 "Running On Empty"
Released December 6, 1977 on Asylum Records (6E 113) (RIAA Certified Gold on 12/28/77 and Platinum on 8/25/78) (RIAA Certified Multi-Platinum on 12/12/97. 5 Million Sold!) (RIAA Certified Multi-Platinum again on 9/6/01 for 7 Million Sold!) Tracks:
Running On Empty is a landmark album in many ways. The album was recorded while on tour, but is not merely a live album. It's an album of all new songs that gives the real feel of what it's like to be on tour. The title track, "Running On Empty," went to #11 on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart and "The Load Out/Stay" was another top 20 hit, peaking at #20. The album reached #3 and stayed on the charts for an amazing 65 weeks. It went gold immediately and was certified platinum within 9 months. (The album has since been certified multi-platinum with more than 7 million sold.) A third single from the album, "You Love The Thunder," peaked at #109 nearly a year after the album had been released!
 RUNNING ON EMPTY(by Jackson Browne) Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels Looking back at the years gone by like so many summer fields In sixty-five I was seventeen and running up one-o-one I don't know where I'm running now, I'm just running on Running on - running on empty Running on - running blind Running on - running into the sun But I'm running behind Gotta do what you can just to keep your love alive Trying not to confuse it with what you do to survive In sixty-nine I was twenty-one and I called the road my own I don't know when that road turned onto the road I'm on Running on - running on empty Running on - running blind Running on - running into the sun But I'm running behind Everyone I know, everywhere I go People need some reason to believe I don't know about anyone but me If it takes all night, that'll be all right If I can get you to smile before I leave Looking out at the road rushing under my wheels I don't know how to tell you all just how crazy this life feels I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through Looking into their eyes I see them running too Running on - running on empty Running on - running blind Running on - running into the sun But I'm running behind Honey you really tempt me You know the way you look so kind I'd love to stick around but I'm running behind You know I don't even know what I'm hoping to find Running into the sun but I'm running behind (c) 1977 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC THE ROAD (by Danny O'Keefe) Highways and dancehalls A good song takes you far Your write about the moon And you dream about the stars Blues in old motel rooms Girls in daddy's car You sing about the nights And you laugh about the scars Coffee in the morning cocaine afternoons You talk about the weather And you grin about the rooms Phone calls long distance To tell how you've been Forget about the losses, you exaggerate the wins And when you stop to let 'em know You've got it down It's just another town along the road The ladies come to see you If your name still rings a bell They give you damn near nothin' And they'll say they knew you well So you tell 'em you'll remember But they know it's just a game And along the way their faces All begin to look the same And when you stop to let 'em know You got it down It's just another town along the road Well it isn't for the money And it's only for a while You stalk about the rooms And you roll away the miles Gamblers in the neon, clinging to guitars You're right about the moon But you're wrong about the stars And when you stop to let 'em know You got it down It's just another town along the way (c) 1971 WARNER-TAMERLANE PUBLISHING CORP. & ROAD CANYON MUSIC ROSIE (by Jackson Browne & Donald Miller) She was standing at the load-in When the trucks rolled up She was sniffing all around Like a half grown female pup She wasn't hard to talk to Looked like she had nowhere to go So I gave her my pass So she could get in and see the show Well I sat her down right next to me And I got her a beer While I mixed that sound on stage So the band could hear The more I watched her watch them play The less I could think of to say And when they walked off stage The drummer swept that girl away But Rosie you're all right -- you wear my ring When you hold me tight -- Rosie that's my thing When you turn out the light -- I've got to hand it to me Looks like it's me and you again tonight Rosie Well I guess I might have known from the start She'd come for a star Might have told my imagination not to run too far Of all the times that I've been burned By now you'd think I'd have learned That it's who you look like Not who you are But Rosie you're all right -- you wear my ring When you hold me tight -- Rosie that's my thing When you turn out the light -- I've got to hand it to me Looks like it's me and you again tonight Rosie (c) 1977 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC  YOU LOVE THE THUNDER(by Jackson Browne) When you look over your shoulder And you see the life that you've left behind When you think it over do you ever wonder? What it is that holds your life so close to mine You love the thunder and you love the rain What you see revealed within the anger is worth the pain And before the lightning fades and you surrender You've got a second to look at the dark side of the man You love the thunder and you love the rain You know your hunger like you know your name And I know you wonder how you ever came To be a woman in love with a man in search of the flame Draw the shade and light the fire For the night that holds you and calls your name And just like your lover, knows your desire And the crazy longing that time will never tame You love the thunder and you love the rain You know your hunger like you know your name I got your number if it's still the same You can dream But you can never go back the way you came (c) 1977 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC COCAINE (by Rev. Gary