 "Jackson Browne"
Released January 2, 1972 on Asylum Records (SD 5051) (RIAA Certified Gold on 11/16/76 and Platinum on 12/12/97) Tracks:
This album is also known today as Saturate Before Using however this was never the intended title of the album. The cover photograph which includes the words "Saturate Before Using" was almost rejected as the cover photograph for this very reason. Interestingly, by the time the album came out on CD, even the people at Elektra Records were referring to the album as "Saturate Before Using".) Original copies of this album came in a simulated burlap cover, first issues opened from the top. Later issues had the simulated burlap cover but opened from the side. Later pressings dropped the texturing. The inner sleeve was printed with an image of water... simulating the water in the burlap water bag!
JAMAICA SAY YOU WILL Jamaica was the lovely one, I played her well As we lay in the tall grass where the shadows fell Hiding from the children so they would not tell We would stay there 'till her sister rang the evening bell Jamaica, say you will Help me find a way to fill these empty hours Say you will come again tomorrow The daughter of a captain on the rolling seas She would stare across the water from the trees Last time he was home he held her on his knees And said the next time they would sail away just where they pleased Jamaica, say you will Help me find a way to fill these lifeless sails And stay until my ships can find the sea Jamaica was a sweet young one, I loved her true She was a comfort and a mercy through and through Hiding from this world together, next thing I knew We had brought her things down to the bay -- what could I do Jamaica, say you will Help me find a way to fill these sails And we will sail until our waters have run dry A CHILD IN THESE HILLS I am a child in these hills I am away I am alone I am a child in these hills And looking for water And looking for life Who will show me the river and ask my name? Is there nobody here who'll do that? Well I have come to these hills I will come to the river As I choose to be gone from the house of my father I am a child in these hills I am a child Chased from the gates of the city where no one had touched me I am away I am alone I am a child in these hills And looking for water And looking for life Who will show me the river and ask me my name? Is there nobody here who'll do that? Well I have come to these hills I will come to the river As I choose to be gone from the house of my father I am a child in these hills I am a child I am a child I am a child SONG FOR ADAM Though Adam was a friend of mine, I did not know him well He was alone into his distance He was deep into his well I could guess what he was laughing at, but I couldn't really tell Now the story's told that Adam jumped, but I've been thinking that he fell Together we went traveling, as we received the call His destination India, and I had none at all Well, I still remember laughing with our backs against the wall So free of fear, we never thought that one of us might fall I sit before my only candle, but it's so little light to find my way Now this story unfolds before my candle Which is shorter every hour as it reaches for the day But I feel just like a candle in the way I guess I'll get there, but I wouldn't say for sure When we parted we were laughing still, as our goodbyes were said And I never heard from him again as each our lives we led Except for once in someone else's letter that I read Until I heard the sudden word that a friend of mine was dead I sit before my only candle, like a pilgrim sits beside the way Now this journey appears before my candle As a song that's growing fainter the harder that I play But I fear before I end I'll fade away But I guess I'll get there, though I wouldn't say for sure Though Adam was a friend of mine, I did not know him long And when I stood myself beside him, I never though I was as strong Still it seems he stopped his singing in the middle of his song Well I'm not the one to say I know, but I'm hoping he was wrong I'm holding out my only candle, though it's so little light to find my way Now this story's been laid beneath my candle And it's shorter every hour as it reaches for the day Yes, I feel just like a candle in the way I hope I'll get there, but I never pray  DOCTOR MY EYESDoctor, my eyes have seen the years And the slow parade of fears without crying Now I want to understand I have done all that I could To see the evil and the good without hiding You must help me if you can Doctor, my eyes Tell me what is wrong Was I unwise to leave them open for so long 'Cause I have wandered through this world And as each moment has unfurled I've been waiting to awaken from these dreams People go just where they will I never noticed them until I got this feeling That it's later than it seems Doctor, my eyes Tell me what you see I hear their cries Just say if it's too late for me Doctor, my eyes Cannot see the sky Is this the prize for having learned how not to cry FROM SILVER LAKE Did you see our brother He was here the other day But he only came to say that he was leaving Did you see his lady She was looking where he'd gone But she wasn't letting on that she was grieving She's bound to go Perhaps she'll find him waiting for his boat in some city far away She's bound to go Lately I remember afternoons of smoke and wine There was nothing we could find but peace and pleasure And with a smile he told me That he wanted just to be on his way across the sea no man can measure He won't be back, And the sun may find him sleeping in the dust of some ruin far away He won't be back Early today as I watched while the skyline was shaking I heard a rumbling Early today the mechanical city was waking And I ran out stumbling, mumbling Out through the laughter of children and dogs Did you see our brother He was here the other day But he only came to say that he can't breathe here Did you see his lady She was reaching for his hand Just as if to tell her man that she can't either They're bound to go And the sun may find me running after them, seeing something far away We won't be back ...COUNTER SONG AT THE END OF "FROM SILVER LAKE" .....Someone who had been away .....Suddenly came back today .....And I allowed him home today into my mind .....For a moment face to face .....Evil packed upon the place .....Long ago he meant to stay out there this time .....Oh, what do you know .....The love that I've been feeling .....The past is healing so slow .....By tomorrow, gone from sorrow. Please note that the above lyrics to the "counter song" came from two very reliable sources... however, a fan who asked Jackson Browne for these lyrics was lucky enough to get Jackson to write down the way he remembered the words and Jackson came up with the following: Someone who had been away, suddenly came back today. I allowed a hope to stray into my mind. For the moment face to face, we looked back upon the place where today we went to chase our careless time. Oh, what did we know, not what I've been feeling, the past is healing so slowly. My tomorrow. Gone