Randy Newman takes a swipe at Jackson Browne's image as a do-gooder in a song called "Piece of the Pie."

Newman, casting a typically cynical eye at the economic plight of the American middle class, sings: The rich are getting richer/I should know/While we're going up/ You're going down/And no one gives a s--- but Jackson Browne/Jackson Browne.

During his long career, Browne, who will perform Thursday night at the Hershey Theatre, has been cast as both the archetypical sensitive singer-songwriter and musician-activist.

Though both of these types were once highly regarded by both fans and critics alike, they seem to have fallen out of favor.

For some reason, singer-songwriters, especially the sensitive sort, and the musical genre they occupy are regularly derided in the music press.

Same seems to go for activists, especially those like Browne who tend to wear their causes (and their emotions) on their sleeves.

That wasn't the case during Browne's heyday in the 1970s, when singer-songwriters came to prominence and he was considered one of the best.

Browne (inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 by Bruce Springsteen, who praised him for, of all things, his sensitivity and social consciousness) won fans because he moved them. His finely wrought songs about love lost-love found and his meditations on death ("For a Dancer" is perhaps his finest moment) drew from his personal life and stand as a testament to the value of writing about what one knows.

His excursions into social commentary didn't always succeed as art but his album "Lives in the Balance" was a brave attempt to mix introspective material with a focused attack on Reaganism and U.S. meddling in Central America during the 1980s.

Judging from set lists of recent shows, Browne is concentrating on his more introspective songs during this tour. That makes sense because the topical material, by its very nature, becomes dated while the songs about relationships, at least for his listeners, always resonate.

The best news is that the tour reunites him with David Lindley, who was Browne's musical foil during the singer-songwriter's most fecund period.

Lindley, who can apparently play any stringed instrument with grace and style, played a prominent role when Browne put together an impressive string of albums in the 1970s that included "For Everyman," "Late for the Sky," "The Pretender" and "Running on Empty." His playing, especially on "For Everyman" and "Late for the Sky," is sublime.

There's also evidence that Browne and Lindley can still push each other to reach greater heights together than they can on their own.

The two musicians earlier this year released an album called "Love Is Strange: En Vivo con Tino," which documents a tour they did of Spain. They were accompanied by Spanish musicians.

The recasting of some of Browne's best-known tunes, including "Take It Easy," "Running on Empty" and "These Days," is eye-opening. The album is often dazzling and, even in its weaker moments, always interesting.

Of course, when you can build an album on the foundation of Browne's songs, it's difficult to go terribly wrong.

His best songs will endure because they expose truths about the human condition that will always be valid, no matter what the current fashion mongers say.

Even Randy Newman would agree with that.

Jackson Browne

with David Lindley

Thurs. 8 p.m. $81.50

Hershey Theatre

15 E. Caracas Ave., Hershey

534-3405. www.hersheytheatre.com