When people look at Tom Petty’s career, they see a man who has achieved the rock-n-roller’s dream. He has released thirteen studio albums with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, three solo albums, received multiple nominations and awards acknowledging his contributions to the industry, and been inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Articulate and forthcoming, Tom Petty has recognized his ability to write a story, the difference between radio rules versus songwriting, how songwriting is like fishing, and that honesty is the best policy.
Over the years, Tom Petty has experienced hit song after hit song. Many have acknowledged Petty’s ability to write a simple song while also maintaining a message is mystical (Variety). Petty, himself, admitted he has always had a knack for writing a story. In an interview with Billboard, he spoke about songwriting coming easily to him, but he doesn’t really have a method to doing it. He said, “Songs are kind of mystical and magical, there’s not a formula that brings them around, I don’t have a concrete method of doing it. Sometimes I sit down and wonder if I’ve ever done it before. It’s just something I was born with, mostly. A lot of areas that are hard for somebody else are really quite simple for me. I don’t know why that is (Billboard).” Petty further explained that when he was young his mother would read to a lot of nursery rhymes and poetry to him. He believed that, that exposure combined with a really good memory helped him a great deal. Even though songwriting might be mystical, perhaps even magical, Petty also admitted that there really aren’t any rules to it.
Although there are many songwriting techniques to create a perfect hit song for radio, Petty has said the rules that govern radio don’t really matter in songwriting. For radio, a certain song structure is expected for it to be a success, but songwriting doesn’t play by those rules. He said a good song should give people a lot of images; almost like a movie playing in the head (Billboard). While rules might apply in radio play, songs don’t have a rule book. There are professional songwriters out there who make a living writing songs for artists, however, Petty has never worked in a rigid format. Petty’s own success in songwriting has shown that songwriting doesn’t need a formula to be successful.
A good song is hit or miss, and Petty confessed it is a lot like fishing. Either a fish has been caught or it hasn’t. In the process of fishing, like songwriting, you have to wait for the bite to happen. Petty said patience is a big part of songwriting, “Sometimes songwriting is pretty lonely work. I don’t think a lot of people have the patience for it. You’re not necessarily going to get one every time you try. In fact most times you try you’re not going to get one (Billboard).” Patience, and also honesty, are important to good songwriting.
A hit song is one that comes from an inner truth and is timeless. In an article with Variety, Petty spoke about honest songs being the ones that become hit songs. Perhaps it’s the vulnerability that shines through when a song bleeds honest, timeless revelation; and Tom Petty is able to produce those vulnerable, honest revelations in his art. Petty said, “They have to have this sort of timelessness to them where they don’t feel locked in any period of time. Those, you just have to be glad they happen (Variety).” Likewise, not every song will be personal. However, they should hold truth to what they are talking about. When he discussed writing “Free Fallin”, he didn’t know the girl in the song personally, but he went past Ventura Boulevard regularly to the studio, “I don’t know [who] the girl in ‘Free Fallin’ is. I was having to make this drive every day. The studio was in the valley and I was driving from Beverly Hills to the valley and back every day and on that drive I just used to look at Ventura Boulevard, and just life’s great pageant was going in up and down that street. And I tried to grab a little bit of these characters on the road and it was kind of how I saw it. It’s pretty true of that time and that era, I remember… (Billboard).” Even though “Free Fallin” isn’t a personal story, it’s an honest and raw story about life most can relate to. Honest, timeless, and revealing poetry set to music produces the best work.
(Tom Petty “Free Fallin” official video courtesy of YouTube and Tom Petty Vevo)
Tom Petty has enjoyed a successful career with both the Heartbreakers and his solo work. He has also been recognized with many awards, nominations, and inductions. All of those accolades represent a man who not only loves what he does, but is also good at what he does. Petty acknowledges that the rules to writing a hit song for radio don’t apply to the songwriting process. Songwriting is mystical and comes from a place of timeless truth; a place where ideas thrive. Pure hit songs aren’t created in a vacuum of structure and standards. They are created in the heart and soul of those willing to imagine, willing to let go, and willing to tell a truthful story.
~Jenna Jakes, WOGB
Related Links:
Tom Petty Receives the 2017 Musicares Person of the Year
Petty Got Plagiarized and Handled It Professionally
Tom Petty Gets Guitar Lessons From Don Felder
WOGB Artist Spotlight: Rob Anthony Revisits His Musical Roots
