Jackson Browne has never been one to dodge a political discussion, particularly when it comes to our country's own affairs. As a matter of fact, he tells Spinner that the American empire is going down. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"The is a waning empire and it's just going the way of all empires -- it's going the way of the Spanish empire," he says. "That doesn't mean the end of the United States as a country at all; the end of the empire is like the maturation of a society that just stops going around, imposing its will on people militarily and economically. The waning of an empire could only be a good thing. It's just like it's never too late to grow up -- grow up and join the world, be a part, be engaged."

Browne is a firm believer in studying the past, both musical and historic. It's what shapes his new album, 'Time the Conqueror.' "You gotta understand what's going on, and you can't really understand what's happening in the present if you don't understand the past," he says. "'Time the Conqueror' is very much a sort of tribute to that way of thinking -- life happens all at the same time. Your past, present and future exist at the same time. Yet all you really have is the present."