Jackson Browne
Studio recording, 1986
Live, 2021
Long before you ever saw your chances
You were gonna burn this city down
Tired of the fashions and the dances
Tired of the people standing around
Ticking like a bomb in the night
And you knew you were right
Black and white
Blame it on the time it took to leave here
Blame it on the ones who slowed you down
Blame it on the kind of friends you knew here
Blame it on the sickness going ’round
Going round and round in the night
With your heart out of sight
With your world burning bright
Like a moth ’round a light
Black and white
The pictures of a life in flames
Black and white
The picture of a life remains
And the search you half remember
Setting out on at the start
Is burning like an ember in your heart
Time running out, time running out
For the fool still asking what his life is about
Time running out, time running out
Time running out, time running out
Yeah, beyond a shadow of a doubt
Time running out, time running out
Tell them that you’ve gone to find a person
Someone you lost track of long ago
Tell them that it’s someone you need worse than
Anybody else you’ll ever know
Ticking like a bomb in the night
You were strong, you were light
You were fast, you were bright
Then you were gone in the light
Black and white
The pictures of a life in flames
Black and white
The picture of a life remains
And the high ideals and the promise
You once dressed the future in
Are dancing in the embers with the wind
Time running out, time running out
For the fool still asking what his life is about
Time running out, time running out
Time running out, time running out
Yeah, beyond a shadow of a doubt
Time running out, time running out
And you know it’s true
Time running out, time running out
Time running out, time running out
Time running out, time running out
Time running out, time running out
Time running out, time running out
Time running out, time running out
Time running out, time running out
Lyrics © Jackson Browne