Once again, a week late. Ah, well....
When this week's featured tune first was released, it was quite a departure from the usual Tom Petty fare and wasn't well received by many. I was not among them--I thought Petty had walked the fine line between releasing a song that was different (Petty has mentioned this was a goal of the sessions), but still captured the vibe that was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Time has proven those of us who heard its brilliance early on to be correct--it is widely considered to be one of his best tunes....
I wrote about Tom Petty in Vol. CLXIII, and much like Bruce Springsteen a couple of weeks ago, find it hard to believe this is only the second song of his that I've written about as he is truly one of my musical icons. As with Springsteen, I'm sure there will be a lot of catching up in the years to come. As for the bio, been there, done that and since his passing in 2017, not much new to add.
"Don't Come Around Here No More" was the first single released from Petty's excellent 1985 release, Southern Accents. The single peaked at #13 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album reached #7 on the Billboard 200.
Fun Fact: Petty co-wrote the song with Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. Stewart actually started the song after spending the night (platonically) at Stevie Nicks' home. In the wee hours, her former flame, Joe Walsh of Eagles fame, came looking for her and as Nicks booted him from her home, she reportedly told him, "Don't come around here no more." Stewart came up with a chorus from it, and Petty wrote the rest.
One need only to listen to the opening sitar to know that Petty and the Heartbreakers (though Stewart played the sitar) are going to take us on a very different musical journey with this week's tune. Petty's trademark scowl marks his foray through the vocals, and the Heartbreakers (if ever there was an underrated backing band...) perform with their usual aplomb, complimenting Petty's scowl with a rousing "Hey!" in their backing vocals and kicking ass and taking names later with their instrumentation. The song's closing--with Mike Campbell playing a jangly guitar to end all jangly guitars--is just this side of the Eagles "Hotel California" in wondrous glory, and the song captures all the pain and anger in telling a one-time flame to stay the fuck away. A veritable masterpiece.
Lyric Sheet: "I don't feel you anymore/You darken my door/Whatever you're looking for/Hey! Don't come around here no more..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emayce
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