Usually among the most introspective of songwriters, Jackson Browne cast his gaze on the world outside on Lives in the Balance and did not like what he saw. Beginning with "For America," he lamented his previous indifference to social issues -- "I went on speaking of the future/While other people fought and bled" -- but immediately tried to make up for lost time. The album's context, of course, was five years of Ronald Reagan's presidency, with what the Left saw as an indifference to the plight of the poor at home and a dangerously aggressive policy against insurgent movements in the Central American countries of El Salvador and Nicaragua that they feared would lead to a Vietnam-like war. Without naming those places, Browne wrote and sang passionately against poverty in the songs "Soldier of Plenty" and "Lawless Avenues" and against war in "For America," "Lives in the Balance," and "Till I Go Down." Elsewhere, his more familiar themes of romantic ("In the Shape of a Heart") and philosophical ("Black and White") disillusionment also made appearances.
Ive been waiting for something to happenFor a week or a month or a yearWith the blood in the ink of the headlinesAnd the sound of the crowd in my earYou might ask what it takes to rememberWhen you know that youve seen it beforeWhere a government lies to a peopleAnd a country is drifting to warAnd theres a shadow on the facesOf the men who send the gunsTo the wars that are fought in placesWhere ...
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"With the Memorial Day recess looming, Congress passed the Iraq funding bill by a margin of 80-14 in the Senate and 280-142 in the House. While the measure which did not include timelines for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq was a tactical defeat for Democrats, media reports noted President Bush and the Republicans did not revel in the win." $100 BILLION to fund war through September but o...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 For America |
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| 2 Soldier of Plenty |
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| 3 In the Shape of a Heart |
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| 4 Candy |
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| 5 Lawless Avenues |
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| 6 Lives in the Balance |
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| 7 Till I Go Down |
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| 8 Black and White |
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 "Lives in the Balance")
