I recently went to the Machacek St. Louis Public Library branch in the Lindenwood Park Neighborhood. When I’m in that part of town, I try to stop in this brutalist gem we call the book bunker. Read all about this cute little library here.
I picked up a book called “Conversations with Tom Petty” by Paul Zollo. When musicians of my generation and those just before me pass away, I usually try to rediscover them and dig deep into their work.
This book and Tom Petty in general are American treasures. I loved it. And come to find out, after mining the entire catalog of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, I’ve found some deep cuts and gems that I will hold dear for the rest of my life. I used to only really know the radio hits…of which there are some greats even if I've heard them a million times.
When I’m reading artists’ tales of their work, lives and times, I get to making connections to St. Louis and my own experiences. That is what books are for right? Learning, reflecting and broadening your mind.
Petty was talking about inspiration and the rebirth and rediscovery of art forms. Rock and Roll seems to ebb and flow. The last 10 years or so have made me feel like we are decidedly in an ebb phase waiting for the new sound, realism/purity or energy to propel it and preserve it as an art form.
Just read a Pitchfork or Rolling Stone (or whatever you read and trust) list of top rock albums from the years 2020 or 2021. Ugh. Maybe I’ll look back at this timeframe in 20 years and rediscover something, but for now, I’m a bit skeptical and uninspired.
The author of the book was probing Petty on the eternal hope that pop music may get better, thinking about whether there is a possibility for this to happen.
Here’s what Petty said:
“It’s aways a possibility, I mean, in the Sixties the Beatles came and completely knocked that out of the park. The only other time I’ve seen that happen is when Nirvana came and suddenly all those fake hairspray bands were completely out of work. The next day. It was wheat before the sickle. But Nirvana couldn’t sustain it. It was too much for Kurt and it destroyed him. So I think you need something on that level to come along. Something that’s really pure and honest to become popular. Then you’ll have people who want to imitate honesty.”
That hit me. “Imitate honesty” seems so simple and true. That’s what we all do, unless you are a true original savant.
I lived through those times and was resentful of Nirvana back in the late 80s/early 90s. They were not as good as the bands I thought were more deserving of usurping the status quo, being heard on the radio and in the public consciousness. But as I’ve aged, I accept that storyline and Nirvana in general. They did indeed blow up fake bands and superficial guitars and drab synth music. They were imitating honesty and were pretty good at it. The lead singer and guitar player was informed enough, talented enough, and good looking/scruffy enough to relate punk to the masses. Good for them. And they made several great songs. Negative Creep remains a favorite after all these years.
But, as I was reading this book, my mind wandered to a potential of rediscovery of St. Louis living like the rediscovery of an artform.
Will there be a time when people fall in love with the honesty, the problems-on-sleeve, the generations of neglect, the beauty of the past, the diamonds in the rough, the potential of St. Louis?
Will people in our region continue to turn away from the staid dreams or promises of stability, quiet, convenience, order and homogeneity that the suburbs offer and want to live in a more challenging, artistic, beautiful, open-to-interpretation, incongruous place like St. Louis?
Will they want to be part of the underdog story, or repeat the long history of abandonment and neglect of living in the burbs vs. St. Louis? Doubtful, if I use the St. Louis County resident stories I hear routinely year after year.
But young people seem to like it here and want to live here. They seem a little more open to life and possibility. Will they stay and color our future, or is this a temporary phase or experiment in their young lives? Will they root down and commit or bail when they “settle down”.
Back to the book. There is a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song called Dreamville on the 2002 record Last DJ. It’s a pretty nostalgic, sentimental song that speaks of memories and love of music and past times that still sustain him. Buying a guitar and listening to Rock and Roll on the radio, that type of stuff. Things that seemed pure and inspiring to him at the time. It’s not a favorite Petty song of mine, but I like what he said when thinking back on writing it.
Petty said:
“I’m innocent. Before all the corruptions hit me. And how pure it could be. I think that it was missed because of that. I loved that song. I wrote the orchestration with Jon Brion and did the whole thing. I love this music, rock and roll. And it’s meant a lot to me. And I do take it personally. It changed my life. It sustained my life. It’s absolutely the embodiment of the American dream. It made things possible for me that could never have been possible. And even if it hadn’t, I loved it in such a way that I really respect it. And I really care about it. I care passionately about it. And people call me bitter. I’m not bitter, I’m just sad. I’m just sad that there’s such a great, wonderful thing, and it’s being denied a whole audience. It’s going to be hard for them to even discover it.”
Wow, St. Louis living was in my mind when reading this passage. I feel that way about my city and even my record collection. I think St. Louis has definitely been a backdrop for this sentimentality in my short life. I constantly have places in my mind directly tied to or influencing important or funny moments in my life. St. Louis has colored them all. But, I don’t want to be a nostalgic sap. I just want people to love this place and see the potential as much as I have and still do.
I feel St. Louis is denied a broader audience because of superficial or real fear, hate or ignorance. I’ve lived this; and with much contemplation, I feel this from folks in our region. I’m not judging, I’m just relating my lived experience in honest terms.
I’m a bit flummoxed by their narrative. I think St. Louis’ beauty and strengths and gifts will not be available to them. I fear many of them will never be in the audience cheering us on and loving us. They are too distanced from it, from us.
I think the gross ignorance at best, or hatred at worst that the residents in the suburbs that surround St. Louis bring is a tough nut to crack. I’ll never understand it. There is beauty, history, art and wonder here. There are complexities and realities that can be tough to deal with however, but they make you better, stronger and more knowing of what American life is. Avoiding America’s problems and modern realities is a dangerous game. If you live here in St. Louis, you are close to them. You understand them, you get to know them. You find a way to live with them, and hopefully become more compassionate, understanding or even better for having seen it, lived it and dealt with or helped it.
I want people so badly to know our potential as a city. But, you can’t be part of its future unless you live here and pay our taxes, and vote and advocate and spend money and be here. Be good here. Be you here. I just feel a bit skeptical these days that my loves in life, including St. Louis and honest Rock and Roll will not be rediscovered and sustained by cool, caring, compassionate, smart, kind people. There will be a limited audience. It will be an underdog for another generation or two.
Like Petty said about real, honest music…I don’t want to be bitter or come across as skeptical about our future as a city. I want everyone to come here and discover it. I want people to commit to it. I want us to be known for what beauty we offer and what soulful stuff we bring. I want our beauty preserved, improved and modernized for the people who have made us great and soulful and those that can bring new energy and positivity, prosperity and community.
Either way, I loved this book and the images and thoughts it conjured up in me.
Onward and upward.
