EPISODE · Oct 15, 2025 · 24 MIN
Joe
This is top tier songwriting for me. When you have a platform and you can take a risk by punching up at people who have power, I think it’s good to do it now and again. If you can take that polemic and wrap it in a powerful, simple, stomping track like Joe, then I’m all in. There’s a theatrical element to the song that you could easily imagine fitting a full broadway production. You could see the lights strobe out on those relentless kicks, while Joe, with crooked yellowing teeth and a Fagin-esque grotesqueness, is lit from beneath in red as he slobbers and snarls his way through his commercial wet dream. Joe isn’t just a great track, it’s one of the songs that glues this entire album together. With no villains, there can be no heroes - and we will get a hero late in the piece - so Joe is the essential leviathan lurking in the shadows of the story.Check out the song here : https://youtu.be/KBqPLw_6XD8Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyprojectListen: https://pod.link/1580769475All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comA special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve UrsellSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What this episode covers
This is top tier songwriting for me. When you have a platform and you can take a risk by punching up at people who have power, I think it’s good to do it now and again. If you can take that polemic and wrap it in a powerful, simple, stomping track like Joe, then I’m all in. There’s a theatrical element to the song that you could easily imagine fitting a full broadway production. You could see the lights strobe out on those relentless kicks, while Joe, with crooked yellowing teeth and a Fagin-esque grotesqueness, is lit from beneath in red as he slobbers and snarls his way through his commercial wet dream. Joe isn’t just a great track, it’s one of the songs that glues this entire album together. With no villains, there can be no heroes - and we will get a hero late in the piece - so Joe is the essential leviathan lurking in the shadows of the story.Check out the song here : https://youtu.be/KBqPLw_6XD8Don't forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyprojectListen: https://pod.link/1580769475All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.comA special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.Producer: Kevin BrownExecutive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve UrsellSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Joe
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