Jackson Brown has been one our finest songwriters since the seventies. He has a very unique voice and writes exceptional lyrics–it can’t hurt that, at one time, he, along with John David Souther and Glenn Frey and Don Henley (Eagles) all lived in the same apartment complex in Los Angeles. His best work–at least in my opinion–was that in very early period, the one that produced “Late for the Sky”, “The Pretender”, “Doctor My Eyes”, Fountain of Sorrow” and other Jackson Brown Classics. Today, the focus is on “Before the Deluge”. Jackson has always had a little bit of melancholy in his work, an underpinning of sadness in his outlook and lyrics, but that only adds to the depth of his music. Below, the lyrics for “Before the Deluge”, and above, a clip from a documentary on Jackson and his work, which features a performance of the song. Enjoy both.
And some of them were fools
Who were making plans and thinking of the future
With the energy of the innocent
They were gathering the tools
They would need to make their journey back to nature
While the sand slipped through the opening
And their hands reached for the golden ring
With their hearts they turned to each other’s heart for refuge
In the troubled years that came before the delugeSome of them knew pleasure
And some of them knew pain
And for some of them it was only the moment that mattered
And on the brave and crazy wings of youth
They went flying around in the rain
And their feathers, once so fine, grew torn and tattered
And in the end they traded their tired wings
For the resignation that living brings
And exchanged love’s bright and fragile glow
For the glitter and the rouge
And in the moment they were swept before the delugeNow let the music keep our spirits high
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal it’s secrets by and by
By and by…
When the light that’s lost within us reaches the sky
At the way the earth was abused
By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power
And they struggled to protect her from them
Only to be confused
By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour
And when the sand was gone and the time arrived
In the naked dawn only a few survived
And in attempts to understand a thing so simple and so huge
Believed that they were meant to live after the deluge
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal it’s secrets by and by
By and by…
When the light that’s lost within us reaches the sky”–written by Jackson Brown.
The Fine Print: Embed courtesy of our friends at YouTube. This video clip is from the DVD, “Jackson Brown: Going Home” . All rights reserved by their respective artists. We thank YouTube and Jackson for sharing. And remember–always listen deeply to music that you love.