"For A Dancer": Life Lessons In Jackson Browne's Lyrics

June 09, 2025 00:05:12
"For A Dancer": Life Lessons In Jackson Browne's Lyrics
Heart Banter by David Gittlin
"For A Dancer": Life Lessons In Jackson Browne's Lyrics

Jun 09 2025 | 00:05:12

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Show Notes

Jackson Browne wrote “For A Dancer” in memory of a modern dancer friend who died tragically in a fire. When Jackson’s wife, the model Phyllis Major, died suddenly in 1976, “For A Dancer” mysteriously took on a new meaning. “That’s how songs work,” Brown said in an interview. “They migrate into other parts of your life and other experiences.”

Browne eventually played the song at the funerals of two other celebrity friends. And if one listens to the lyrics closely, “For A Dancer” becomes a larger commentary on the intransience of life itself. We cling to it like a thread.

To me, the larger meaning underscores the necessity of using every precious moment wisely. Here’s my cover.

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Episode Transcript

[00:00:12] Keep a fire burning in your eyes. [00:00:18] Pay attention to the open skies. [00:00:23] You never know what will be coming down. [00:00:35] I don't remember losing track of you. [00:00:41] You were always dancing in and out of you. [00:00:47] I must have always thought you'd be around. [00:00:59] Always keeping things real by playing the fl. Wow. [00:01:06] Now you know where to be found. [00:01:21] I don't know what happens when people die. [00:01:27] Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try. [00:01:32] It's like a song I can hear playing right in my ear that I can't sing. [00:01:40] I can't help listening. [00:01:44] I can't help feeling stupid. Standing around crying as they sit you down. [00:01:56] Cuz I know that you'd rather we were dancing. [00:02:04] Dancing our sorrows away. [00:02:12] Right on dancing. [00:02:19] Just do the steps that you've been shown. [00:02:24] By everyone you ever know. [00:02:34] Until dance becomes your very. [00:02:40] No matter how close to yours your other steps have grown. [00:02:53] In the end there is one dance you do alone. [00:03:12] Keep a fire for the human race. [00:03:17] Let your prayers go drifting out into space. [00:03:23] You never know what will be coming down. [00:03:35] Perhaps a better world is drawing near. [00:03:41] Just as easy could all disappear. [00:03:47] Along with whatever meaning might have found. [00:03:59] Don't let the uncertainty turn you around. [00:04:06] Go out and make a joyful sound. [00:04:12] Into a dancer where you have grown. [00:04:18] Go see somebody else's song. [00:04:27] Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own in somewhere between the time you arrive and the time you go. [00:04:49] Maybe a reason you were alive. [00:04:54] You never know.

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