For this week’s Song Lyric Sunday prompt, Helen Vahdati selected “drive/driving” as the theme. I’m a big fan of both Jackson Browne and of the Eagles, so choosing the song “Take it Easy,” written by Browne and the Eagles’ Glenn Frey, was an easy choice for me.
“Take It Easy” was the Eagles’ first single, released in May 1972. Frey sang lead vocals. It peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also was the opening track on the band’s debut album, Eagles. Jackson Browne later recorded the song as the lead track on his second album, For Everyman, in 1973. He also released it as a single.
Browne started writing this song for his first album, but he didn’t know how to finish it. At the time, he was living in an apartment in Los Angeles, and his upstairs neighbor was Glenn Frey, who needed songs for his new band, the Eagles. Frey heard Browne working on the song and told Jackson that he thought it was great. Browne said he was having trouble completing the track, and played what he had of it. Browne then played the unfinished second verse that begins with “Well, I’m a-standin’ on a corner in Winslow, Arizona…,” and Frey finished the verse with “Such a fine sight to see. It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin’ down to take a look at me.”
Browne turned the song over to Frey, who finished writing it and recorded it with the Eagles. Frey says that Browne did most of the work on the song and was very generous in sharing the writing credit. He described Browne’s unfinished version of the song as a “package without the ribbon.”
I’m including the Eagles’ version as well as Jackson Browne’s in this post.
Here are the song’s lyrics:
Well, I’m running down the road
tryin’ to loosen my load
I’ve got seven women on
my mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she’s a friend of mine
Take It easy, take it easy
Don’t let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
don’t even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
and take it easy
Well, I’m a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
It’s a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin’ down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don’t say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me
We may lose and we may win though
we will never be here again
so open up, I’m climbin’ in,
so take it easy
Well I’m running down the road trying to loosen
my load, got a world of trouble on my mind
lookin’ for a lover who won’t blow my
cover, she’s so hard to find
Take it easy, take it easy
don’t let the sound of your own
wheels make you crazy
come on baby, don’t say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me, oh oh oh
Oh we got it easy
We oughta take it easy
This, That, and the Other 
hear hear
happy sunday and thanks for the jams my blog friend
refreshing as eagles playing now
peace
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One.of my favorites! Thanks for sharing “It’s a girl my lord in flat bed Ford” Great lyrics.
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I like both versions, so hard to choose.
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Me too. I may be slightly partial to Jackson Browne’s, although only very slightly.
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Nice choice, I almost went with this song too. A classic!!
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I went to see/hear Poco “recently” (maybe a year ago). They told a few stories involving these people and others in the milieu. Had fun.
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Wow, I didn’t know Poco was still together, much less still performing.
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Oh, my. Look up the “Happy Together Tour” — I’ll be at that before the summer’s over. I was listening to some of the music, today, and started crying. This is more my style yet.
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I’m very familiar with the Eagles version, but I hadn’t heard Browne’s version. I honestly like it almost as much as the Eagles. Thanks so much for sharing!
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I enjoy both versions.
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I looked them up on YouTube today. I’m not sure how many of the individuals I saw have been with the group for a long time. One has been, for sure — Rusty Young. The others with him were George Lawrence, Michael Webb, and Jack Sundrud.
POCO “The Induction” 2015 (Furay, Young, Schmit, Cotton, Grantham)
Apparently, they are an outfit variously fitting folk, rock, country…
You Better Think Twice from Poco Reunion Maverick Show
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD “I AM A CHILD/KIND WOMAN” 24-10-2010
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Note: I attempted to reply with my 4:37pm directly below you’re 12:59pm (hope it turns out that way), Fandango… not as a later subject matter.
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No worries. I knew what it was in reference to.
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Love your choice! I never knew Jackson Browne co-wrote this or that he put it on his album. I might like his version better then the Eagles’.
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I remember when that was played on the radio all the time and I sang along. One of the nice memories.
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A great classic. Nice pick!
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I didn’t like the song, because of its starting beat.
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There’s no accounting for taste.
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Also an Eagles fan
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First time (as far as I can recall) that I have ever heard the Jackson Browne version, it is good but I am a big Eagles fan.
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I, too, am a big Eagles fan. But I also am a big Jackson Browne fan. So to me, it’s a toss-up.
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