It’s just a little touch that makes this otherwise humble little number sound downright powerful.Įffortless and concise, “Depending On You” shows how a good songwriter can make something sound breezy without sounding lazy. Notice how those refrains play off the verses, as Petty plays it coy with his talk-singing in those parts before powering into the choruses, like a conversation that starts simply before the intensity ratchets up. The way the whole thing kicks into another gear at those points makes this some irresistible ear candy. So it’s no surprise he returns to it often here, and it’s a successful gambit.
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In this case, it’s the driving refrain of this Full Moon Fever song.
To TP, it’s better to burn out than to sell out. In “Money Becomes King,” Johnny has the hits and the money, and yet his fate may ultimately be worse than Eddie’s, at least in Petty’s eyes. Think of it as a rock fairy tale along the lines of “Into the Great Wide Open.” In that earlier song, the hero, Eddie, fades out of the public eye due to his inability to keep the hits coming. This song makes me want what I wasn’t around to experience.
I’m not old enough to remember a time when every ounce of artistic territory wasn’t commercialized. But Petty wields his sarcasm so effectively (“All the music gave me/Was a craving for lite beer”), and his disappointment is so heartfelt that it’s hard not to get swayed by his argument. Is there a bit of grumpy-old-man in the lyrical assault? Perhaps. He’s sad that the music that he loved doesn’t mean anything anymore, that the unnamed artist that he once adored has become a karaoke act for his own hits, that the whole affair has become little more than a choreographed pantomime devoid of any feeling or surprise. Petty has corporate rock and all of its trappings in his crosshairs on this track off The Last DJ, which really holds more sorrow than bitterness. But it continues on the excellence for which the band already had a reputation less than a decade into their career. Petty has been candid about the fact that, while he thought that Long After Dark was a good record, it didn’t really make much of an advance from what the Heartbreakers had been doing. It has informed a few of his most well-known tracks, and here it’s the impetus for a lesser-known but pretty accomplished one. “One Story Town” features Petty going back to one of his most popular songwriting themes: The individual’s struggle for personal freedom in the face of conformity.
While those lead guitars are hard to overlook, a closer listen reveals some clever work on bass by Howie Epstein, making his first official Heartbreaker appearance on record. Perfectly chosen to lead off Long After Dark, “One Story Down” kicks the album off with a blaze of guitars and never shows any sign of let-up. Both the songwriter and the producer deserve some credit for that. The sheen that Lynne lays on the song is perfectly apropos to the optimistic lyrics.Īs Petty sings, “There’s gotta be somewhere left for us to believe.” That titular road might exist only in his character’s imagination, but it sure sounds inviting. “King’s Highway,” which is featured on Into the Great White Open, is just such a song. When you’re looking for something to shimmer like the sunlight off the ocean, then there is no one who does it any better. When the song calls for something gritty and earthy, Lynne is probably not your guy. The problem, if you can call it that, is that his style is more suited to some songs than others. Jeff Lynne’s production style often takes a hit from rock critics, but I think that Lynne does what he does tremendously well. Stay tuned for that, but, for now, enjoy a great 15-song run. It’s hard to believe that there are still 70 songs in the TP catalog even better than this. And then we’ve got a lovely, stately ballad to wrap things up. The tempo shifts to some suit more contemplative material in the middle part, albeit with a few breaks for some lascivious rock and even a little blue-eyed soul.
Things kick off, like an album should, with some high-energy rockers.
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In fact, you can download these songs and have yourself a nice little Petty compilation here. Casual fans may fall back on the old, clichéd criticism: “All his songs sound the same.” They don’t know Petty very well, because this batch puts that comment to shame, with 15 songs that are all over the musical map. Stay tuned for the selections each weekend and for chances to win tickets to the show.Īs we enter the second week of the Tom Petty countdown, it’s interesting to note just how much variety the guy’s music contains. Editor's note: CultureMap is counting down the Top 100 songs of Tom Petty's career in anticipation of his concert at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Sept.
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