For A Dancer
Composer(s): Jackson Browne
Performer(s): Jackson Browne;
and various other artists



Keep a fire burning in your eye 
Pay attention to the open sky 
You never know what will be coming down 
I don't remember losing track of you 
You were always dancing in and out of view 
I must've always thought you'd 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 playing right in my ear 
That I can't sing 
I can't help listening 

I can't help feeling stupid standing 'round 
Crying as they ease you down 
Cause I know that you'd rather we were dancing 
Dancing our sorrow away 
(Right on dancing) 
No matter what fate chooses to play 
(There's nothing you can do about it anyway) 

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 
And let your prayers go drifting into space 
You never know will be coming down 

Perhaps a better world is drawing near 
And just as easily, it could all disappear 
Along with whatever meaning you might have found 
Don't let the uncertainty turn you around 
(The world keeps turning around and 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