written by Jackson Browne

© Swallow Turn Music (ASCAP)



Keep the fire burning in your eyes

Pay attention to the open sky

You never know what will be coming down



I don't remember losing track of you

You're always dancing in and out of view

I must have thought you would always be around

Always keeping things real by playing the clown

Now you're nowhere to be found



I don't know what happens when people die

Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try

It's like a song I hear playing right in my ear

But I can't sing, I can't help listening



I can't help feeling stupid standing around

Crying is the easier down

Cause I know that you would rather we'd be dancing

Dancing our sorrow away

No matter what fate throws in your way



Just do the steps that you've been shown

By everyone you've ever known

Until the dance becomes your very own

No matter how close to yours

Another's steps have grown

In the end there is one dance you'll do alone



Keep a fire for the human race

Let your prayers go drifting into space

You never know what will be coming down

Perhaps a better world is drawing near

Just as easy it could all disappear

Along with whatever meaning you might have found

Don't let the uncertainty turn you around

Go on and make a joyful sound



Into a dancer you have grown

From a seed somebody else has thrown

Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own

And somewhere between the time you arrive

And the time you go

May lie a reason you were alive

But you'll never know