The term “yuppie” first appeared around 1980, an anagram for “Young Upwardly Mobile Professional.” It became a bit of a buzzword in the decade, as those considered to be yuppies were sometimes seen as a societal scourge for the way they lusted after the almighty dollar with everything they had in lieu of nobler pursuits.
Jackson Browne released his single “The Pretender” in 1976 from the album of the same name, so there’s no way he could have specifically had this loosely defined group known as yuppies in mind when writing the song. And yet, he manages to pinpoint their tendencies with such accuracy it’s fair to wonder if he was displaying second sight.
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Browne’s Intent
The Pretender is an album full of hard lessons and devastating truths. While making the record, Browne endured the suicide death of his then-wife Phyllis Major. Most of the songs on the album were close to completion at that point, but there’s still an overall vibe of lost opportunities and uncomfortable reckonings that pervades the record.
Many of these themes seemed to be emanating from Browne’s own personal struggles. But on “The Pretender,” he looked outward and back all at once, as he explained in a 1997 interview with Mojo (as reported by Songfacts):
“But in a more serious way, ‘The Pretender’ is about ’60s idealism, the idea of life being about love and brotherhood, justice, social change and enlightenment, those concepts we were flooded with as our generation hit its stride; and how, later, we settled for something quite different. So when I say Say a prayer for The Pretender, I’m talking about those people who are trying to convince themselves that there really was nothing to that idealism.”
In that same interview, Browne talked about the interesting dichotomy that presents itself when one tries to reconcile their reality with what they initially set out to become. But when you take a deep dive into the lyrics of “The Pretender,” it’s kind of eerie how prescient it was about what was to come in the next decade.
A Yuppie’s Prayer
Browne sings from the first person to begin, inhabiting the role of this ultra-focused character and laying out his master plan: I’m gonna rent myself a house in the shade of the freeway / Gonna pack my lunch in the morning and go to work each day. His impulses are practically robotic. Even when he talks about making love to his partner late in the song, he does it without any kind of passion, more as a chore he needs to do.
As the song progresses, Browne starts to give this guy some wherewithal about what’s going on all around him in suburbia, including addled veterans and unsmiling youngsters. In the second verse, the guy snaps out of his automaton shell and shows insight into what’s become of him and those like him: I want to know what became of the changes we waited for love to bring / Were they only the fitful dreams of some greater awakening?
In the final moments, Browne makes this guy’s goal in life as clear as can be: I’m gonna be a happy idiot and struggle for the legal tender. What’s been sacrificed in this course of action? True love could have been a contender, he admits.
Before each refrain, Browne shifts perspectives, stepping out of the head and heart of “The Pretender” to view him from a cool distance. And he asks mercy on him: Are you there, say a prayer for the pretender / Who started out so young and strong, only to surrender. This portrait of an up-and-comer anticipates the so-called yuppies, but Browne doesn’t judge them. Instead, he holds out hope that they might find what fulfills them when monetary rewards no longer do the trick.
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