I wrote "Petty Day's" with my good friend and collaborator Kenny Childers. We got together a few weeks after Tom Petty died and started talking about what a moment in time was that day. Not only is Tom Petty an American songwriting hero of ours (and the rest of America), the announcement of his death was on the same day the mass shooting happened in Las Vegas. I woke up that Monday morning, and out of bad habit I picked up my phone. Instantly, I was stunned and became glued to the news, reading about all the music lovers that lost their lives. It wasn't much later that they announced Tom Petty's passing (which of course was retracted and then confirmed again several hours later).
Not only did we feel heavy with grief for our friends and fellow man in Vegas, but, a music giant had left the earth forever. My bass player said it best, "I feel like I lost one of my best friends."
So, Kenny and I were sitting in my living room, talking about Tom Petty and ended up writing this song. It's a tribute to Tom. It's also a song that allowed us to wrestle with the state of the world, and the fear that the mass shooting in Vegas permeated.
"What was it like to be brave? Cause, you never seemed to fray, you never backed down when the trouble came. Well, I don't feel like that, I want that feeling back, cause the body counts rising, and I don't feel free...." - Petty Days
Shannon LaBrie
I wrote "Petty Day's" with my good friend and collaborator Kenny Childers. We got together a few weeks after Tom Petty died and started talking about what a moment in time was that day. Not only is Tom Petty an American songwriting hero of ours (and the rest of America), the announcement of his death was on the same day the mass shooting happened in Las Vegas. I woke up that Monday morning, and out of bad habit I picked up my phone. Instantly, I was stunned and became glued to the news, reading about all the music lovers that lost their lives. It wasn't much later that they announced Tom Petty's passing (which of course was retracted and then confirmed again several hours later).
Not only did we feel heavy with grief for our friends and fellow man in Vegas, but, a music giant had left the earth forever. My bass player said it best, "I feel like I lost one of my best friends."
So, Kenny and I were sitting in my living room, talking about Tom Petty and ended up writing this song. It's a tribute to Tom. It's also a song that allowed us to wrestle with the state of the world, and the fear that the mass shooting in Vegas permeated.
"What was it like to be brave? Cause, you never seemed to fray, you never backed down when the trouble came. Well, I don't feel like that, I want that feeling back, cause the body counts rising, and I don't feel free...." - Petty Days
5 years ago | [YT] | 0