About the song
“The Load-Out” is a song co-written and performed live by Jackson Browne, featured on his 1977 album “Running on Empty.” This track stands as a heartfelt tribute to his roadies and fans, capturing the essence of life on the road. Recorded live at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, on August 27, 1977, during the tour supporting the album “The Pretender,” the song paints a vivid picture of the daily routines and emotional highs and lows experienced by a band and its crew on tour.
In “The Load-Out,” Browne masterfully narrates the journey of setting up and tearing down concert stages, highlighting the dedication and hard work of his road crew. The song begins with Browne’s soulful vocals and piano, accompanied by David Lindley’s lap steel guitar. As the track progresses, a synthesizer joins in, followed by the rest of the band, creating a rich, layered sound. This seamless build-up culminates in a medley with Maurice Williams’ 1960 hit “Stay,” featuring vocals by Browne, Rosemary Butler, and Lindley. Butler sings the first chorus, and Lindley takes over the falsetto in the second chorus, adding a nostalgic touch to the performance.
Although “The Load-Out” was not initially released as a single, it received significant radio airplay alongside “Stay.” Many stations played the two songs together as a medley, leading to “The Load-Out” charting as a tag-along to “Stay” on the Billboard Hot 100. “Stay” debuted on the Hot 100 on June 10, 1978, and from August 5, 1978, for eight weeks, it was listed along with “The Load-Out,” both peaking at number 20. “Stay” remained on the Hot 100 for a total of fifteen weeks.
In his March 9, 1978, Rolling Stone review of the “Running on Empty” album, Paul Nelson praised the song within the context of the album’s “consciously created documentary” style. Nelson likened the medley of “The Load-Out/Stay” to earlier Browne anthems such as “For Everyman,” “Before the Deluge,” and “The Pretender.” He described “The Load-Out” as Browne’s homage to every facet of live performance—from the enthusiastic audience to the hardworking band and the backstage crew diligently loading trucks for the next destination. Nelson noted that despite the album’s title, the song is imbued with warm, soaring music that flows triumphantly into “Stay,” encapsulating Browne’s sentiment of never wanting the performance to end.
“The Load-Out” remains a testament to the camaraderie and passion shared between musicians and their support teams, celebrating the unseen efforts that make live music possible. This track, with its evocative storytelling and heartfelt delivery, continues to resonate with audiences, capturing the enduring spirit of life on tour.
Video
Lyrics
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 ge t’em up them ramps
‘Cause when it comes to moving me
You know 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&B, we got disco in eight tracks and cassettes in stereo
We’ve got rural scenes and magazines
And 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