"Boulevard" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne. It is from his 1980 album Hold Out. When it was released as a single, it entered the BillboardHot 100 chart at position number 72 on July 5, 1980. It peaked at number 19 and spent 16 weeks on the chart, the fifth-biggest hit of Browne's Top 40 career. Besides the United States, the song was also released as a single in Spain, Japan, the U.K., Italy and Germany.[1][2][3][4] In Canada, "Boulevard" reached number four.[5]
Browne said in a radio interview: "It's about runaways, and, you know... as sort of a bystander, it's about Hollywood Boulevard. I used to live right above Hollywood Boulevard, and there's a place called The Gold Cup and there's a lot of runaway kids and there's a lot of teen prostitution around there. It was partly written from the point of view of a young person on that street, yet it's not really immersed in that. You're sort of, maybe, empathizing with them to some degree, and also trying to say 'it's only time.' It's time on the boulevard, but this doesn't mean this is who you are and where you'll always be, I guess was what I was trying to say..."[6]
The hearts are hard and the times are tough.
Down on the boulevard, the night's enough.
And time passes slow,
Between the store front shadows and the street lights glow.
Everybody walks right by like they're safe or something ...
They don't know —
The song begins with, and is structured around, a loud electric guitar riff. According to the album liner notes, Rick Marotta guests on drums on this one song. Russ Kunkel is credited with playing drums on all other songs on the album. Danny Kortchmar adds maracas.
Reactionedit
In his review of the Hold Out album, Robert Christgau said of "Boulevard," putting it into the context of the then-emergent punk music scene: "...but I wonder whether the lost kids (i.e., Lost Kids) in 'Boulevard' wear mohawks, and whether JB will ever find it in himself to sing to them."[7]
Cash Box said that it has "hard ridin' lead and rhythm guitar work" and "bashing, slashing drum and percussion."[8]Record World said that "a razor-edged guitar whips up an irresistible melody line" and "a fervent chorus backs [Browne's] distinctive vocal."[9]
^. RPM. Archived from the original on 2016-04-25. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
^Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN0-89820-142-X.
^. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
January 01, 1970
boulevard, song, boulevard, song, written, performed, american, singer, songwriter, jackson, browne, from, 1980, album, hold, when, released, single, entered, billboard, chart, position, number, july, 1980, peaked, number, spent, weeks, chart, fifth, biggest, . Boulevard is a song written and performed by American singer songwriter Jackson Browne It is from his 1980 album Hold Out When it was released as a single it entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart at position number 72 on July 5 1980 It peaked at number 19 and spent 16 weeks on the chart the fifth biggest hit of Browne s Top 40 career Besides the United States the song was also released as a single in Spain Japan the U K Italy and Germany 1 2 3 4 In Canada Boulevard reached number four 5 Boulevard Autographed 7 Picture SleeveSingle by Jackson Brownefrom the album Hold OutB side Call It A Loan ReleasedJune 1980RecordedAutumn 1979 Spring 1980GenreRockLength3 15LabelAsylum RecordsSongwriter s Jackson BrowneProducer s Jackson Browne and Greg LadanyiJackson Browne singles chronology You Love The Thunder 1978 Boulevard 1980 That Girl Could Sing 1980 Contents 1 Origin 2 Reaction 3 Later uses 4 Chart performance 4 1 Weekly charts 4 2 Year end charts 5 NotesOrigin editBrowne said in a radio interview It s about runaways and you know as sort of a bystander it s about Hollywood Boulevard I used to live right above Hollywood Boulevard and there s a place called The Gold Cup and there s a lot of runaway kids and there s a lot of teen prostitution around there It was partly written from the point of view of a young person on that street yet it s not really immersed in that You re sort of maybe empathizing with them to some degree and also trying to say it s only time It s time on the boulevard but this doesn t mean this is who you are and where you ll always be I guess was what I was trying to say 6 The hearts are hard and the times are tough Down on the boulevard the night s enough And time passes slow Between the store front shadows and the street lights glow Everybody walks right by like they re safe or something They don t know The song begins with and is structured around a loud electric guitar riff According to the album liner notes Rick Marotta guests on drums on this one song Russ Kunkel is credited with playing drums on all other songs on the album Danny Kortchmar adds maracas Reaction editIn his review of the Hold Out album Robert Christgau said of Boulevard putting it into the context of the then emergent punk music scene but I wonder whether the lost kids i e Lost Kids in Boulevard wear mohawks and whether JB will ever find it in himself to sing to them 7 Cash Box said that it has hard ridin lead and rhythm guitar work and bashing slashing drum and percussion 8 Record World said that a razor edged guitar whips up an irresistible melody line and a fervent chorus backs Browne s distinctive vocal 9 Later uses editThis song was heard in the 1990 pilot for the TV series Beverly Hills 90210 10 Chart performance editWeekly charts edit Chart 1980 Peakposition Canada RPM 11 4 U S Billboard Hot 100 19 U S Cash Box Top 100 13 Year end charts edit Chart 1980 Rank Canada 12 31 US Joel Whitburn s Pop Annual 13 124 US Cash Box 14 87Notes edit Paris Russ JACKSON BROWNE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Archived April 24 2012 at the Wayback Machine Paris Russ JACKSON BROWNE COMPLETE DISCOGRAPHY Archived 2012 02 25 at the Wayback Machine Accessed July 9 2012 Wikipedia Jackson Browne Discography Whitburn Joel Billboard Hot 100 Charts The Eighties Wisconsin Record Research 1991 Image RPM Weekly Library and Archives Canada 17 July 2013 Paris Russ The Jackson Browne Fans Page Jackson Browne Audio Interview Archived 2012 05 02 at the Wayback Machine Christgau Robert Hold Out review www robertchristgau com CashBox Singles Reviews PDF Cash Box July 5 1980 p 22 Retrieved 2022 01 01 Hits of the Week PDF Record World June 28 1980 p 1 Retrieved 2023 02 20 Jackson Browne IMDb entry Accessed July 9 2012 Image RPM Weekly Library and Archives Canada 17 July 2013 Top 100 Singles 1980 RPM Archived from the original on 2016 04 25 Retrieved 2017 07 21 Whitburn Joel 1999 Pop Annual Menomonee Falls Wisconsin Record Research Inc ISBN 0 89820 142 X Cash Box Year End Charts Top 100 Pop Singles December 27 1980 Archived from the original on September 28 2018 Retrieved March 22 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Boulevard song amp oldid 1186954387, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
