Heard this song again today......................

[kestrel91316]

I was listening to an album I picked up recently and heard this song. I remember it from years ago but never paid much attention to the lyrics.

LIVES IN THE BALANCE by Jackson Browne

I've been waiting for something to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headlines
And the sound of the crowd in my ear
You might ask what it takes to remember
When you know that you've seen it before
Where a government lies to a people
And a country is drifting to war

And there's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interest runs

On the radio talk shows and the TV
You hear one thing again and again
How the USA stands for freedom
And we come to the aid of a friend
But who are the ones that we call our friends -
These governments killing their own?
Or the people who finally can't take any more
And they pick up a gun or a brick or a stone
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire

There's a shadow on the faces
Of the men who fan the flames
Of the wars that are fought in places
Where we can't even say the names

They sell us the President the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us everything from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who are enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or die
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire




Prophetic words from a man who sees the truth. Sigh.
I'm going to go have a good cry now.
I want my country back.

[cry baby]

1. That sooo eerily fits my fears of today.

Thanks for posting.

[babylonsister]

2. Wow! So sad these words still apply. nt

[Reverend X]

3. Anthems for Today

Truer words were never spoken. wow. Funny how little has changed for the better. Even tho the MSM would have beleive we are fighting all knew problems. It does show what has gotten worse. Even the music industry, or mainstream Music- MSM jr., stands mute about present times. I found one band to work with, Today... that's actually their name, Today, and I still can't put it into anything without confusing everyone. ah well, don't cry.. There will come a time for grief when the battle is over. This might help u channel the emotions Rise it's a slow load, but a good anthem.

[meganmonkey]

9. Hey Reverend X -

Welcome to DU!

:toast:

[EC]

4. I wish everyone would notice, everytime you get Republican's in

control, this is what will result...They are dealers in war.

[Horse with no Name]

5. I saw Jackson Browne a few years ago in Dallas at

Starplex...was one of the best shows. He is such a master---now I need to pull out the CD--which one is this off of?

[Jeanette in FL]

7. "Lives in the Balance" nt

[kestrel91316]

8. I heard it on his double album "Very Best of Jackson Browne" but

it's from the original album "Lives in the Balance". Don't know the year.

[Jeanette in FL]

6. That is one of my favorite songs of all time

That whole album is awesome. It was written during the Reagan years about our involvement in Latin America, yet it is timeless. Here we are 20 years later and the songs remain the same. When will we wake up. Here is another song off that album that gets to me.

FOR AMERICA

As if I really didn't understand
That I was just another part of their plan
I went off looking for the promise
Believing in the Motherland
And from the comfort of a dreamer's bed
And the safety of my own head
I went on speaking of the future
While other people fought and bled
The kid I was when I first left home
Was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
But the freedom that he found wasn't quite as sweet
When the truth was known
I have prayed for America
I was made for America
It's in my blood and in my bones
By the dawn's early light
By all I know is right
We're going to reap what we have sown

As if freedom was a question of might
As if loyalty was black and white
You hear people say it all the time-
"My country wrong or right"
I want to know what that's got to do
With what it takes to find out what's true
With everyone from the President on down
Trying to keep it from you

The thing I wonder about the Dads and Moms
Who send their sons to the Vietnams
Will they really think their way of life
Has been protected as the next war comes?
I have prayed for America
I was made for America
Her shining dream plays in my mind
By the rockets red glare
A generation's blank stare
We better wake her up this time

The kid I was when I first left home
Was looking for his freedom and a life of his own
But the freedom that he found wasn't quite as sweet
When the truth was known
I have prayed for America
I was made for America
I can't let go till she comes around
Until the land of the free
Is awake and can see
And until her conscience has been found

(c) 1986 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC, ASCAP