Lyrics to
Shaky Town

This version of Shaky Town was released by Jackson Browne in 1977.

Our About Jackson Browne page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Shaky Town from 1977 as well as all of the other lyrics from Jackson Browne that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Jackson Browne or about the 1970s in general.

I’ve witnessed those one night stands
Must have played in a thousand bands
But I’m just here tonight, tomorrow I’ll be gone
Seen folks show their blacker sides
Seen them die just for foolish pride
And those drivers always ask to hear that same old song

That’s a big ten-four
From your back door
Just put that hammer down
This young man feels
Those eighteen wheels
That keep turning ’round to take me down to Shaky Town

I’ve heard all those hard luck tales
From all of you U.S. males
I’ve heard you tell those lies about the love you’ve know
And I’ve followed those highway signs
And I’ve run down those thin white lines
Like those drivers this old road is all I call my own

That’s a big ten-four
From your back door
Just put that hammer down
This young man feels
Those eighteen wheels
That keep turning ’round to take me down to Shaky Town

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Jackson Browne?

Jackson Browne has released many songs over the years besides Shaky Town. Jackson Browne released songs from 1967 to 2002 spanning across albums like The Nina Music Demo (Songs By Jackson Browne), Jackson Browne, For Everyman, Late For The Sky, The Pretender, Running On Empty, Hold Out, Lawyers In Love, Lives In The Balance, World In Motion, I'm Alive, Looking East, and The Naked Ride Home. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Jackson Browne.

If you're a fan of lyrics from 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1977 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Shaky Town by Jackson Browne

When you decide to study the lyrics to Shaky Town, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1977 song by Jackson Browne. Some of the lyrics to Shaky Town have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Jackson Browne and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to Shaky Town if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Shaky Town" means the words set to the music of Shaky Town, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Jackson Browne. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Shaky Town and the lyrics to Shaky Town are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Jackson Browne who came here looking just for the lyrics to Shaky Town, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Jackson Browne

Visit our Jackson Browne profile for more Jackson Browne songs, lyrics & info!

)