T or F: If Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers had written and recorded "You May Be Right" instead of Billy Joel, it would have been among their best songs and greatest achievements

Sleeping With the Television On

― PappaWheelie V, Saturday, 22 March 2008 03:03 (5 years ago) Permalink

your eyes are saying talk to me, talk to me, but your attitude's all don't waste my time.

― Pleasant Plains, Saturday, 22 March 2008 03:07 (5 years ago) Permalink

what awful TV show was this the theme song to???

― 69, Saturday, 22 March 2008 04:02 (5 years ago) Permalink

ilm

― PappaWheelie V, Saturday, 22 March 2008 04:05 (5 years ago) Permalink

Okay look, I...have nothing but the greatest respect for the Billy Joel version of this but Tom Petty can just go suck pixie sticks for all I care.

― Bimble, Saturday, 22 March 2008 04:33 (5 years ago) Permalink

i think bimble is in a category of his own.

-- s1ocki, Friday, March 21, 2008 4:47 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

― PappaWheelie V, Saturday, 22 March 2008 04:40 (5 years ago) Permalink

what awful TV show was this the theme song to???

DAVE'S WORLD!!!!

― Curt1s Stephens, Saturday, 22 March 2008 05:50 (5 years ago) Permalink

I had totally forgotten about that shit!

― Curt1s Stephens, Saturday, 22 March 2008 05:50 (5 years ago) Permalink

p.s. not a Billy Joel fan but this song is great

same with Petty and "Don't Come Around Here No More" (well, okay, I like "Free Falling" too)

― Curt1s Stephens, Saturday, 22 March 2008 05:51 (5 years ago) Permalink

Actually I can kinda picture this Tom Petty "You May Be Right," it would have been pretty great!

― Doctor Casino, Friday, 4 December 2009 18:34 (3 years ago) Permalink

still always wonder what the heartbreakers version of "boys of summer" would have been like if petty hadn't passed on it

― Mountain Dewm (M@tt He1ges0n), Friday, 4 December 2009 19:17 (3 years ago) Permalink

Tom Petty is the bizzaro Don Henley. That's fitting.

― Daniel, Esq., Friday, 4 December 2009 19:20 (3 years ago) Permalink

Petty would probably not have used the "II remember when I made you scream" line.

― Hell is other people. In an ILE film forum. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 4 December 2009 19:22 (3 years ago) Permalink

Or name-checked "bad" neighborhoods in Boston and New York.

But also the whole "but hey ahm just a wild'n'crazy guy imo" schtick... eh.

― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Friday, 4 December 2009 19:28 (3 years ago) Permalink

petty's version would have gone more like

Honey don't walk out, I'm too drunk to follow
You know you won't feel this way tomorrow...

― hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Friday, 4 December 2009 19:38 (3 years ago) Permalink

i just can't believe your guitar player comes to you with that song and you're like "nah give it to henley"

actually petty did say it was a dumb move in the documentary

― Mountain Dewm (M@tt He1ges0n), Friday, 4 December 2009 19:40 (3 years ago) Permalink

If Snoop Dogg had written Da Brat's "Funkdafied"...

― Action Orientation (Eazy), Friday, 4 December 2009 19:50 (3 years ago) Permalink

If CCR had written and recorded "Witchy Woman" instead of the Eagles...

― chocolatepiekid, Friday, 4 December 2009 20:00 (3 years ago) Permalink

petty's version would have gone more like

Honey don't walk out, I'm too drunk to follow
You know you won't feel this way tomorrow...

― hellzapoppa (tipsy mothra), Friday, December 4, 2009

lol and otm and it IS a great song

― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Friday, 4 December 2009 20:04 (3 years ago) Permalink

petty would have killed it with "sunset grill"

― Mountain Dewm (M@tt He1ges0n), Friday, 4 December 2009 20:06 (3 years ago) Permalink

If CCR had written and recorded "Witchy Woman" instead of the Eagles...
yessss. i think this might go for a lot of Eagles songs. If Television had written "Hotel California" ... If Neil Young had written "Desperado" ... Dunno if they'd be their "best songs" but it'd be interesting!

― tylerw, Friday, 4 December 2009 20:19 (3 years ago) Permalink

woah tyler just blew my ~~mind~~

― jazzgasms (Mr. Que), Friday, 4 December 2009 20:20 (3 years ago) Permalink

haha. i think there was an ongoing joke on some Television message board about them doing "Hotel California." I can almost hear it!

