“Boulevard” by Jackson Browne

On "Boulevard", from his 1980 album Hold Out, Jackson Browne trains his eye on the runaways of Hollywood Boulevard, a street he once lived right above. He has described watching, as a bystander, the kids near a spot called the Gold Cup and the teenage prostitution there, writing partly from one young person's point of view without sinking all the way into it. What he wanted to tell them, he said, was that this stretch is just time passing, not who they are or where they'll stay.

Browne sings and plays electric guitar and piano, David Lindley adds electric and lap steel, Craig Doerge stacks organ, Rhodes, Wurlitzer and string synthesizer, and Bob Glaub and Rick Marotta play bass and drums. Browne co-produced with Greg Ladanyi. It climbed to 19 on the Hot 100 and reached four in Canada.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.