Songfacts®:

• This is a song for Barcelona, for architecture and futból
  And for the streets that gave me refuge
  In my escape from rock and roll
  
  Here, Jackson Browne pays tribute to Barcelona, the "city that gave me back my fire and restored my appetite."
• Browne first visited Barcelona just after the 1992 Olympics were held there. The singer-songwriter told Uncut magazine he "sort of inherited an apartment" from a friend and fell in love with the bohemian neighborhood of Gràcia, with its tiny bars and restaurants.
  
  "You could spend a lifetime there, studying and learning about it," Browne said. "I discovered a lot about my own country from Barcelona. Life is lived on a completely different scale there, which is very poignant and inspiring. It's not just that they've built in this valve - the siesta or the four-hour lunch - they either do things they really need to do or want to do. It becomes a refuge from whatever it is you're dealing with."
• As he penned this song, Browne sought to capture the transformational moments from his time in Barcelona. "Writing a song is like consulting a personal oracle - you think you're writing about one thing, that this is what's really going on," he said. "'A Song For Barcelona' is a homage, but I realized that it's also a meditation on love and what happens to every other part of your life as a result. So it transcends locale and becomes something more universal."
• Barcelona is Spain's chief commercial center and largest port. Here are more songs inspired by the city.
  
  "Barcelona" by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe
  "Barcelona" by Ed Sheeran
  "Barcelona" by Twin Atlantic
  "Holiday In Spain" by Counting Crows
  "Shotgun" by George Ezra.