All of the versions of “The Pretender” I can find, and in all the listed lyrics, the last lines go -
Are you there? / Say a prayer / for The Pretender
Who started out so young and strong
Only to surrender.
But I can distinctly hear, in memory, Browne singing “But chose to surrender.” Is there any recording that uses those lyrics, or have I misconfabulated my wreckollection?
I’ve never heard it any way but “only to surrender.” You might be mixing it up with the feeling of the lyrics to “Before the Deluge.”