‘End of the Line’: The song Tom Petty called the Traveling Wilburys at their best
There are always certain expectations when it comes to any supergroup. Even though the band might be made up of legends who have each made fantastic songs in their own right, asking them to put together the musical equivalent of solid gold isn’t fair when none of them have played together before. However, the Traveling Wilburys were always up to the challenge, and Tom Petty always knew that they were making something well above what the new kids in town were doing.
Then again, the fact that the band came together at all is practically a miracle. The idea of having a former Beatle, Bob Dylan, and one of the founding fathers of heartland rock feels too good to be true, but once they got together to jam with Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne in tow, the idea of making an entire record of new songs made too much sense not to work, especially considering how much fun they were having.
Even though ‘Handle With Care’ saw the group hit the ground running, that’s only a drop in the bucket of what they did on their debut album. There might be the odd tune that sounds a bit strange by their standards, like ‘Margarita,’ but every other track on the record feels like a long-lost classic from the 1960s that had to wait until the 1980s to be finetuned, like ‘Dirty World’ or Dylan’s ‘Tweeter and the Monkey Man.’
And for a band that got put together by accident, it’s insane how none of them half-assed any part of the record. Harrison was already depleted after working on Cloud Nine, but ‘Heading for the Light’ is still one of the highlights of his solo career, and anyone who thought the group was nothing but a bunch of dads needs to listen to what Orbison brought to a song like ‘Not Alone Any More’.
If there’s one track that says it all for the record, ‘End of the Line’ is the ideal way to send them off. It wasn’t clear whether they were going to make another record after this one, and hearing them singing about how it’s alright getting old and rocking in their chairs is the perfect way of putting a bow on their time in the studio.
Petty may have only sung the bridges in between the main verses, but he was more than happy to watch all of his favourite musicians do their thing during the rest of the tune, saying, “There’s one number, ‘The End of the Line’ – whenever I hear that it’s just very emotional for me. I really think that’s the Wilburys at their best, it was just a terrific time. How often do you write a song that’s for four or five people? It’s not very often that happens but we really collaborated and put our heads together and made those songs happen.”
While the band had no idea how poignant it would be later, Orbison’s death did make the song a fitting epitaph for his career. His album Mystery Girl may have been given a boost after his death, but hearing him sing while an empty chair rocks away in the video is the perfect way to pay tribute to their fallen friend.
No matter how long each member has gone on since their supergroup split, ‘The End of the Line’ is still one of the best ways to remember them when they’re gone. Hopefully, we will have Dylan and Lynne around for many more years to come, but even for Harrison and Petty who have fallen by the wayside, it’s best to remember them riding in that train car with all of their buddies.