― tylerw, Friday, 4 December 2009 20:24 (3 years ago) Permalink

i can totally hear it

― jazzgasms (Mr. Que), Friday, 4 December 2009 20:25 (3 years ago) Permalink

What's this about, artists who were good nuts-and-bolts songwriters but culturally bland?

― B'wana Beast, Friday, 4 December 2009 20:39 (3 years ago) Permalink

Good songs, too-arch performances, I think. Basically comes down to "do you like the Eagles."

If Steve Miller Band had written and recorded "Life In The Fast Lane" instead of the Eagles...

― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 5 December 2009 04:19 (3 years ago) Permalink

If the Marshall Tucker Band had written and recorded "Already Gone" instead of the Eagles, it would have been among their best songs and greatest achievements.

― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 17 March 2012 04:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

If Tom Petty had been taking a long nap on his couch on May 17 1987 it would have been among his greatest accomplishments

― sleepingbag, Saturday, 17 March 2012 05:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

I can't imagine that happening, but what an interesting question. I know people who wouldn't listen to this song if it were Tom Petty!

― โตเกียวเหมียวเหมียว aka Manischewitz (Mount Cleaners), Saturday, 17 March 2012 05:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

If Tom Petty had written and recorded "You Know You're Right"...

― "marvellously inoffensive" (Eazy), Saturday, 17 March 2012 07:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

"You May Be Right" is fine as-is & I can't imagine a Petty version. I say that as someone who likes Tom Petty a LOT more than Billy Joel.

― Sexess - Sexual Success Or; Successful Sex (crüt), Saturday, 17 March 2012 10:24 (1 year ago) Permalink

I think it's bluddy awful, but hey.

― Mark G, Saturday, 17 March 2012 10:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

Very disappointed there is tolerance, let alone enthusiasm for this song on ILM.

― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 17 March 2012 15:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

When I was like 22, I drove to NYC to visit. I got lost leaving Brooklyn, got behind an ambulance that said BEDFORD-STUYVESANT on the back and went whoa... I'm driving through the Bedford-Stuy alone!

― pplains, Saturday, 17 March 2012 15:33 (1 year ago) Permalink

Anyway, I can't picture Roger McGuinn Petty singing any of those mudda and fadda lyrics from Long Island. Would love to see a Petty video where he appears a ghost to a suicidal teen and plays a snippet of "Even the Losers" on the harmonica for him.

― pplains, Saturday, 17 March 2012 15:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

This is music for Delaware County, PA rapists.

― _Rudipherous_, Saturday, 17 March 2012 15:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

What music do the rapists in Montgomery County listen to?

― pplains, Saturday, 17 March 2012 15:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

any time i hear "Marshall Tucker," i always think of this Howard Stern sketch (recorded not long after Toy Caldwell died):

― kurwa mać (Polish for "long life") (Eisbaer), Saturday, 17 March 2012 20:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

seriously, whatever Tom Petty's other faults may be he simply doesn't possess Billy Joel's smug, innate nastiness = he'd never even think of recording something like "you may be right"

― kurwa mać (Polish for "long life") (Eisbaer), Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

ha -- he's done it repeatedly!

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

he's just better at it

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

Yeah "You Got Lucky" ups the ante on "You May Be Right." what saves it from smugness is the hurt in the vocal. It's a wounded guy lashing out at a girl who's already gone.

― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:13 (1 year ago) Permalink

I was hoping you'd jump in here, tips.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

the premise of this song is such bull, "You May Be Right" would be one of the weakest songs on Petty's GH if it was on there

― some dude, Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

when I first heard the song as a kid I imagined some fat, dirty, smelly biker guy with a mustache and long, unkempt hair was singing this song.

shocked me when I first saw the video and saw Billy Joel singing it

― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:34 (1 year ago) Permalink

billy joel has the psyche of a fat, dirty, smelly biker dude with a mustache and long, unkempt hair.

― kurwa mać (Polish for "long life") (Eisbaer), Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

and sartorially he seems to fancy himself the Fifth Ramone ... sunglasses, black leather biker jacket, blue jeans.

― kurwa mać (Polish for "long life") (Eisbaer), Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

Billy Joel now looks like a fat, dirty, smelly biker guy with a mustache and long, unkempt hair.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 17 March 2012 21:53 (1 year ago) Permalink

tbh, back in the day billy joel seemed to fancy himself a greasy NYC tough -- like this video, where Billy and crew morph from looking they walked offa the set of either mean streets or the warriors into the slick 1970s NYC studio hobbits that they really were:

#!

