you got a heart so big
it could crush this town
-Petty
I think I used that tune as a lead in about five years ago, and wrote something about the heart .. how some claim that it has intuitive properties much like the brain and is capable of influencing reason, spirit and behavior. Most doctors would point out that it’s really just pumping blood, but don’t get me started on them. There must be a reason all those old sayings came to be. How you’ve got to follow it and be true to it. Heck, how you’ve just got to have it. The kids use it in their language today as a literal and mocking translation for the annoying emoticon symbols that crept up years ago. They’ll say “I heart cupcakes” using the “heart” effectively in place of “love” and as a slap in the face to the whole lol, brb, and lmao text culture (as well as NYC shopping bags and countless bumper stickers.) Most people over the age of thirty probably wouldn’t even get this, but fortunately I’ve regressed. And I hold it as singular proof of hope for this generation – a one word “f*ck you” to cutesy computer shorthand and powerful affirmation of this heavyweight vital organ.
The tune is “Walls (No. 3)” from the “She’s The One” soundtrack ..an interesting example of something I wrote below; that the observer often brings more to the table than the creator. In this case the observer was Tom Petty, and the creator Ed Burns, who asked Petty to do the soundtrack for his film. The film was a colossal piece of sh*t, but Petty wrote at least a few accompanying tunes that were as good as anything he’s ever done. The opening lines alone are fairly brilliant: some days are diamonds / some days are rocks / some doors are open / some roads are blocked. He keeps it simple, uses an unexpected rhyme scheme, and transitions into sundowns are golden / then fade away. It’s as if Rainman got in Nick Drake’s head and made everything all right. But what I really like about the tune is the power that the protagonist attributes to his object of affection’s heart; that it could crush this town. Don’t always assume that just because you’re dealing with a big heart, it will rule in your favor. And like the boy says, even walls fall down.
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