Jackson Browne - “The Load Out/Stay”
It’s 3:30am, I just got off work and put Jackson Browne’s “Running On Empty” on the Hi-Fi. It’s shocking to me that this is his easily his most-loved album and best-selling album. It’s definitely not his best, but that’s not what’s shocking to me. At its core, we have a record that is written by a musician about musicians and the life they lead.
But then the album comes to “The Load Out” and an interpolation of the Doo-Wop classic by Maurice & The Zodiac’s “Stay.” This is when it all makes sense to me. Everybody wants to be musician. I don’t mean that in some childish way of wanting to be a rockstar and being knee-deep in money, fame and pussy, I mean that in a way that everybody craves what they view as an exotic lifestyle. But when it really sucks you in (and where this “shocking” statement ties together this) are the sobering moments of “The Load Out” which is what people really want. What’s so romantic about the life of a roadie making minumim wage and getting 0 recognition? What’s even more romantic still about driving 8 hours to the next show only to play for 45 minutes? It’s everything. We can all relate to this.
For most of us, we’ll never get recognition for working our asses off at whatever it is we do. Most of us are the people in the background, and even if we’re foreground characters, we take that backseat to the experience for the audience or co-workers or the customer. That’s why this album resonates so well with people.
“Running On Empty” is not about the glory or the guts of the musician, it’s about creating an understanding. You don’t have to be a musician to understand concepts like having people shit on you for pursuing what you believe in. You don’t have to be a roadie to know that sometimes the least glamourous positions are the most satisfying. You don’t even have to be a promoter to know that you gave people everything they ever wanted and you’ll never get a “thank you,” for it.
So there it sits. Right there as the final track. “The Load Out/Stay” exists as a depressive-manic moment. You have the first part which is dropping honesty on you unwaveringly and the second half which is playful because that’s also a part of this reality. In some ways, we’re all entertainers. We take it with us in our deepest of conversations and the most fun we’re having at a given moment.
And furthermore, we can seek solace in all of this because Browne and “the best group of sessions musicians” he’s ever worked with, so he states, let’s you in like an old friend. There are plenty of honest songs about living on the road (Bob Seger’s “Turn The Page” instantly comes to mind), but nobody can make it relate to anybody’s life the way Browne does here.
You simply don’t listen to “The Load Out,” you take it personally.
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whyamiinseminary said:
oh god that synth is the absolute worst. i know that your infinite love covers that synth, but they should have let that slide player do all the solos. this dude can write great songs, but on so many i feel like a full band doesn’t add anything.
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