Great Songs from My Favorite Year in Music: 1985, Part 38

Tom Petty - "Don't Come Around Here No More"



(Single Release: February 1985)
Is it just me, or has Tom Petty always sounded like "classic rock," even as he was creating it? I had always respected Tom Petty, but as a teenager, I wasn't his biggest fan. The same can be said for Bruce, Dylan, and other like minded artists who some would peg as more "adult oriented." With the latter two, it merely took a little bit of time and wisdom to find seats at their vast tables. With Petty, I found access through "Don't Come Around Here No More" (and frankly, a single from three years earlier, "You Got Lucky"). The story behind "Don't Come Around Here No More" may not be as famous, as enigmatic, or even as apocryphal as other hit songs, such as Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight," but it is nothing if not interesting. Co-writer of the song, Dave Stewart (of the Eurythmics), had a purported fling with Stevie Nicks just after she had broken up with yet another member of the Eagles. Maybe she thought if she dated two of them, she could get a third for free. I'm just kidding. Most of this humor is out of sheer jealousy as I've always crushed on Nicks. Anyway, Stewart woke up the morning after a drug-filled party at Nicks' house to find her changing her signature Victorian era clothing and then saying to him the now famous line of the title. Thus, the eastern elements of the song, the mystical nature of it, and the Alice in Wonderland video all speak to that incident and its strangeness. Even more odd, apparently Stevie herself sings backup on the track, maybe as repayment for her 1981 hit, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." Stevie Nicks: queen of the five word title. Other information I've gleaned from the writing of this song seems specious, and the timeline doesn't fit, so I'll ignore it. I used to have this album, Southern Accentson vinyl, but it seems to have gone mysteriously missing. So, it won't be appearing anytime soon in my vinyl highlights. One last thing: it is also in a proud tradition of getting audiences to shout "Hey!" numerous times, later done by the Pixies ("Hey!") and Arcade Fire ("No Cars Go").