- Time to set the goal to 300K.
Thanks for reminding me what a great voice Jackson Browne has.
Jackson Browne! What an artist, what a great time. I remember hauling equipment on my first day of work (back in the day) and as soon as I released the brakes and turned on the radio "Running On Empty" by Jackson Browne came on. Coincidentally, my first stop was at the gas station to fill up the tanks. Jackson Browne, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, etc. What a great time for music! Keep up the great adventures in discovering music and educating the next generation!👍👍
Think my favorite line is "I'm gonna be a happy idiot, and struggle for the legal tender" 😉
So lucky to see Jackson Browne several times in concert in the 70’s. He and Carole King were fantastic together also. 🎤🎸🎹❤
My favorite song by Jackson
With aldue respect i heard younger ppl with they're music podcasts refer to two as big sharks only thing I can come up with its a compliment coming from them meaning how good you two are 👍
Pretending or wishing. He's talking about you , me, anyone who wishes /daydreams but then reality sets in , surrenders to reality then carry's on with daily life. Jackson Brown plays the piano and writes his songs. Try "THE LOADOUT" its a great song
Just caught your reaction to this. All I can say about the lyrics, BJ, is it's one of those "you had to be there" things; mid '70s (written in '75), as the "love" generation was winding down, facing the fact that love won't pay the rent or put food on the table. It could be interpreted as a final protest song.
I love Jackson Browne. I was born in 1970 and remember riding with my dad in his '67 Barracuda he always had music playing. My sons are growing up with music playing all the time, too. Thank you for reviewing this song, takes me back.
Amazing songwriter and storyteller
This whole album is wonderful.
Three recommendations for you. THESE DAYS ( written when he was 16), FOUNTAIN OF SORROW, and FOR A DANCER. I recommend the versions from the Solo Acoustic Volume 1 album. Enjoy! Also nice to listen to the intros to each track.
He literally told you who The Pretender was. A guy going through the motions of life after heartbreak and disillusionment.
This album came out after his first wife committed suicide, if that helps you figure it out.
"The Loadout/Stay" is my fav Jackson Browne. Jackson was playing the piano BJ
Love Jackson Browne ❤ He writes some powerful social commentary songs! Check out The Rebel Jesus and Lives in the Balance!
Most people get up go to work come home rest there heads . Get up and do it all over again
Years ago I'd listen to a classic rock station in the car on my commute and when this song came on it would transport me. A truly great song.
Probably my favorite Jackson Browne song. This whole album is good, as is "Late For the Sky" On a side note, that's Jackson playing the piano.
Asia and BJ, love your Detroit hat by the way, Jackson Browne is so good one of my all time favorite artists , great songs in his music catalog, ty guys✌️😎😁🙂
I love it when Asia loses the smile and you watch her actually grappling with something she has noticed in the lyrics. You are willing her to get there.
Always liked it when songs came on the radio. Always a good sound while running down the road in a semi for 39 years.
He’s one of my fav singer songwriters. Was always on my travel mixed tapes I made for me and my girlfriends road trips. Check out “these Days”. Wrote when he was 15. Unbelievable. Underrated.
That song brings me to tears. More so now that I've been alone in life for 6 years now. It's a kind if pride almost that I can connect with a song so much. It's an amazing feeling to have this cranked all the way up as I drive.
To me hr's describing what happrns to most of us as we get older. Our high hopes and dreams kind of drift away just in the ordinary living and one day we wake up and wonder what the heck happened. And we need to recapture that original feeling.
Running On Empty and The Load Out/Stay are absolute "must listen"s from Jackson Brown. As mentioned below, The Load Out and Stay are engineered in the studio to flow one to the next as though they are just one big song. Cutting off Stay would really change the vibe of the experience to where you really wouldn't "get it". I am loving watching you two discovering just how good and thought provoking the music of the 60s, 70s and into the 80s really was. They had a message back then and wanted to share it with the world. It was an incredible time to be alive
The Load out/Stay were recorded live, as was the whole Running on Empty record. One of the first albums of brand new music recorded live. Some at shows, some on the bud or in hotel rooms.
No, guys...he is talking about the struggle between the material things and love...!!!! The pretender is the one that tells you he is doing both, happy and all...!!!
This guy right here is hands down on of THE BEST Songwriters. If im feeling the highest highs ill hangout with Browne. When im at my lowest lows he brings out the tears and picks me up.
If im not mistaken he helped the eagles with finishing "take it easy"
Songs i think are worth your reactions would be "these days" "blue and black" "disco apocalypse" and my personal favorite "cocaine" ive ended many snow filled parties with that song. Works every time.
Nice reaction, Mr Brown on the Pretender. " Is 2 people really. It's that person in all of us that has a higher ideal, and the part that has settled for compromise. The Pretender' is about '60s idealism, the idea of life being about love and brotherhood, justice, social change and enlightenment, those concepts we were flooded with as our generation hit its stride; and how, later, we settled for something quite different."
He's talking about everybody's neighbourhood as the hopes of the 1960s had faded by the mid-1970s.
BTW, the pianist is an accomplished studio musician named Craig Doerge
I didn’t like him at first. But as I listened, his music grew on me. Some of the most thoughtful and meaningful lyrics out there.
