“That makes you a boring ass”: The worst move any artist could make, according to Tom Petty
One of the biggest challenges a rock star can face is the passage of time. Everyone loves to latch onto the idea of the angry young man who continues to wreak havoc every time they make something new. But, oftentimes, when they start, people seem to be spinning their wheels rather than wanting to make a new record. Tom Petty always understood that his music needed to come from an honest place, but he was also aware that there were certain traps he didn’t want to fall into as he got older.
But before he was even one of the biggest stars in the world, there was something indefinably retro about the way that Petty was working. Half of his songs seemed indebted to the rock and roll of days gone by, and for someone who was born in the era when artists like Elvis Costello and Blondie were tearing up the charts, hearing someone pay tribute to bands like The Byrds and The Animals was incredibly unique and stood out.
He may have been strange for his era, but Petty wasn’t about to apologise, either. He knew he wanted to make something he could be proud of, which led to him never resting on his laurels for a second. There was always that restless spirit in all of his records, and if it didn’t turn up as much as it should have, Petty was usually the first one to tell his fans that he was holding back a bit too much on albums like Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough).
But as much as he believed in rock and roll, Petty was also the first one to take the piss out of himself. He even got into some hot water when he referred to his music as “cheap” in the press. And while he did admit that his occupation wasn’t exactly the most glamorous thing in the world, he never forgot how hard it was for him to make something as demanding as ‘Refugee’ in the studio.
For every tearjerker of a song, though, there was always something lighthearted to even things out. Petty was by no means trying to underplay his music, but when listening to an album like Full Moon Fever, you can see that it was always important for him to highlight both sides of the coin; for instance, the black comedy of ‘Yer So Bad’ balancing out the sentimental side of him on ‘Free Fallin’.
That’s not to say Petty couldn’t say his piece when he wanted to. He was always been a punk in the eyes of the industry. But, when he entered the 2000s, he did start to open up a little bit about the problems with the world, like when he couldn’t find a way to relate to the reality-TV side of the business when working on The Last DJ.
“You don’t want to be real serious all the time. That really makes you a boring ass, doesn’t it? Nothing worse than some musician being really serious.”
Tom Petty
Despite that record being fairly great, Petty felt that he needed to keep his seriousness in check most of the time, saying, “You don’t want to be real serious all the time. That really makes you a boring ass, doesn’t it? Nothing worse than some musician being really serious. And I was probably a boring ass. I don’t want to be too serious. I just want to be pure. I want it to move people rhythmically, provoke them mentally, or make them feel good. Mostly I’m trying to get a song done.”
Some people might scoff at that workman-like mentality, but that often means that some of the best material rises to the surface over time. Songwriting has always been like riding a bike, and if Petty had not kept his in check, chances are he may not have been equipped to make something like ‘Southern Accents’ during the latter half of his career.
Where a handful of artists take every breath they breathe seriously when they get in front of a microphone, Petty is a textbook example of how far someone can go if they loosen up a little bit. The music might still be airtight, but it’s not like he was trying to make rock and roll’s answer to Bach or anything, and that’s what mattered in the end.
