Here Come Those Tears Again

Album: The Pretender (1976)
Charted: 23
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Songfacts®:

  • In this song, Jackson Browne can't keep it together when his ex comes by. They've split, but she keeps coming back, only to break his heart into even more pieces. Now he hears her coming and he can already feel the tears.
  • This song embodies the sensitive singer-songwriter sound that was big in the 1970s. Not everyone was a fan: Elvis Costello did an interview in Musician magazine where he took umbrage with the "F--k me, I'm sensitive' Jackson Browne school of seduction."
  • "Here Come Those Tears Again" was the lead single from Jackson Browne's fourth album, The Pretender. It was a solid hit and helped the album sell over 3 million copies. Browne had a firm fanbase and was one one of the most sought-after songwriters in the game (he co-wrote the Eagles hit "Take It Easy"), but that didn't translate into huge sales figures until The Pretender. His next album, Running On Empty, was even bigger, selling over 7 million.
  • While he was working on the album, Browne lost his wife, Phyllis Major, to suicide. On "Here Come Those Tears Again," Major's mother, Nancy Farnsworth, is listed as Browne's co-writer. Understandably, Browne doesn't like talking about Major's death and hasn't spoken about this credit, so it's not clear if Farnsworth made a contribution to the song. Browne may have put her name on the track so she could earn royalties, or it's possible Major somehow inspired it so he credited her next-of-kin. Farnsworth doesn't have any other songwriting credits and there are no co-writers on any of the other tracks on the album.
  • Browne used a variety of top musicians on the album. The "Here Come Those Tears Again" guitar solo is by John Hall of the band Orleans - he and Browne have taken up political causes together, and in 2006, Hall was elected to Congress.

    Another big name on the song is Bonnie Raitt, who sings background vocals along with Rosemary Butler. The organist is Mike Utley of Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band. Session stalwarts round out the lineup:

    Jim Gordon - drums
    Bob Glaub - bass
    Fred Tackett - guitar
    Billy Payne - piano

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