Tom Petty and Philosophy: We Need to Know

When you think of rock icons, of people who battled the record companies, of people who stand for strong values and musical integrity, it’s entirely possible that Tom Petty isn’t the first name that comes to mind, even though he should. His lexicon of work is soulful and deep and full of complex characters on a quest to find themselves, to improve, or to find their place in the world.

And that gives the authors of Tom Petty and Philosophy plenty of worthwhile raw material to work with. Whether they’re discussing his revelatory personal journey from the album Echo, the strong vein of feminism found throughout his songs, the anticorporate rebel who twice battled the record companies and won, his relationships with his bandmates, the infamous videos for “Don’t Come Around Here No More” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” or the assumptions we make about our life partners, the incredible variety of topics represented by one man’s iconic works speaks to Petty’s marvelous legacy as a performer.

Sure, not every article is a home run; there’s one or two that spend more time showing off their philosophy degrees than discussing Petty’s work. But the vast majority of them are fascinating deep dives into the lyrics and the man who wrote them. This is a finer tribute than any epitaph or obituary I saw penned for Petty after he passed. Any fan, casual or hardcore, should pick this book up and indulge.