. .
The Valentine theme got this weblawger thinking for the first time in years about Jackson’s Browne’s 1983 song Lawyers in Love, from the album of the same name. Browne’s 1977 anthem Running on Empty, appeared during my first year practicing law, and captured the out-of-control fatigue of the anxious neophyte in a high-powered, government job.
Only six years later, the cynicism and “strangled cries” of Lawyers in Love, which marked Browne’s transition from the realm of the personal lyric to the political, again fit the mood of this journeyman lawyer, jaded by the do-nothing enforcement policies of the Reagan White House, and by a ball-and-chain career that had lost its glow but refused to release its grasp on me.
In each of those years, my heart had been broken by a brilliant and beautiful lawyer (not the same one), just before Valentine’s Day. That saved me an expensive night on the town and a hefty bill for flowers, but left me wondering whether any part of my life would ever be fulfilling or fulfilled. [violins, please]
Over two decades have passed since I drove around DC and Northern Virginia in my aging VW Rabbit singing “Lawyers in Love,” smiling at the adolescent double entendre of “Rosie,” and enjoying a full 90 minutes of recorded-for-personal-use songs by Jackson Browne. Tonight’s Google search for “Lawyers in Love” — which was sparked by the question, “Did anyone ever write a song called ‘Old Lawyers in Love'” [apparently not] — brought me the news that Jackson Browne will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March (along with the Dells, George Harrison, Prince, Bob Seger, Traffic and Z.Z. Top).
I’m pleased that Browne’s career as a singer-songwriter is being celebrated, and I hope he’s loved his life’s work and found his life’s love. My legal career didn’t turn out to be particularly inspiring or fulfilling, but it did offer a lot of challenges, successes and meaningful relationships. And, it has now morphed into this rewarding soapbox and scrapbook.
Some of my early readers may remember that I posted a Personal Ad here last July: ISO: “Attractive Nuisance” Blawgger. I must report that the ad has yielded no prospects for a weblogging mate or a Valentine’s date. The result is this plaintive haiku:
Feb. 14 . . .
mailbox filled with cards
from relatives
…….[dag, 02-13-04]
But, Spring hopes eternal, and I’m thinking I might awaken in the morning with a romantic poem on the tip of my fingers. If I do, you’ll be the first to know.
Meanwhile, may you all feel loved and appreciated on this Valentine’s Day!
And, a special tip of the hat to my weblawgging friend and the light of his life out there in California. Save a toast for me. It’s good to see that Old Lawyers in Love is not just a rejected song title.
The recent book “Songbook” by Nick Hornby of “About a Boy” fame has a chapter on Jackson Browne. “Songbook” is a memoir about Hornby’s favorite songs, and he writes that he missed out on Jackson Browne the first time around: “my musical microclimate was way too ferocious to accommodate delicate Californian flowers” like Jackson Browne . . . But then Hornby rediscovers Browne in later life, etc. I wouldn’t recommend the book necessarily, but your post on Jackson Browne, in addition what I read in the Hornby book last month, makes me want to take another listen. (My preferences in the singer-songwriter style of pop music lean towards Elvis Costello, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen).
Comment by Evan — February 15, 2004 @ 9:26 am