Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Joe

[ivorlumbard]

I am the real Joe, and yes I do make the BIG 27" WHEELS role. Yeah i'm that hungry poet son of a bitch. Ask anyone in town. But I will get my dough soon enough, cause I am the CEO STAR of community theatre. Tyrant Perfect. Unmatched form. Talk your shit, cause you cant beat me, and you all know it!-THE HARD!

[cowgirlmelly]

Love listening to this out on the lake :)

[sichalmers92]

you tell 'em tom

[jeffroyo]

First time I smelled weed about 11 was at a Petty concerte. He was like "I can smell what your smokin" I thought I can smell it 2 what is that? LOL 5 years later I'm gettin baked at a Petty concert. Tom Petty's the man! Legendary

[JLegend2008]

Lisa Veronica brought me here with her tweet. I THANK HER SO MUCH. THIS SONG IS FRIGGIN AMAZING.

[Corey358]

Whoa. All the different sides of Petty...

[Thetarantinomaniac]

FANTASTIC lyrics.

[mikkozak]

Sounds like TP finally letting all his rage about the record industry out on this track! Love it.

[fmafan43]

"Send my regards to the gig and a case of good liquor"-love that line!

[GwynAshtonMusic]

Abso-fucking-lutely spot on, Tom. 

[duckiedale80]

He is telling it like it is in this song. Teenyboppers be damned. Sadly, this song still rings true 9 years later.

[tickeledfunnybone]

Yeah, its a bit loud but its ok thanks for posting it. i wonder if you were to turn the volume down when you post it if that will fix it.

[MrJojogun]

Usually my thoughts ...when the girlfriend is in my ear and I stroll down to the Sand Dollar Social Club to numb it all away. You'd think by now she'd know I heard her the first time ...I heard myself say ...seems like the little old gal is getting bigger everyday...you don't have to tell the neighbors ...a little silence aint no sin...they already think my name is Where The Hell You Been!!! John Prine and Tom Petty keep me going!!!!

[LifeBloodMarketing]

"You get to be famous, I get to be RICH!"...

[HowPettyful]

Somebody save this world of ours!

[mikkozak]

Phenomenal

[lostbreaker]

simply awesome

[ChristiLatte]

Seriously.... who has the bines for this.... plus it's a kick ass song! ****blasting it with my top down***

[Xtremist777]

This song still means as much almost 8 years later

[Meconstrue]

I hope the world changes so this song stops being timeless.

[PIMPCAKE666]

this song kills....so truthful

[recitetheplan]

Tom Petty is the only one that gets it.

[Fulcrum51]

@TomPetty1976 He says Bitch in this song.

[DevilDogGTO]

I wish they played this at the 2009 AMA's. At least there would have been one talented act that writes their own songs, sings live, and plays there own instruments. I know why Tom is angry. LOL

[captross07]

@DevilDogGTO Read the description. This song is from 8 years ago. A fact which makes it so much better because, in 8 years, the industry's gotten worse.

[tnrc75]

Burned out Johnny thinks the books are shifty. What good's that alkie to me when he's 50? Well we could move catalog if he'd only die quicker.

[DylanTownesDrake]

@tnrc75

Burnout Johnny thinks his bucks are shifting

What good's that alkie to me when he's 50?

Well we can move get along if he'd only die quicker

Send my regards to the gig and a case of good liquor

[masokitten77]

Thanks for posting this. I love it when Tom petty gets angry.

[Lumotaku]

sounds like an angrier version of Pink floyds have a cigar.

[Daveinyourmouth]

HOLY SHIT YOUR RIGHT

[youarenottheparty]

"We could move catalog if he'd only die quicker..."

[bobjones864]

This song sucks. The album it's from sucks. Tom was throwing a silly hissy-fit. The good news is that its the only shitty Tom Petty record. He's had on of the great careers in pop music.

Love, love love, me some Tom Petty. I even admire what he was trying to do here.

But God almighty is this song is stupid.

[youarenottheparty]

wtf are you smoking??

this record kicks ass

if you knew anything at all about the music industry, you'd think so too!

[bobjones864]

What makes you think I don't know anything about the music industry? I basically agree with the point the song is making. But it's still one-dimensional griping. Tom Petty is capable of a lot more.

Actually, "Into the Great Wide Open" is a pretty similar complaint about the music biz. It's a good song because it's funny and smart in a way that THIS song is shrill and obvious.

