Jackson Browne performs Nov. 20 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater

By STEVE SPEARS

Times Staff Writer

Jackson Browne was wringing out his personal and political angst through soul-stripping music long before most of us knew the difference between the heart and the head. In 1972, while Michael Jackson was singing to a pet rat in Ben, Browne was preaching poetry in his first big hit, Doctor My Eyes.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, Browne has turned his musical focus over the past 20 years from romance to the real world, choosing to use his albums as a call to action for those who would march with him .

Look for his sold-out show Friday at Ruth Eckerd Hall — a solo, acoustic performance — to include songs from all stages of his career. But if we had to pick just five we had to hear, we'd pick these:

These Days: "Now if I seem to be afraid / To live the life I have made in song / Well it's just that I've been losing for so long."

Birds of St. Marks: "Silently she walks among her dying midnight roses / Watches as each moment goes that never really know us."

Running on Empty: "I look around for the friends that I used to turn to to pull me through / Looking into their eyes I see them running too."

Somebody's Baby: "I try to shut my eyes, but I can't get her outta my sight. / I know I'm gonna know her, but I gotta get over my fright."

The Pretender: "I'm going to find myself a girl / Who can show me what laughter means / And we'll fill in the missing colors / In each other's paint-by-number dreams."

Steve Spears can be reached at stuckinthe80s@tampabay.com.