Jackson Browne CD signing in New York City, September 24, 2008. When I thanked him for writing some of the best protest songs in the California folk tradition, he said he didn't like categorizations. "But Dylan once said that all his songs are protest songs," I told Browne, who smiled and signed a copy of "Time the Conqueror," which contains "Where Were You":
"Where were you when you realized
However strong, however wise
However true our leaders appear to be
They talk about prosperity
However hard this country strives
When property is valued more than lives
How strong will we ever really be
How long do we imagine we’ll be free."
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Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders performing at Roseland in New York City, January 30, 2009. She's someone who has time and again picked herself up after experiencing adversity, and continued, no matter what others said, to create her art. I think of her as living out William Blake's imperative, "I must Create a System, or be enslav'd by another Mans."
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