Your Bright Baby Blues

Running 6:05, this song covers a lot of emotional ground, much of it dealing with Jackson Browne's personal life. Early in the song, he's trying to outrun his demons, but no matter where he goes, there he is: No matter how fast I run I can never seem to get away from me Later, he addresses a person who might be able to help: Baby you can free me All in the power of your sweet tenderness This could be Phyllis Major, mother to his son and his first wife. It appears she did have bright baby blue eyes. Major fell into a depression and died by suicide in 1976 as Browne was working on The Pretender album. This song was written and likely recorded before her death.

That's Lowell George on slide guitar and harmony vocals. Browne spent many nights getting loaded with the Little Feat leader, which he sings about near the end of this song: It's so hard to come by That feeling of peace This friend of mine said Close your eyes And try a few of these I thought I was flying like a bird Browne told Mojo: "There's a line in that song: 'Close your eyes and try a few of these.' That's exactly the way we turned each other on and gave each other drugs." Browne is godfather to Lowell's daughter, the singer Inara George. After Lowell died suddenly in 1979, Browne wrote a song about it adressed to Inara called "Of Missing Persons," which appears on his 1980 album Hold Out.

"Your Bright Baby Blues" wasn't released as a single but became one of Jackson Browne's most popular songs, played at many of his concerts. It's part of his fourth album, The Pretender, which has a timeless quality thanks to high production value and songs that explore the human condition. Browne brought in Jon Landau, known for his work with Bruce Springsteen, to produce the set.