The Naked Ride Home

Album: The Naked Ride Home (2002)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • According to Jackson Browne, a woman he knew very well (he won't say who) would sometimes take her clothes off and ride home naked, giving him the idea for the title "The Naked Ride Home." He came up with the title first and built the song from there.
  • The song sounds like it takes place at a bar, with a guy trying to pick up a girl by daring her to take off her clothes and let him take her home. She agrees to do it and he gets what we'll call a joyride, but there a tinge of trouble. At the end of the song, we find out that his wasn't a random pickup but a married couple struggling to stay together.

    "The song actually signals the end of a relationship," Browne told Rolling Stone. "You don't find out untl the last verse that this is a couple, people who are driving home to their house. He's trying to rekindle something, and it's not working out."
  • "The Naked Ride Home" is the title track and leadoff song from Jackson Browne's 12th album. He recalled to Uncut magazine in an interview with their August 2010 issue: "How records get made is the most fascinating thing to me. I love 'The Naked Ride Home' as a recording. [band guitarist] Mark Goldenberg was playing structurally on the original session, and I was going to overdub him doing lead on top, but I wound up adding this great guitarist Val McCallum to the Band just to play that part."

Comments: 1

  • Jeff from Tuscaloosa, AlLike almost every Jackson Browne song, there is always so much below the surface. The guy is an American treasure.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Best Band Logos

Best Band LogosSong Writing

Queen, Phish and The Stones are among our picks for the best band logos. Here are their histories and a design analysis from an expert.

Jonathan Cain of Journey

Jonathan Cain of JourneySongwriter Interviews

Cain talks about the divine inspirations for "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Faithfully."

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees

Jack Blades of Night Ranger and Damn YankeesSongwriter Interviews

Revisit the awesome glory of Night Ranger and Damn Yankees: cheesily-acted videos, catchy guitar licks, long hair, and lyrics that are just plain relatable.

Chris Isaak

Chris IsaakSongwriter Interviews

Chris tells the story of "Wicked Game," talks milkshakes and moonpies at Sun Records, and explains why women always get their way.

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.