After it occurred on the night of Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017, the tragic Las Vegas shooting causes us as Americans to share our thoughts and prayers, at a time when we have thoughts and prayers for the natural disasters, and our sad state of political affairs and racial divide – at a time when we wonder where are and what are our moral values.
How strange that we look to our late night tv show hosts for hope and inspiration, and articulation of substance. Stephen Colbert’s right – no one will knock thoughts and prayers. But “Think about what you need to do, and then pray for the courage to do it.” – Stephen Colbert. Pray for the will to do more indeed.
Meanwhile, the passing of Tom Petty has been confirmed. This one also came to my mind – the moment during the 2004 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, when Tom Petty and just about everyone did “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” for George Harrison. Of course, that Prince solo – that was just amazing. I’ll embed the video below. Notably, here at triscribe, FC had shared the link to that same video as the soundtrack of the day when Prince had passed away last year. I like to think that Tom Petty is joining Prince and a whole bunch of other musicians – George Harrison and John Lennon, and all of the caboodle – in making sweet music.
I suppose we all have our favorite song from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I remembered listening to “I Won’t Back Down” (okay, and “Free Fallin’“) a lot back in college, which arguably was the last time that I really listened to music (I’m not much of a music person as it is). “I Won’t Back Down,” wasn’t even a song from the 1990s, but it got me in a mood. Actually, come to think of it, a lot of music from Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers got me into moods. I was reminded that the song even got a lot of play back around the time of Sept. 11, 2001, when we probably needed it.
I hope Petty got to know that his music did/does something for us, especially on a day of horror in Las Vegas – don’t back down, people. Don’t give up and do something right.