Hey guys,
You all know I'm just a dyed in the wool Tom Petty fan. Tom writes extremely simple pop/folk-rock lyrics and tunes. So simple in fact, that they take the bull by the horns and shake it around .He doesn't over complicate matters by delving too awfully deep into his subject matter. Yet at the same time, with his simplistic view on life, he nails his core idea and thoughts to a T. He is a master of words.
Paul Zollo wrote the book '
Conversations With Tom Petty' .
Paul was asked if he has been influenced by Tom's writings ....
"
Yes, it has. He has mastered a simplicity and purity, of which I wrote earlier, and a great mastery of the song form. The man knows how to write a good chorus, for example, and great verses and bridges. This, he said, he got from Jeff Lynne, who said if the verse isn’t as good as the chorus, that you should throw it out, and create one that is.
Tom also told me once that if a chord doesn’t sound right in a song, it probably shouldn’t be there. This advice went a long way, as songwriters, including yours truly, are prone to use unusual chords and chord progressions just to do something different. Tom has shown me it doesn’t need to be different as much as it needs to be good, and pure."
Yep. Thats a fact.
Les