|
 His new album "Standing in the Breach" shows he has not given
up the struggle. Gun control, bankers' greed and environmental
destruction are all targets for his ire.
"You don't know why/but you still try/for the world you wish to
see," he sings on the title track.
But there's also plenty of room for other matters on the album,
which Rolling Stone magazine called "superb, inspiring".
"It's pretty hard to look at what's going on in the world and
not make some reference to what's happening politically because
it affects us all so much,” Browne told Reuters.
"Songs are a good place to express your beliefs, your hopes, or
for that matter your doubts."
He was speaking at the start of a European tour which includes a
sell-out date at London's Royal Albert Hall.
But for a few wrinkles, Browne, now aged 65, has hardly changed
in looks from the prodigy who emerged on the early 1970s
California scene which included Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills
and Nash.
He was closely associated with the Eagles in their early days,
co-writing with Glenn Frey their hit "Take it Easy". That song
is referenced in one track – "Leaving Winslow," about a hobo
riding the rails, based on characters Browne met as a kid.
Early albums such as "For Everyman" and "Late for the Sky" were
highly personal. He took an overtly political turn with 1986's
"Lives in The Balance" at the height of the United States'
controversial involvement in Central America's wars. It divided
fans, some of whom only wanted more songs of lost love.
Browne said he had always been political but his earlier songs
focused more on his own life.
[to top of second column] |
"In my mid-teens, I was active in civil rights. Where I went to
school (in Orange County, California) was pretty conservative. The
revered people in my household were black jazz musicians and gypsy
guitarists - Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Django Reinhardt.
So when I went into these classrooms I was like from another planet.
I got kicked out of one class."
His father had him canvassing votes for Lyndon Johnson.
"Of course, Johnson won and then bombed Vietnam. So there was a
political education in that," he said.
"Standing in the Breach" also features a song "Walls and Doors" by
his friend Carlos Varela, the Cuban singer. The two met in Havana
some 10 years ago and spent an evening playing each other's songs in
his room at the Hotel Nacional.
"The room kind of filled up with people translating them. Carlos'
songs explain what life is like in Cuba. The explanation would go on
and other people would join in, like having a group discussion."
Varela later appeared on stage with Browne in Europe but it was
years before he could make it the United States due to Washington's
embargo on the Communist-ruled island - a policy Browne strongly
opposes.
At this stage of the game, Browne said he hoped to offer some hope
and enthusiasm to a new generation. As for speaking out: "I still
feel the need to, now more than ever."
(Editing by Michael Roddy/Jeremy Gaunt)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
