[Still In That Balance] -- Forty years ago this week, singer-songwriter Jackson Browne released Lives In The Balance. It was his eighth studio album, but his first record with overtly political themes. He questions cultural imperialism, denounces US foreign policy, laments rampant poverty, and wonders about the fragile state of the so-called American Dream.
In "For America", the album's first track and first single, Browne admits his previous indifference to social issues, singing "I went on speaking of the future, While other people fought and bled." This anti-war track, begging for the country to wake up in time, peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the US Billboard Top Rock Tracks charts. Turns out, this would be Browne's last Top 40 hit in the US, but at least he went out with a salient message.
Although the album was heavy on politics and social commentary, Browne didn't forget human bonds and feelings. His second single, "In The Shape Of A Heart", addressed how death ends a relationship, but not the love shared in it. This song was for and about Phyllis Major, Browne's first wife, who died in March 1976 of a drug overdose. Browne must have emotionally connected with his fans because "In The Shape Of A Heart" reached #70 on US Billboard Hot 100 while also peaking at #10 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary and #15 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock charts.
The album's title track was released as the album's third single, and it peaked at #33 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. The message of this song was dark and starkly political: A country lying to its people for the business of war. The song focused on "the wrongheadedness of US foreign policy," particularly in regards to Central America [Jimmy Gutterman in Rolling Stone].
Lives In The Balance peaked at #23 on the US Billboard 200 and #36 on the UK Albums chart. It also reached into the top 50 of several other charts around the globe. And although the album received positive reviews, many of which focused favorably on its political direction, Lives In The Balance was not as commercially successful as Browne's previous releases.
Still, Browne didn't fret about popularity or commercial appeal. He had achieved his goal of linking the personal with the political. 40 years later, we see Jackson Browne was both a poet and something of a prophet with this record. Lives are still in the balance, as is the very soul of our nation.
"Browne didn't place an image of the Statue of Liberty on the cover of his album just so he could jump on the Rambo express. He implies throughout the album that, like the statue, we're all weather-beaten and in need of some reconstruction" [Jimmy Gutterman, Rolling Stone, April 1986].
Flashback: Lives In The Balance (February 18, 1986)
And that's all till next week. Dedicated 80s-philes can find more flashbacks in the Prophet or Madman archives or via Bookended's 80s Flashback tag. As always, your comments are welcome on today's, or any other, flashback post. And if you like what I'm doing here, please share the link with your friends. If, however, you don't like the flashback, feel free to share it with your enemies.
See you in seven!
