Tom Petty Gets Back To ‘Square One’
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Hipsters don’t take Tom Petty seriously. Maybe they’ll admit to liking his “early stuff,†but these days they think of him as one of those rock stars who have been around for a long, long time, making album after album, getting a bit soft.
Tom Petty still won't back down. There are certainly some veteran rockers who have lost their edge, but Petty ain’t one of them. “I won’t back down,†he once declared, and he never has. Most of the albums he’s made – both with and without his trusted band, the Heartbreakers – are pretty damn good. And there are classics, including his debut, 1976’s Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and, at least thus far, his new one, Highway Companion.I’m still digging into Highway Companion but already “Square One,†a ballad built on a mellow acoustic guitar track and a lovely, bittersweet melody, is a keeper. Petty is in fine voice, which means that his singing is understated, sincere, utterly believable.“Square One†is about facing up to who you are. It’s about taking a hard look at the decisions one has made in their life, and finding that most of the time you’ve made the right ones, but facing up to the wrong turns too. Facing up to when you were less then who you really are.“Last time through I hid my tracks,†Petty sings. “So well I could not get back/ Yeah my way was hard to find/ Can’t sell your soul for peace of mind.†That’s a hard lesson. From the outside, it doesn’t appear that Petty ever did sell out. But maybe there were some compromises he made at one time or another, that he learned from.I think part of what he’s talking about here is our desire for security, and how sometimes we take the ‘safe’ route thinking we’ll find shelter. And the truth is, there is no lasting shelter, and that ‘safe’ route may be fraught with even more danger than the one that once seemed so risky.“Square one, my slate is clear,†goes the chorus. “Rest your head on me my dear/ It took a world of trouble/ It took a world of tears/ It took a long time to get back here.â€But you did Tom, you did.
Tom Petty still won't back down. There are certainly some veteran rockers who have lost their edge, but Petty ain’t one of them. “I won’t back down,†he once declared, and he never has. Most of the albums he’s made – both with and without his trusted band, the Heartbreakers – are pretty damn good. And there are classics, including his debut, 1976’s Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and, at least thus far, his new one, Highway Companion.I’m still digging into Highway Companion but already “Square One,†a ballad built on a mellow acoustic guitar track and a lovely, bittersweet melody, is a keeper. Petty is in fine voice, which means that his singing is understated, sincere, utterly believable.“Square One†is about facing up to who you are. It’s about taking a hard look at the decisions one has made in their life, and finding that most of the time you’ve made the right ones, but facing up to the wrong turns too. Facing up to when you were less then who you really are.“Last time through I hid my tracks,†Petty sings. “So well I could not get back/ Yeah my way was hard to find/ Can’t sell your soul for peace of mind.†That’s a hard lesson. From the outside, it doesn’t appear that Petty ever did sell out. But maybe there were some compromises he made at one time or another, that he learned from.I think part of what he’s talking about here is our desire for security, and how sometimes we take the ‘safe’ route thinking we’ll find shelter. And the truth is, there is no lasting shelter, and that ‘safe’ route may be fraught with even more danger than the one that once seemed so risky.“Square one, my slate is clear,†goes the chorus. “Rest your head on me my dear/ It took a world of trouble/ It took a world of tears/ It took a long time to get back here.â€But you did Tom, you did.
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