My love affair with...

Perhaps it would be better called a strong attachment than a love affair.

Yesterday I had a cleaning appointment, the less noxious of all dentist appointments in general. Being alone with my music in the car is a rare treat so I pulled out my stash in the center console and loaded the five disc changer like JoJo the circus clown with a pretty new pet, taking out Psalty the Singing songbook, Bullfrogs and Butterflies and the Transiberian Orchestra's Christmas album (yes, still listening to that).

 

 It might come as a surprise who I spent my hour with but I will tell: it was Tom Petty. A truly remarkable hour it was. I think my appreciation for Tom dated back to my days at Bible school (not as inconsistent as that might sound). I can recollect many moments throughout my childhood, developing a love of a specific song or band because of a current emotional incident. God and Roy Orbison helped me get through my first experience with young love and heartache, for instance. The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Dire Straights and George Jones have a depth and symbolism that run deeper than rhythm and rock because of my dad and the introduction he gave at different pivotal points in life. So at school, a little lonely and sad; feeling the rebel side of me a little stronger than usual, I embraced Tom Petty. That's the long and short of it and the extent of my rebellion.

 

"Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
Tied up, taken away and held for ransom
It don't really matter to me, baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free
You see you don't have to live like a refugee"
(Refugee)

I know, weird choice, the man is practically a cadaver (no offense Tom) and a voice that, well you know, it's the one and only Tom Petty voice...which about sums it up.

 

 .  

He just has this organic, everyday poetry in his lyrics that speak right at the humanity in us all. He's the singer next door. The way he changes how a word is said just to make it rhyme with his lyrics, though in actuality the word is not even a slant rhyme....awesome.

“I'm an insider, I been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars -- I'm an insider

It's a circle of deception
It's a hall of strangers
It's a cage without a key
You can feel the danger
And I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one you couldn't trust
Yeah I'm the lonely silent one
I'm the one left in the dust”
(Insider)

 

I'm not saying all his stuff is good or that you should suddenly buy all his works. I'm just saying he has something in that package of music and lyrics, style and inelegance that made me a fan long ago.

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