Something Good Coming

It's weird how a song will just capture you sometimes. We like songs every day; but every now and then, maybe once every four months-- a song will really, really take you. And I'm not talking about a new song by The Script that is quite cool and everyone likes. I mean, an album version of a song by your favorite singer, or a YouTube cover version with only nine hits that you really really love. It just hits you.

I only found this song today. It's a recent track by Tom Petty, called 'Something Good Coming.' I've literally done nothing all day except listen to it. I think that when you find a song that moves you, really moves you, you need to keep listening to it, you need to figure it out; figure out what it means to you.

I know so well the look on your face

And there’s something lucky about this place

There’s something good coming just over the hill

There’s something good coming I know it will

Is this song important to me, and my life? Is there a feeling that it gives me that I've not been allowing myself? Does it just sound cool? I don't have all the answers-- but I know the way this song makes me feel is something new. It's something slightly different to what has come before. That's the power of music. That's the power of art. It's right there.

Tom Petty fans moan that this video only has 90,000 views when Miley Cyrus has 12 million. But that isn't the point. That isn't why Tom Petty makes music. It isn't a numbers game. This is, clearly, a very personal song for Tom Petty. There's a video on YouTube of him playing it with the band (which won't allow embedding, so I can't bring it here) - but you see how utterly engrossed Petty and the band are, and his little smile at the end when he knows they'll nailed the song. That's the power of music. That's the power of art. It's right there.

In the hands of a lesser singer, or perhaps even Petty earlier in his career - the song would have been something different. It might have been more obvious; more anthemic, more ballad-like. But that's what gets me about this song; it has so much restraint. It has a voice of experience, a voice of maturity, a voice of pain and a voice of love. And it's all rolled into one.

And I know that look that’s on your face
There’s something lucky about this place
There’s something good coming
For you and me
Something good coming
There has to be
I don't know whether you guys like Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, and I don't know whether you'll like this song. I guess it doesn't matter -- what matters is that we all keep an eye out for these types of songs. Songs that speak to us, as individuals, that speak our lives, that give us strength in our lives; and give us the companionship and understanding that sometimes others can't.

And I’m in for the long run

Wherever it goes

Riding the river

Wherever it goes

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