The Load-out Lyrics - Singles - Browne Jackson

(by Jackson Browne & Bryan Garofalo) 

Now the seats are all empty 

Let the roadies take the stage 

Pack it up and tear it down 

They're the first to come and last to leave 

Working for that minimum wage 

They'll set it up in another town 

Tonight the people were so fine 

They waited there in line 

And when they got up on their feet they made the show 

And that was sweet-- 

But I can hear the sound 

Of slamming doors and folding chairs 

And that's a sound they'll never know 

Now roll them cases out and lift them amps 

Haul them trusses down and get'em up them ramps 

'Cause when it comes to moving me 

You guys are the champs 

But when that last guitar's been packed away 

You know that I still want to play 

So just make sure you got it all set to go 

Before you come for my piano 

But the band's on the bus 

And they're waiting to go 

We've got to drive all night and do a show in Chicago 

or Detroit, I don't know 

We do so many shows in a row 

And these towns all look the same 

We just pass the time in our hotel rooms 

And wander 'round backstage 

Till those lights come up and we hear that crowd 

And we remember why we came 

Now we got country and western on the bus 

R and B, we got disco in eight tracks and cassettes in stereo 

We've got rural scenes & magazines 

We've got truckers on the CB 

We've got Richard Pryor on the video 

We got time to think of the ones we love 

While the miles roll away 

But the only time that seems too short 

Is the time that we get to play 

People you've got the power over what we do 

You can sit there and wait 

Or you can pull us through 

Come along, sing the song 

You know you can't go wrong 

'Cause when that morning sun comes beating down 

You're going to wake up in your town 

But we'll be scheduled to appear 

A thousand miles away from here 

(c) 1977 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC & GIANNI MUSIC