I LOVE Jackson Brown. I think he’s talking about the man that commits his life to a situation he may not be privy to. I think we all pretend when we accept and choose to live within the moral constraints of live.
Absolutely love Jackson Browne try “That Girl Can Sing
Good on this one; one of my very favorite JB songs!!
My fav Jackson Browne song. We are all the "Pretenders", aren't we? Really?
Beautiful song !! ❤Love JBrowne
Jackson Browne is the piano player.
We ALL PRETEND at some time in our lives. SOME always do!
You guys are overthinking it.😊
The pretended "who started out so young and strong, only to surrender. " In some ways, we're all the pretender.
Something about the message of this song reminds me of Billy Joel's song, "The Stranger" which is about the masks we wear in public and questions whether we know the stranger within ourselves. If you haven't reacted to it, I recommend it highly.
Never heard this before, and I like Jackson Browne. Thank you
More Jackson Browne, please. My favorites are "The Loadout/Stay" played together, and "Somebody's Baby".
Great tune. Pretty deep really.
Starting out in life being young and full of dreams but the reality of life kicks in sometines goals are not met. So like most of us your path gets many forks in the road get married have kids and you settle for the life that living has created on the path that no one can really predict. So all your dreams and goals that you started with sometimes gets derailed so you make the best out of the path that you went down. So you have to make the best of your path so you are pretending because your goals are not what you invisioned , but it doesn't mean you can't be happy and fulfilled. Thats my take on it. Jackson is a wonderful song writer and performer. He was huge in the 70's. I had the pleasure of seeing him then.
I'm 70 years old & still have this album
Thank you for doing this song! He sacrificed true love for the legal tender! And he is pretending it’s ok! Sad story but true for many! Not necessarily Jackson browns story but the story of many!
"The changes we waited for love to bring" was probably a Woodstock reference. Pretending to be happy with everything chasing the carrot of prosperity brings. Read the lyrics again. His generation was the Woodstock generation. They turned out to be the Yuppies of the 80s. Now they all sit downtown Telluride, CO wearing their ponytails,walking their dogs, drinking their lattes, reading their books in front of the cafes 😆
Oh!!! I love this one!! I also love “THE LOAD OUT/STAY” (both of them) live video performance! ❤
If we don't "go deep" on this song into its simplicity, we ARE the PRETENDERS!! I am. Should've chased those dreams a million miles ago!! Now, I watch young people reacting to songs I should've been more "in tune" with. Love Jackson Browne's music, messages, and life...he's no pretender.
To me, this song is about your daily life, work and home. Longing for love, if you’re single. It works, but you’re not really living your wildest dreams, but you might be living the American Dream:)
You just got to listen to Jackson Browne "Late for the sky"
It will blow Asia away ❤
Jackson Brown wrote so many songs!!
One of several songs during this period that made me weep at 1st hearing. Some were his.
Great artist! He and Glen Frey of the Eagles learned to write songs together!
Jackson started writing and Frey finished from “it’s a girl, my lord…”
(He's the piano player, BTW). The Pretender is ...most of us. The average Joe. He gets up and goes to work, at a job he doesn't love; comes home tired and "lays his body down", and then gets up and does it again. And again. And again. He deals with the emptiness of his life by pretending that meaningless things (like "the things that money can buy"...which the advertisers sell him - making a " claim to the heart and soul of the Pretender") really mean something. But the observing songwriter, watching his neighbors and all the rest, just longs for, at the very least, a girl who can teach him about laughter and with whom he can make love. These are things that might be a cut more real. And...isn't it a beautiful song? It's hard to go wrong with Jackson Browne.
Love Jackson.
This song takes me back y'all. I'm a 62 year old white male and just retired from my job at the only BMW manufacturing assemby plant in the US in April and retired from the military in 2007 after serving 27 years. Now I can just relax. I pretended to be a soldier as a child playing Army with my friends. And finally at the age of 41 years old after serving over 23 years, I was called to duty in Operation Enduring Freedom in 2003. The pretending was over and I lived the life of the soldier I pretended to be as a child.
Maybe one of the best concerts I’ve seen. Unplugged with opener John Hiatt. Two great songwriters.
Jackson is the pianist in this song. The pretender is one who gives up their early dreams in life for the chasing of the legal tender, as you said for greed and money and who forgoes true love which was a contender, but in the end became an idiot for choosing money over true love.
Me and my wife will have the privilege to go see Jackson Browne in concert in a few weeks.
To me the pretender is about a guy who wanted something more out of life but realizes he's not going to get it so he settles for a life of a regular go to work every day guy and pretends he's living a fulfilled life.
Hey, Asia and BJ; I've been listening to this song ever since it was released in 1974, and this was the first time I saw how clearly the lyrics at the beginning of the song are describing his outer world, and after the bridge of the song (starting with "Caught between the longing for love...) he begins to describe his inner world. So glad you have given this a listen. Check out "Walking Slow" and/ or "In the Shape of a Heart." Great stuff.
Jackson Browne wrote this song after his wife committed suicide. He is the pretender talking about how he is going to "get up and do it again"
and "be a happy idiot" every day to get through his life, and pain. He speaks about how you start young and full of promise, and then life happens. One of his saddest songs. By the way, he is the one that plays piano on his songs.