[bobjones864]

This song is not even in touch with the way the music biz operates anymore. Record companies have been losing HUGE market shares years. Whatever ails the music biz, there isn't some guy in an office smoking cigars who's calling the shots.

Tom should write a song about Ticketmaster's convenience fees. Or about the deregulation of radio station ownership. (To be fair, that's kinda what "The Last DJ" was about. . . .)

I'm a huge Tom Petty fan. This is the only Tom Petty record I don't like.

[youarenottheparty]

You're joking, right??

On the very same album, in the song "Money Becomes King", he talks about exorbitant ticket prices and Golden Circles and VIPs for nearly 3 verses!!

sheesh ... pay attention, dude

[bobjones864]

Fair enough, fair enough.

Although listening to Tom Petty sing 3 verses about ticket prices isn't my idea of a good time.

I don't know the record that well since I don't like it. But I surrender. I don't think Tom's criticisms begin valid makes the record any better though.

But I've never particularly disagreed with Tom's point. The music biz sucks. That doesn't mean I have to like this album.

[youarenottheparty]

I think the first half is easier to listen to than the mellower second half, but I still really like this album!

It was the "big" guy fighting for all us little guys who couldn't afford to see our favorite band anymore (even though it didn't matter because they had long since sold out anyway...)

and I love the way the industry mags talked shit when it was released :)

[bobjones864]

I really do admire what Tom Petty wanted to do with this album. I just don't think it's very good. "Highway Companion" is good though.

It's worth nothing that I have had no trouble seeing my favorite bands in relatively intimate or even very intimate settings for $10 or $20. In the last several years I've seen Dinosaur Jr., The Drive By Truckers, Justin Townes Earle, Jonathan Richman, Billy Joe Shaver. . . .

[youarenottheparty]

I think that's the point ... no one understands subtlety anymore! Hardly anyone even LISTENS to lyrics - they just listen to what the industry tells them to listen to. Singles are paid for before anyone even hears the album; deals are made and bands are told how many songs will play on the radio (as well as how many times per hour) and exactly what to write. So many in the business now are talentless hacks fucking and scamming their way to the top, where as "Into the Great Wide Open" was a ...

[youarenottheparty]

tale about a man with a dream ... a stupid man, sure ... but one who actually made a record all on his own ....

I always took the "don't hear a single" lyric to mean that the whole album was good - that you could listen to every song, as opposed to one single surrounded by worthless crap filler.

But hey, I didn't write it ... I could be wrong of course :)

[bobjones864]

But one of the tricks that Tom is missing is that independent distribution is much bigger than it used to be. If you wanna have a modest career making a living as a musician, it's easier than it's ever been. You don't HAVE to deal with big record companies if you don't want to. Top 40, big time music biz stuff is shallower and emptier than ever, but it's also smaller than ever.

[bobjones864]

Of course, FM radio is now shit, MTV plays mostly reality shows, and the biggest hip hop groups around is the Black Eyed Peas.

But it's easier than ever just to ignore that shit. I have to say though, if the internet hadn't grow up during the past decade we really WOULD be fucked, because there really is no space for smart popular culture in the mainstream music biz.

But the internet DID come along, and mainstream music biz has done everything it can to fuck itself.

[youarenottheparty]

hahaha ... true enough

If Joe were a real dude, he'd probably have filed bankruptcy by now

[youarenottheparty]

True, but there's no promotion without big money backing ya ...

The internet may very well have saved music (or, advances in technology in general - just about anyone can set up a professional studio for only a few thousand bucks), but I wish it didn't take so much damned time to find good music!!

[prometheus10101]

*cough* *cough* Britney Spears *cough* *cough*

[InsertUsernameHeer]

What is this song about? Sorry, I'm too lazy to listen to it lol

[vvord56]

Record co. executives who control the music industry, poorly and coruptly. In my opinion.

[todazed2confused]

No one else would have the balls to write a song like this in todays popular music scene.

[tompetty1976]

@todazed2confused Too bad the entire album is banned from radio air play. The only cuss words in the entire album is "whore". Gob damn CEOs and corporates...I think Tom scared 'em a bit.

[dashofchutmeg]

@todazed2confused Haha, right.

[scorpsrock01]

We loved the show in L.A.!!! Tom Rocks!!!

[sportslvr943]

totally describes the modern day music industry.

[snajgel]

hey, now thats what I call music!

[AnniePetty]

i think this song is totally fantastic. =]