"Lives in the Balance" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

, the title track of his 1986 album, ''

Lives in the Balance ''Lives in the Balance'' is the eighth album by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, released in 1986 (see 1986 in music). It reached number 23 on The ''Billboard'' 200 chart. The title track as well as " For America" and " In the Shape of ...

''. A live version is also found on Browne's '' Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1''. The song is written in the key of

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the cont ...

with a rate of 138 BPMs. The song has a dark theme and lyrically it is about, “A country lying to its people and war.”

History

Months before the Iran-contra scandal broke in the press, according to the 1989 ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' article "The 100 Best Albums of the Eighties," Browne sang on "Lives in the Balance" of wanting "'to know who the men in the shadows are/I want to hear somebody asking them why.' After the arms-for-hostages deals hit the news, the increased public awareness of the U.S. government's covert war in Nicaragua prompted Browne to produce and pay for a video for 'Lives in the Balance' well after the album had passed its peak in terms of sales. Discussing the song at the time of the video's release, Browne said, 'I imply that the truth is kept from us on a regular basis. I flat out say the government lies. Well, these things are no longer heresy.'" Released only as a U.S. 12" promo and as a 7" single in Germany, in 1986 the song was associated with American policies in Central America, but within the context of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the song received new life as a single in 2005 when a live version was released from Browne's Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1 album.Paris, Russ
JACKSON BROWNE COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY.
The song, Mark Coleman says in the Rolling Stone Record Guide, "is a cutting slice of social observation," as demonstrated in the chorus: :''There are lives in the balance'' :''There are people under fire'' :''There are children at the cannons'' :''And there is blood on the wire.'' Jimmy Guterman, in his 1986 ''Rolling Stone'' review of the ''

'' album, wrote approvingly of the lyrics of the song: "For Browne, our crimes in Central America are the clearest example of the wrongheadedness of U.S. foreign policy. 'Who are the ones that we call our friends?' Browne asks on the scathingly trenchant 'Lives in the Balance' and sadly answers himself: 'Governments killing their own.'"Guterman, Jimmy. ''Rolling Stone,'
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''..html" ;"title="Lives in the Balance">Review of ''Lives in the Balance
''.">Lives in the Balance">Review of ''Lives in the Balance
''.April 10, 1986. Accessed July 14, 2012. The song includes musical support, as Guterman noted, from members of Sangre Machehual, a Los Angeles Nueva Canción group. The band thought it was a prank when Browne called them up and asked them if they would play on the album, according to member Hugo Pedroza. Pedroza plays [ harango and

tiple A tiple (, literally treble or soprano), is a plucked typically 12-string chordophone of the guitar family. A tiple player is called a ''tiplista''. The first mention of the tiple comes from musicologist Pablo Minguet e Irol in 1752. Although ma ...

, Jorge Strunz plays

nylon string guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

, and Quique Cruz plays

zampoña Siku ( qu, antara, ay, siku, also "sicu," "sicus," "zampolla" or Spanish language, Spanish zampoña) is a traditional Andes, Andean panpipe. This instrument is the main instrument used in a musical genre known as sikuri. It is traditionally ...

. Percussionist Deborah Dobkin and actress

Mindy Sterling Mindy Lee Sterling (born July 11, 1953) is an American television, film and voice actress. She portrayed Frau Farbissina in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and starred in the web series ''Con Man'', the latter of which earned her a Primetime ...

provide harmony vocals.

Personnel

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar, sequencer * Jorge Strunz – nylon string guitar * Hugo Pedroza – charango, triple *

Bill Payne William H. Payne (born March 12, 1949) is an American pianist who, with Lowell George, co-founded the American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other rock pianists, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano roc ...

– synthesizer *

Bob Glaub Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...

– bass guitar *

Russ Kunkel Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Da ...

– drums * Quique Cruz – zampoña *Déborah Dobkin, Mindy Sterling – harmony vocals

Other appearances

The song was used in two separate episodes of the ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann (director), Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo ...

'', "Stone's War" in 1986, and "Freefall" in 1989, the final episode of the series.Internet Movie Database
IMDb Jackson Browne soundtrack credits.
/ref> The song also appears in the

Bill Moyers Bill Moyers (born Billy Don Moyers, June 5, 1934) is an American journalist and political commentator. Under the Johnson administration he served from 1965 to 1967 as the eleventh White House Press Secretary. He was a director of the Counci ...

television documentary ''The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis'', which aired in 1987.

Cover versions

Third World The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...

covered the song on their 1992 album ''Committed''. *

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk, soul (both of which he frequently covered), and rhythm and blues. He had a rhythmic guitar style ...

– ''Cuts to the Chase'', 1994. *

Judie Tzuke Judie Tzuke ( ; born Judie Myers, 3 April 1956) is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1979 hit " Stay with Me till Dawn", which reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. Life and career Early life Tzuke's family relocated ...

– ''Universal Soldiers'' various artists compilation, 1999. * Fred Martin & the Levite Camp did a version of the song on their 2006 album ''Some Bridges'' that features an extra verse added by Martin. *

Holly Near Holly Near (born June 6, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, teacher, and activist. Early years Holly Near was born in Ukiah, California, United States, and was raised on a ranch in Potter Valley, California. She was eight years o ...

– ''Show Up,'' 2006.Allmusic.com.
/ref>

Chart positions

References