The Brilliant Nonchalance and Therapeutic Lyrical Power of Tom Petty

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There are some artists that we just keep coming back to. I discovered Tom Petty as a teen, and he’s been there throughout all of the transitions in my life. (My personal soundtrack.) And now, working as a music therapist in a hospital setting, I call on his music as a means to help those struggling with coping, self-expression, resolve, empowerment… Read on:

I’ve been a Tom Petty fan since I started listening to music. The opening guitar riff of Here Comes My Girl still puts me back in the adolescent angst of my high school days, trying to figure out who I was and where I was going (“I’ll be the boy in the corduroy pants, you’ll be the girl at the high school dance” – You Wreck Me). As I’ve transitioned through various stages of life and finding new genres to represent those stages – alt-country, Coltrane and Miles, power-pop, chamber music—Tom Petty never left me. His music was always a constant on my turntable, cassette deck, iPod, playlist and turntable again.

And, as I’m thinking about Tom Petty and why his music draws me in, it’s honest, straight forward rock & roll wrapped up in the paradigm of less is more. Musically, TP is a genius in writing 3 and 4 chord, simple structure, straight ahead rock songs. Nothing fancy. No rushing into time signature alterations, no diminished 7^th chords or modulating to the sub-dominant ‘just for effect’. Just straight ahead, 4-chord understated layers of rock and roll integrity. Mike Campbell, TP’s longtime guitar-mate (and one of my favs), doesn’t participate in Van Halen-esque high-wire circus antics, just riff-master subtlety… Mary Jane’s Last Dance?

But the lyrics. The emotions and themes TP writes about are everyone’s. No matter your age. When you listen to TP’s songs you immediately think; “That’s me.” His songs project self-pity, adversity, vulnerability, resentment, but also resiliency, empowerment and hopefulness. TP’s songs speak to us because they speak for us:

“I’m free… free-falling…”

“I’m running down a dream, that never would come to me…”

“I feel like a forgotten man. No lust, no rage, no wicked thoughts, just pain that lingers on…”

As a music therapist working in a hospital setting, I do a lot of work with patients in the oncology unit. I often work with patients when they are at their most vulnerable; perhaps after just hearing about a new diagnosis or trying to deal with the physical and emotional side-effects of treatment, or after being told that treatment isn’t working and it’s time to think about a more ‘palliative’ approach. I work with them on the psychological aspects of “having cancer” and working towards wellness or resolve. Many times, these patients have difficulty in figuring out what they are feeling and how to express it. They struggle with coming to terms with their sudden new identity— “cancer patient”.

Here is where songs, meaningful songs, can help. Songs can speak for us, help us find ourselves and open us up in working towards moving forward. Songs can provide meaning and opportunities for self-expression. Songs can help bring awareness and insight into our inner selves. And songs can empower and facilitate a sense of hope. In my work, especially in oncology, I am often finding Tom Petty’s repertoire very appropriate.

When patients are feeling lost or feel as though they want to give up, we have I Won’t Back Down:

“Well I won’t back down, no I won’t back down

You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won’t back down

And in trying to find hope when hope seems completely far away, we have The Dark of the Sun:

“In the dark of the sun, will you save me a place?

Give me hope, give me comfort, get me to a better place.”

Not too long ago I had the pleasure of working with a gentleman, in his 50s, who had some sudden pain over the past recent days. After a few doctors’ visits an MRI showed “something” that warranted a biopsy. A week ago, all was fine. He was working, enjoying his family and now here he was, in a hospital room in the oncology unit with his wife and daughter… waiting. When I met them, everyone was putting on a good face, but I could see fear under the surface. Your eyes don’t lie. It was going to be a few days before results were in and there was a lot of anxiety in the room, mostly because of the waiting.

In these situations, music can be helpful in reducing anxiety, and helping with coping or emotional support. He loved music, “good straight-forward rock & roll” he told me. And as we were just chatting a bit more… “It’s this waiting… that’s so hard, not knowing what is to come.” The waiting is what was producing such anxiety for this family at that particular moment. The perfect song to speak to how everyone was feeling? Tom Petty’s The Waiting:

“Oh baby don’t it feel like heaven right now

Don’t it feel like something from a dream

Yeah I’ve never known nothing quite like this

Don’t it feel like tonight might never be again

We know better than to try and pretend

Baby no one could have ever told me ‘bout this

The waiting is the hardest part

Every day you see one more card

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

The waiting is the hardest part.”

What did this song do? It validated and expressed exactly what everyone was feeling. It also allowed everyone to understand and release those feelings when it was hard to find the words. There was emotion and tears, which was the release of tension… tension that was being held in and tearing up their insides. And it was cathartic to share and experience those feelings together. We didn’t change the overall situation, but experiencing this song together allowed them to truly understand what those feelings were inside and to let some of it out. In processing and discussing the song and the experience, it was brought up that regardless of what was to come, once they knew the hand they were dealt, they could put a plan together and move in a forward direction. Together they could fight whatever was to come.

What is that? That is hope. And how did we get to hope… by way of a simple Tom Petty song that spoke to the understanding of what everyone was feeling inside. The song also helped bring a bit of control to the situation. And control also brings hope. Hope is not something you often see in the oncology unit, but sometimes hope (and music) is all there is to hold onto.  

So… when I need a song to help find feelings that are hard to put into words, for the patients I work with, and for me, I have Tom Petty to call on. And I have Tom Petty to thank.

“You belong among the wildflowers, you belong on a boat out at sea,

Sail away, kill off the hours, you belong somewhere you feel free."

The healing power of music…

(*The stories presented in this blog are based on accounts and experiences and are not actual accounts or experiences.)

Raymond Leone, MMT, MT-BC is director of Medical Music Therapy at A Place To Be and the Inova Health System