"For Everyman" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 30 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he had his ...

. It is the title track to his second album ''

For Everyman ''For Everyman'' is the second album by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, released in 1973 (see 1973 in music). The album peaked at number 43 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and the single " Redneck Friend" reached number 85 on the ''B ...

'', released in 1973.

Origin

Shortly after releasing his first album, Browne left

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where he'd grown up. He moved to the Bay Area of California where he looked for a house. He was invited to live with

David Crosby David Van Cortlandt Crosby (August 14, 1941 – January 18, 2023) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He first found fame as a member of the Byrds, with whom he helped pioneer the genres of folk rock and psychedelic music, psych ...

on Crosby's boat, ''

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

''. He stayed there several months, not finding a home to rent or purchase, before going on tour to support his recently finished and released album.VH1 Storytellers Classics 2000 While staying with Crosby, Browne was introduced to two of Crosby's neighbors, who also owned boats. The two friends along with Crosby, often talked about fulfilling their idyllic dream of simply sailing off into the "sunset," presumably somewhere to the South Pacific. This was just a couple of years after

Crosby, Stills & Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) was a folk rock supergroup comprising the American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and the English-American singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by the Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Youn ...

had released their single "

Wooden Ships "Wooden Ships" is a song written and composed by David Crosby, Paul Kantner, and Stephen Stills and recorded both by Crosby, Stills & Nash and by Kantner with Jefferson Airplane. It was written and composed in 1968 in Fort Lauderdale, Flori ...

" that contains the same theme. Crosby stated that the songwriters "imagined ourselves as the few survivors, escaping on a boat to create a new civilization."DeCurtis, Anthony. Rolling Stone
Hall of Fame Review
''

'', Aug. 5, 1999.DeCurtis, Anthony. Rolling Stone
Hall of Fame Review
''

'', Aug. 5, 1999. Browne admits that the dreamers were in a bit of a "fog," and composed his song as a response to their unrealizable dream. On his album '' Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1'', Browne relays the story that the song was written "having spent some time with some people who were planning to sail away... I mean, and they had the boats to do it in, they knew what they were doing, they kinda had it all planned... Well, I won't say that they knew what they were doing, but they had a plan." As

Anthony DeCurtis Anthony DeCurtis (born June 25, 1951) is an American author and music critic, who has written for ''Rolling Stone,'' ''The New York Times'', '' Relix'' and many other publications. Career DeCurtis is a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', ...

told it in a 1999 retrospective album review of ''For Everyman,'' "The title track of Jackson Browne's second album, ''For Everyman,'' was a response to the escapist vision of Crosby, Stills and Nash's 'Wooden Ships.' As violence, fear and paranoia overtook Sixties utopianism, 'Wooden Ships' (written by Crosby and Stills, along with

Paul Kantner Paul Lorin Kantner (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and a secondary vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture of ...

of the

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

) imagined a kind of hipster exodus by sea from a straight world teetering on the edge of apocalypse: 'We are leaving/You don't need us,' the song declared. Browne wasn't giving up so easily... (He) sings in his characteristic long, fluid lines:" :''Everybody I talk to is ready to leave with the light of the morning.'' :''They've seen the end coming down long enough to believe that they've heard their last warning...'' :''But all my fine dreams, well-thought-out schemes to gain the motherland'' :''Have all eventually come down to waiting for Everyman.'' "Deliverance must come for everyone, Browne insisted, not just hippie troubadours," wrote DeCurtis. Browne entitled the song "For Everyman," taking the name for his song from the name of a boat that had sailed to the South Pacific to protest the testing of nuclear weapons in the early 1960s. Crosby sings harmony on the song.

Reception

In her 1973 review of the album, Janet Maslin went straight to the title track as key on his second album of "inwardly panoramic songwriting of an apocalyptic bent:" "'For Everyman' is a more thoughtful, less impetuous reworking of ' Rock Me on the Water;' both songs provide visions of the apocalypse, but this time the image is significantly altered. 'Rock Me' was a fiery youthful fantasy shot through with contempt (and) dreams of escape... 'For Everyman' presents the crisis in gentler terms ... and offers an impassioned discerner of special wisdom ('I'm not trying to tell you that I've seen the plan/Turn and walk away if you think I am'). Most notably, the renegade spirit who once dreamed of being bathed by 'the sisters of the sun' while everything around him went up in flames is now ready to be left behind on the eve of the exodus — 'holding sand ... weighing all my fine dreams, well thought-out schemes ...,' and realizing that this time patience may make more sense than flight." Critiquing the music, she wrote that she felt the song had one of the best arrangements on the album, describing how it "begins and ends with a low rumble from Russ Kunkel, then bursts out into a high-spirited release that mirrors the spirit of the song's resolution, simultaneously joyful and cautious."

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes of '' The Very Best of Jackson Browne''. *

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar *

– harmony vocals *

Craig Doerge Craig Doerge (; born December 4, 1944) is an American keyboard player, session musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known for his keyboard work with Crosby Stills and Nash, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne. Biography He was born in ...

– piano *

Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Cass Elliot, Dan Fo ...

– drums * David Lindley – acoustic guitar, electric guitar *

Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. He rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coalesced into a group in its own right, The Section, which supported so many of Asylu ...

– bass guitar *

Michael Utley Michael Edward Utley (born 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and was the musical director and keyboard player for Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. After Buffett's death he retired from touring and was replaced by his ...

–

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

Style

On the studio album, the song "For Everyman" is joined, through a crossfade, to the song preceding it, "Sing My Songs to Me." This same structure is also used to join the first two songs on the album: "

Take It Easy "Take It Easy" is the debut single by the American rock band Eagles, written by Jackson Browne and Eagles band member Glenn Frey, who also provides lead vocals. It was released on May 1, 1972, and peaked at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...

" plays into "Our Lady of the Well." Browne, rarely, if ever, plays "Sing My Songs to Me" in concert when playing "For Everyman."

References

{{Jackson Browne 1973 singles Songs written by Jackson Browne Folk rock songs Songs about nuclear war and weapons Song recordings produced by Jackson Browne