Runnin' On Empty, Browne's 1978 live LP and ode to playing in a rock band on the road, was and still is one of my favorites from that bygone era. I was spinning records at radio stations when it came out. Besides the title track, several other tunes made it to station play lists including The Road, You Love the Thunder, and Loadout/Stay. AOR (album oriented radio) stations played the entire song list. This LP was that good.
It is a tad ironic that the song, Runnin' On Empty, may have spawned new meaning thirty years later. And I'm not talking about the gas crisis! I'm talking about us...crotchety, curmudeonly, grumpy, tired, old baby boomers. We're running out of juice. And even the most upbeat, positive-thinking, another-day-in-paradise-near-60 type has to admit as he or she rolls out of bed every morning..."I'm fuckin' tired!"
So, if anyone should be allowed to adopt a new rock and roll anthem, it should be us. And the song should be Runnin' On Empty! By the way, I will be voting for Obama if that has any relevance here.
If you get a chance to listen to the entire album, this whole thing may make more sense, especially the track titled Loadout/Stay. And don't think it has anything to do with carpooling or drilling for new oil off the Santa Barbara coast.
"Oh won't you stay...just a little bit longer...?"
We may be tired, but we ain't goin' anywhere just yet!
