On rare occasions when I used to review albums for AUK I’d think “this is a 10” but before long a creeping thought would always enter my mind – that whatever record it was, it wasn’t as good as Jackson Browne’s ‘Late For the Sky’. Jackson Browne described the song as being “about a moment when you realize that something has changed, it’s over, and you’re late for wherever you’re going to be next.” So not just about missing a plane, and it has aged not one jot in 46 years. Thank the lucky stars that a songwriter like JB is still around.
Songs for the apocalypse: Jackson Browne “Late For the Sky”
Mark,
I don’t think that we have met. I attend a load of AMA/UK events and have a lot of friends that I am sure you will know.
I just want to say how much I enjoyed this article given that it mirrors my exact sentiments. I have seen JB countless times since I first saw him in Glasgow in 1976 (support act – Warren Zevon.)
His songs have helped me through some of the most difficult periods in my life. I’m Alive got me through a painful divorce.
I always return to Late For The Sky, however. Along with Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks it is without doubt head and shoulders above any other piece of recorded work
Ken
Thanks for those lovely comments Ken!
love it, yes it sums up a place or time when things change and your alone. its the benchmark from which all other albums are measured..Brilliant! check out Gavin Sutherlands “silver and gold” a rare gem , which was passed by. Up there with Blood on the tracks, Court and Spark and Moondance… songwriting that includes divorce, Stoke and the Salvation Army!