Remember that Jackson Brown song?

[JohnnyRingo]

Lives in the Balance
by Jackson Brown

I've been waiting for somethin to happen
For a week or a month or a year
With the blood in the ink of the headline
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 her people
And a country is drifting to war

Theres a shadow on the faces
Of the men who send the guns
To the wars that are fought in places
Where their business interests run

On the radio talk shows and the T.V.
You hear one thing again and again
How the U.S.A. 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

There are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire

They sell us the President the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing 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 our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to 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

Written during the Reagan years, it's just as relevant today. They act as though the lies aren't important, as though it's "business as usual", but we can never forget the cost in blood.

[Faygo Kid]

1. Browne?

[acmejack]

2. Truer lines never written

They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die

[bahrbearian]

3. check out the video. here

http://videos.informationclearinghouse.info/lives_in_the_balance.wmv

[stellanoir]

4. If you haven't heard his recent solely acoustic

version of this song then your missing something. It's so much more deeply soul stirring.

Hold on I'll post a link in a sec.

http://www.jacksonbrowne.com/discography/albums/5251.aspx

[JohnnyRingo]

6. That IS good...

Though "lives In The Balance" is a lot like the original, the album as a whole sounds like something I have to look into

[Beaverhausen]

7. Is that the one with Crosby and Nash on vocals?

[stellanoir]

12. dunno I've only heard it on the radio

http://mvyradio.com which is one of the only little indy stations left (aside from the college ones.)

It is streamed by all sorts of creatives world wide and has the song in heavy rotation. I blew all sorts of kids out of the high school parking lot blaring it when I was picking up my kid the other day. : )

Anything to counter the recruiters ya know?

[BattyDem]

11. Awesome! Thanks for the link!

:toast:

[lisby]

5. I've been playing that

on heavy rotation for about a year.

This verse says it all:


They sell us the President the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing 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 our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die

It almost makes me shiver.

:scared:

Lisby

[JohnnyRingo]

8. yes, "Browne"

...Darn spell-check police. Fine and release.
Hahaha

[JerseygirlCT]

9. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Unfortunately the song is every bit as current

now as when it was written -- during the Reagan years.

Very sad, commentary that.

He said in concert a couple of years ago that he'd started playing it again after his son asked him to do so.

[BattyDem]

10. I LOVE that song!

One of his best! It's amazing how it fits so well in today's world considering it was released in 1986.

[Neil Lisst]

13. Bush makes me think of another JB song.

Here come those tears, again.
Just when I was gettin over you


arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh