Jackson Browne came of age at the dawn of the Southern California singer-songwriter boom, releasing his first album in 1972. This song, with its bouncy beat undercut by bleak, despairing lyrics, became a surprise hit.
Browne apparently worked on this song for months before speeding up the tempo and ditching an even bleaker third verse. He got plenty of help on the finished product — David Crosby and Graham Nash provide the harmonies and Russ Kunkel the percussion. The star of this arrangement, though, is session guitarist Jesse Ed Davis. This remastered version gives us a few extra bars of his solo on the fadeout.
Because everything is on YouTube, here’s the demo featuring the bridge and final verse that were dropped:
