Still Looking For Something

Even at 72, Jackson Browne was still looking for something, which he expresses on this track. A theme of this song is acceptance. "Acceptance doesn't mean defeat," Browne says. "It means being truthful to one's self."

Browne finds himself metaphorically whittling away his dreams down to shavings: The sharp edges of the world will whittle Your dreams down to shavings at your feet Gonna do my best not to settle I know it's gonna test my mettle Speaking with Paul Ingles, he explained: "You can work on something and be so involved in the minutia that you whittle it down to nothing. Your dream gets smaller and smaller. But what I like about that metaphor is the sharp edges: life knocks a lot of the corners off of you as you go along. There's a determination in that song to renew yourself and find something you're passionate about - not settle. And it's alright if you don't find it right now."

"Still Looking For Something" is the opening track from Browne's 15th album, Downhill From Everywhere, his first in seven years. He started working on the song years earlier, but it took him a long time to figure out exactly what he wanted the song to describe. "'Still Looking For Something' is a song I was trying to write years ago, but I didn't know what I was talking about," Browne told Uncut magazine. "Even as a child you have expectations and dreams, an inward relief about what life is supposed to be. Then you find out the truth as you go along. I needed to live it more, until I'd finally lived it enough to where I'm really at that place."