from sorrow. Mitch C. -- who teaches English at an alternative high school in Herkimer, NY and uses the lyrics to teach a class called 'American Song as Poetry -- compared the above two sets of lyrics while listening to the album numerous times with headsets tells me that the results yielded: ...COUNTER SONG AT THE END OF "FROM SILVER LAKE" .....Someone who had been away .....Suddenly came back today .....I allowed a hope to stray into my mind. .....For a moment face to face .....we looked back upon the place .....That long ago he meant to chase our careless time. .....Oh, what do you know .....not what I've been feeling .....The past is healing so slow .....By tomorrow, gone from sorrow. SOMETHING FINE The papers lie there helplessly In a pile outside the door I've tried and tried, but I just can't remember what they're for The world outside is tugging like a beggar at my sleeve Oh, that's much too old a story to believe And you know that it's taken its share of me Even though you take such good care of me Now you say "Morocco" and that makes me smile I haven't seen Morocco in a long, long while The dreams are rolling down across the places in my mind And I've just had a taste of something fine The future hides and the past just slides England lies between Floating in a silver mist so cold and so clean California's shaking like an angry child will Who has asked for love and is unanswered still And you know that I'm looking back carefully 'Cause I know that there's still something there for me But you said "Morocco" and you made me smile And it hasn't been that easy for a long, long while And looking back into your eyes I saw them really shine Giving me a taste of something fine Something fine Now if you see Morocco I know you'll go in style I may not see Morocco for a little while But while you're there I was hoping you might keep it in your mind To save me just a taste of something fine (c) 1971 WB Music Corp. UNDER THE FALLING SKY Warm and lovely mystery, fire smiling through Before this moment fades away I want to know you I've got lightening in my pocket, thunder in my shoe Have no fear I've got something here I want to show you Low, under the falling sky Easily we will lie While I bring it to you It's a low road, a high wire going from me to you And in your eyes the distance left is closing I've got a feeling in my oceans Blood underneath my skin That into your bright fields this prison is opening Low, under the falling sky Easily we will lie While I bring it to you Our shadows wake each day though they don't know why They hope and try -- live and die So leave them in their frozen world Come and be my lover If only for one stolen moment We will live forever Warm and lovely mystery, can you hear the choir? Voices can no longer hold my desire Abandon your sad history and meet me in the fire Our angels wait to take us higher and higher Higher and higher Low, under the falling sky Easily we will lie While I bring it to you (c) 1971 WB Music Corp. LOOKING INTO YOU Well I looked into a house I once lived in Around the time I first went on my own When the roads were as many as the places I had dreamed of And my friends and I were one Now the distance is done and the search has begun I've come to see where my beginnings have gone Oh the walls and the windows were still standing And the music could be heard at the door Where the people who kindly endured my odd questions Asked if I came very far And when my silence replied they took me inside Where their children sat playing on the floor Well we spoke of the changes that would find us farther on And it left me so warm and so high But as I stepped back outside to the grey morning sun I heard that highway whisper and sigh Are you ready to fly? And I looked into the faces all passing by It's an ocean that will never be filled And the house that grows older and finally crumbles That even love cannot rebuild It's a hotel at best, you're here as a guest You oughta make yourself at home while you're waiting for the rest Well I looked into dream of the millions That one day the search will be through Now here I stand at the edge of my embattled illusions Looking into you The great song traveler passed through here And he opened my eyes to the view And I was among those who called him a prophet And I asked him what was true Until the distance had shown how the road remains alone Now I'm looking in my life for a truth that is my own Well I looked into the sky for my anthem And the words and the music came through But words and music can never touch the beauty that I've seen Looking into you -- and that's true (c) 1971 WB Music Corp.  ROCK ME ON THE WATEROh people, look around you The signs are everywhere You've left it for somebody other than you To be the one to care You're lost inside your houses There's no time to find you now Your walls are burning and your towers are turning I'm going to leave you here and try to get down to the sea somehow The road is filled with homeless souls Every woman, child and man Who have no idea where they will go But they'll help you if they can Now everyone must have some thought That's going to pull them through somehow Well the fires are raging hotter and hotter But the sisters of the sun are going to rock me on the water now Rock me on the water Sister will you soothe my fevered brow Rock me on the water I'll get down to the sea somehow Oh people, look among you It's there your hope must lie There's a sea bird above you Gliding in one place like Jesus in the sky We all must do the best we can And then hang on to that Gospel plow When my life is over, I'm going to stand before the Father But the sisters of the sun are going to rock me on the water now Rock me on the water Sister will you soothe my fevered brow Rock me on the water, maybe I'll remember Maybe I'll remember how Rock me on the water The wind is with me now So rock me on the water I'll get down to the sea somehow (c) 1971 WB Music Corp. MY OPENING FAREWELL A lady stands before an open window Staring so far away She can almost feel the southern wind blow Almost touching her restless day She turns from her window to me Sad smile her apology Sad eyes reaching to the door Daylight loses to another evening And still she spares me the word goodbye And sits alone beside me fighting her feelings Struggles to speak but in the end can only cry Suddenly its so hard to find The sound of the words to speak her troubled mind So I'm offering these to her as if to be kind: There's a train everyday leaving either way There's a world, you know There's a way to go And you'll soon be gone -- that's just as well This is my opening farewell A child's drawings left there on the table And a woman's silk lying on the floor And I would keep them here if I were able Lock her safe behind this open door But suddenly it's so clear to me That I'd asked her to see what she may never see And now my kind words find their way back to me There's a train everyday leaving either way There's a world, you know You got a way's to go And I'll soon believe -- it's just as well This is my opening farewell |