#TP's responsibility in the album and tour etc.

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

RE: my last reblog, no, I will never get over the fact that Southern Accents was supposed to be a concept album and it failed because these lazy landlords (that’s a valid insult that I hope catches on) who were high out of their minds decided to let someone else take over the project and nixed at least two songs that were SUPPOSED TO HELP SUPPORT THE CONCEPT OF THE ALBUM ITSELF. Like, what– who the fuck does that!!! Who the fuck says, ‘Okay y’all, this is gonna be a concept album,’ and then goes, ‘LOL Oh fuck, I’m way too high for this, let someone else figure out the track listing/order for the album’ and then lets them irreversibly screw up the entire concept OF THE CONCEPT ALBUM. (Tom Petty did, that’s who.) It still blows my mind that, in spite of the way the theme of the album was originally supposed to be centered around the American South (a veritably white, racist, and romanticized version of it, of course), only two songs on the whole album could really be argued to reflect that theme, and yet they also still kept the title and the Southern iconography (including the confederate flag. People, if YOU don’t say it, I FUCKING WILL) as part of their marketing approach for it. Like. God damn. The album might as well have been burned in hellfire for the way it succeeded in any of its initial intentions (which is to say it didn’t succeed, so it should’ve been scrapped).

Tbh I know I usually blame J*mmy *ov*ne and Dave Stewart for the way Southern Accents turned out, but it was absolutely 100% Tom’s fault. Part of my bias towards Jimmy bleeds over from Long After Dark to be honest so that IS my own personal salt, but the fact that Tom handed over producer responsibilities to Dave and then Jimmy is what fucked them over. TOM was to blame for it. And I just. *throws up hands*

Oh, and since I referenced it earlier in the post, TOM WAS THE ONE WHO OKAYED THEM USING THE CONFEDERATE FLAG DURING THE PACK UP THE PLANTATION TOUR. TP made those decisions, in spite of what he said in that 2015 RS article. PLEASE understand the way racism in America works. Rewriting history is the point whether it’s your uncle who casually does it and condones it, or it’s a famous rock star who does it; THAT’S HOW SYSTEMIC RACISM ENDURES. If you aren’t aware of the past AND if you don’t regularly practice critical thinking skills, you make yourself more susceptible to believing anyone’s take on it. But you can’t do that, especially not from the man who said “Damn the torpedoes is a slang term for full speed ahead.” 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 (And to any TPATH fans reading this who want to argue with me about TP’s racism: no, it is not okay to bring up Steve Ferrone as ‘evidence’ against that idea. DO NOT. Seriously, Steve does NOT deserve to be thrown under the bus for that, and I implore you to NEVER disrespect Steve or any Black man in favor of defending a white man’s racism. If your instinct to protect a white man’s use of racism - in this case, a firmly and historically racist symbol - is so strong that you overlook the way non-white people have suffered over the glorification of that racism, no matter what “great” white man did it, YOU are racist and YOU are protecting and upholding the interests of white supremacy. But to be fair, if that is your instinct and you do actually see and want to acknowledge the way it’s hurt non-white people, you can work against that instinct by humbling yourself to accept that you were born into a society that systemically favors whiteness, so you are and always will be inherently racist; BUT YOU CAN WORK TO UNLEARN THOSE PREFERENCES BY BEING ANTI-RACIST, as well as acknowledging that unlearning those instincts is a lifelong process that will never be fully complete. You have to be willing to do the work. But for your sake, I hope you choose to, and if you’d like to talk with me more about this, send me an ask or an IM.)