These Days

Album: For Everyman (1973)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This sad, hurting song was originally written by Jackson Browne when he was just 16 years old in either 1964 or 1965. It appeared on a Browne demo in early 1967 under the title "I've Been Out Walking." Later in the same year it gained its first release when Andy Warhol's protégé Nico recorded it on her Chelsea Girl album, with Browne playing acoustic guitar. Other artists covered it over the following few years, including the Nitty Gritty Junk Band on their Rare Junk album and Tom Rush on his 1970 self-titled set.

    Browne himself recorded the song on his 1973 For Everyman LP, with an arrangement written by Gregg Allman (who also covered it around the same time on his Laid Back debut solo set). Browne's version differed from Nico's both in style and lyrics. In the latter case several lines were changed or omitted, such as a couple of lyrics about "rambling" and "gambling." This song has continued to be covered by a number of acts including Fountains of Wayne who used it as the B-side of their 1999 single "Troubled Times."
  • Browne was very young when he wrote this song, but even then he had a feel for heartbreak. Talking in a radio interview about the first breakup one endures, he said, "That came be the most formative time in your life. Trying to get through your early years is a harrowing experience for a lot of people."
  • Nico's version of the song has the original lyric:

    I've stopped my dreaming
    I won't do too much scheming


    When Browne released his version, he changed it to the much more hopeful:

    I'll keep on moving, moving on
    Things are bound to be improving these days


    "Over the rest of my teenage years and into my 20s I developed a kind of optimism, a kind of resoluteness, so I changed it to 'I'll keep on moving, keep improving,'" he said. "That's more to me what life is made of, the idea that I'll get through this, I'll continue looking."
  • Nico's version featured in the 2001 film The Royal Tenebaums. Browne later recalled on KGSR Radio Austin that he'd forgotten that he'd licensed them to use this song. He explained: "This is one of those things that comes to you in the mail and you don't know what they're talking about and you simply give them their permission. You're sitting in the movie theater and there's this great moment when Gwyneth Paltrow is coming out of a bus or something like that. I'm thinking to myself, I used to play the guitar just like that. And then the voice comes on and it's Nico singing 'These Days,' which I played on."

Comments: 5

  • Rockynot from TennesseeThe line is “…I had not forgotten them”
  • Eddie from Braselton, GeorgiaAmazing that he wrote this at age 16. Talk about an old soul, it sounds like he's got 50 years of pain behind him.
  • Talena from Arcata, Ca"Don't confront me with my failures, I have not forgotten them."
    Too true, my friend, too true.
  • Barry from New York, NcGregg Allman plays this song a lot in concert. Also there's a nice version on his LAID BACK lp.
  • Carolyn from St Pete, FlHe also said he played electic guitar (not acoustic)on the song because Andy Warhol wanted her (Nico's)version to sound more modern.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

James Bond Theme Songs

James Bond Theme SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the 007 theme songs?

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)

Dexys (Kevin Rowland and Jim Paterson)Songwriter Interviews

"Come On Eileen" was a colossal '80s hit, but the band - far more appreciated in their native UK than stateside - released just three albums before their split. Now, Dexys is back.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," Kiss

Director Paul Rachman on "Hunger Strike," "Man in the Box," KissSong Writing

After cutting his teeth on hardcore punk videos, Paul defined the grunge look with his work on "Hunger Strike" and "Man in the Box."

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."