Davis, additional lyrics by Jackson Browne & Glenn Frey) You take Sally and I'll take Sue Their ain't no difference between the two Cocaine, running all 'round my brain Headin' down Scott, turnin' up Main Looking for that girl that sells cocaine Cocaine, runnin' all 'round my brain Late last night about a quarter past four Ladanyi come knockin' down my hotel room door Where's the cocaine-- It's runnin' all 'round my brain I was talking to my doctor down at the hospital He said, "Son, it says here you're twenty-seven, But that's impossible Cocaine-- you look like you could be forty-five" Now I'm losing touch with reality and I'm almost out of blow It's such a fine line-- I hate to see it go Cocaine, runnin' all 'round my brain (c) 1968 CHANDOS MUSIC SHAKY TOWN (by Daniel Kortchmar) I've witnessed those one-night stands Must have played in a thousand bands But I'm just here tonight, tomorrow I'll be gone Seen folks show their blacker sides Seen them die just for foolish pride And those drivers always ask to hear that same old song That's a big ten-four From your back door Just put that hammer down This young man feels Those eighteen wheels That keep turning 'round to take me down to Shaky Town I've heard all those hard luck tales From all of you U.S. males I've heard you tell those lies about the love you've know And I've followed those highway signs And I've run down those thin white lines Like those drivers this old road is all I call my own That's a big ten-four From your back door Just put that hammer down This young man feels Those eighteen wheels That keep turning 'round to take me down to Shaky Town (c) 1978 KORTCHMAR MUSIC LOVE NEEDS A HEART (by Lowell George, Valerie Carter & Jackson Browne) Maybe the hardest thing I've ever done Was to walk away from you Leaving behind the life that we'd begun I split myself in two Proud and alone, cold as a stone Rolling down that hill into the night I could see the surprise and the hurt in your eyes From behind each flashing city light Love needs a heart and I need to find If loves needs a heart like mine Love won't come near me, she don't even hear me She walks past my vacancy sign Love needs a heart, trusting and blind I wish that heart was mine Proud and alone, cold as a stone I'm afraid to believe the things I feel I can cry with the best I can laugh with the rest But I'm never sure when it's real And it may be the hardest thing I've ever done But apart from all that I hope to find Where's the heart that's been looking for mine? I hope it finds me in time Love needs a heart and I need to find If love needs a heart like mine (c) 1977 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC, NAKED SNAKE MUSIC & VANILLA GRITS MUSIC NOTHING BUT TIME (by Jackson Browne & Howard Burke) Rolling down 295 out of Portland, Maine Still high from the people up there and feeling no pain Gonna make it to New Jersey, gonna set it up and do it again I got a bottle of wine (pass it over) I got a broken white line (I'm still sober) There ain't nothin but time between this Silver Eagle And that New Jersey line Well it's a rock and roll band or a movie you can take your pick And it ain't bad work if you can get it But you gotta make it stick But getting any kind of sleep on this rolling motel--that's the trick It's just a bottle of wine (pass it over) It's just a broken white line (I'm still sober) It's just a whole lot of time in the twilight zone Between me and these friends of mine (c) 1977 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC THE LOAD-OUT (by Jackson Browne & Bryan Garofalo) Now the seats are all empty Let the roadies take the stage Pack it up and tear it down They're the first to come and last to leave Working for that minimum wage They'll set it up in another town Tonight the people were so fine They waited there in line And when they got up on their feet they made the show And that was sweet-- But I can hear the sound Of slamming doors and folding chairs And that's a sound they'll never know Now roll them cases out and lift them amps Haul them trusses down and get 'em up them ramps 'Cause when it comes to moving me You guys are the champs But when that last guitar's been packed away You know that I still want to play So just make sure you got it all set to go Before you come for my piano But the band's on the bus And they're waiting to go We've got to drive all night and do a show in Chicago or Detroit, I don't know We do so many shows in a row And these towns all look the same We just pass the time in our hotel rooms And wander 'round backstage Till those lights come up and we hear that crowd And we remember why we came Now we got country and western on the bus R and B, we got disco in eight tracks and cassettes in stereo We've got rural scenes & magazines We've got truckers on the CB We've got Richard Pryor on the video We got time to think of the ones we love While the miles roll away But the only time that seems too short Is the time that we get to play People you've got the power over what we do You can sit there and wait Or you can pull us through Come along, sing the song You know you can't go wrong 'Cause when that morning sun comes beating down You're going to wake up in your town But we'll be scheduled to appear A thousand miles away from here (c) 1977 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC & GIANNI MUSIC  STAY(by Maurice Williams; with revisions by Jackson Browne) Stay Just a little bit longer We want to play Just a little bit longer Now if the promoter don't mind and the union don't mind If we take a little time And we leave it all behind Singing one more song Oh won't you stay Just a little bit longer Please please please Say you will Say you will Oh won't you stay Just a little bit longer Oh, Please please stay Just a little bit more Now if the promoter don't mind and the roadies don't mind If we take a little time And we leave it all behind Singing one more song... (c) 1960 CHERIO CORPORATION |