These Days (Jackson Browne song)

The elaborate production[4] featured a fairly fast fingerpicking electric guitar part by Browne, played in a descending pattern ending in a major 7th chord.

[1] The use of the instrument was suggested by artist and impresario Andy Warhol, Nico's manager at the time, who was looking for something more "modern" than the acoustic guitar on the songwriter's demo recording.

These days I seem to think a lot, About the things that I forgot to do And all the times I had the chance to Nico disliked the strings and called the album "unlistenable" as a result.

[7][1] Nico's cool delivery was replaced by Browne's singer-songwriter-style approach, resulting in a vocal that Philadelphia City Paper later called "unique, and piercingly sad".

"[8] Glide critic Lee Zimmerman rated it as one of 10 Jackson Browne songs that should have been a hit, calling it "a tender tune written by a remarkably young man at the early stages of his career" and saying that "the remorse and regret belie the fact that his life experiences had barely even begun.

"[9] While Allman was most associated with the emerging Southern rock scene, he had spent considerable time in Los Angeles before The Allman Brothers Band came together; he and Browne had become friends, and he had recorded the Browne composition "Cast Off All My Fears" on the album The Hour Glass, the self-title debut of his band at that time.

[1] Many years later, Browne described the inspiration he credited: "When [Allman] did it I thought that he really unlocked a power in that song that I sort of then emulated in my version.

"[12] While neither version was released as a single, both Browne's and Allman's "These Days" recordings gained airplay on progressive rock radio stations and became the most-heard interpretations of the song.

It had appeared in his concerts since before he had a recording contract, and stayed in through the 1970s, usually played on piano in a surprising segue out of his biggest hit single, "Doctor My Eyes".

"These Days" gained renewed visibility[1] when the Nico recording was included in a scene in the 2001 Wes Anderson film The Royal Tenenbaums, which grossed over $50 million in the U.S.[14] and garnered many award nominations.

[15] The Philadelphia City Paper wrote that "It's no surprise that Wes Anderson used this recording in The Royal Tenenbaums; the fear of missed opportunity that its characters share is what propels 'These Days'.

"[7] The scene in which Margot Tenenbaum (Gwyneth Paltrow) gets out of a Green Line bus as the song is heard was one of the first that Anderson designed for the film.

A Spanish-accented vocal from guest singer Luz Casal was set against Browne's acoustic guitar, Lindley's violin, and di Geraldo's cajón; AllMusic stated that the result "makes an already beautiful song exquisite".

Mills admitted to having played the song at his high school graduation, citing Browne as an early influence and now-frequent collaborator.