― kurwa mać (Polish for "long life") (Eisbaer), Saturday, 17 March 2012 22:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

tom petty vs. billy joel poll?

― sleepingbag, Saturday, 17 March 2012 22:41 (1 year ago) Permalink

LISTEN, that's simply the greatest segue in 70s videos. "Yo, Vito. Let's get movin'. Cetera's waiting for us back in the studio!"

― pplains, Sunday, 18 March 2012 00:34 (1 year ago) Permalink

LET'S SEE OL' MR. THE WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART PULL SOMETHING LIKE THIS OFF.

― pplains, Sunday, 18 March 2012 00:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

otm, also never seen that video before - awesome.

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 18 March 2012 00:45 (1 year ago) Permalink

ok that video is kinda neat ... it also gets right to what a scuzz BJ is.

― kurwa mać (Polish for "long life") (Eisbaer), Sunday, 18 March 2012 05:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

lol compare that song with "Elstree" by the Buggles - songs from 1980 with responsporial vocals that go "O-o-o-o" or "O-o-o."

― timellison, Sunday, 18 March 2012 06:32 (1 year ago) Permalink

Oh man, I love ''Elstree'' and wd buy a comp of only such songs

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 18 March 2012 06:34 (1 year ago) Permalink

lene lovich's "lucky number" pretty much reigns high and mighty over that particular singing tic, does it not?!?

― kurwa mać (Polish for "long life") (Eisbaer), Sunday, 18 March 2012 06:56 (1 year ago) Permalink

Just listened to that - great song, but different kind of "oh ooh OHHH" I'd say.

― Doctor Casino, Sunday, 18 March 2012 15:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

xp The music, vocal melody and production of "You Got Lucky" are a million times more enjoyable than anything in "You May Be Right."

― billstevejim, Sunday, 18 March 2012 16:20 (1 year ago) Permalink

Speaking of "Sometimes a Fantasy," as much as I love Tom Petty, I don't think he has the strength to do this to a piano:

― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Sunday, 18 March 2012 16:40 (1 year ago) Permalink

That's true, "You Got Lucky" has aged well.

― โตเกียวเหมียวเหมียว aka Colored on TV! (Mount Cleaners), Sunday, 18 March 2012 16:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've never disliked You Got Lucky.. I'm not sure why it's been used here for comparison.

― billstevejim, Sunday, 18 March 2012 16:56 (1 year ago) Permalink

How weird it is to see the "You Got Lucky" video today... a young Tom Petty & Heartbreakers finding 30-year-old video games and music equipment. Only change they'd need to make is to have them drive up in a PT Cruiser.

― pplains, Sunday, 18 March 2012 17:53 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've never disliked You Got Lucky.. I'm not sure why it's been used here for comparison.

I mentioned it just cuz it's sort of thematically similar to "You May Be Right" -- both are basically assertions of "Hey, I'm pretty awesome" to obviously skeptical women.

― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 18 March 2012 18:08 (1 year ago) Permalink

(And I've always liked the video's complete lack of engagement with the lyrics. It's endearing and makes me wish there had been a Saturday morning cartoon featuring a time-traveling Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.)

― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Sunday, 18 March 2012 18:09 (1 year ago) Permalink

idk "You May Be Right" to me comes across as "I'm a piece of crap, but c'mon, you know you really love me..and besides some of my craziness is your fault".

― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Sunday, 18 March 2012 18:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

xpost

― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Sunday, 18 March 2012 18:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

What exactly is Billy's problem in that clip? The audience just seem to be grooving.

― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Monday, 19 March 2012 18:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

The show was part of Billy's USSR tour, and was being filmed for a documentary/home video release. The lighting crew/director kept bringing up the house lights on the audience in order to get crowd shots. It distracted Billy, obviously, but his claim was that he didn't want the audience to feel like Soviet cops were watching them.

― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 19 March 2012 18:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

Also, those Yamaha electric pianos weigh as much as Rhode Island. Billy must've turned into the Hulk or something.

― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 19 March 2012 18:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

HULK JOEL TAKES SHIT FROM NOBODY

― pplains, Monday, 19 March 2012 18:41 (1 year ago) Permalink

i fucking hate this song so much

― JIM THOMETHEUS (zachlyon), Monday, 19 March 2012 18:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

Friday night HULK SMASH YOUR PARTY
Saturday, Hulk say HULK SORRY
Sunday came,
HULK SMASH IT OUT AGAIN

― Doctor Casino, Monday, 19 March 2012 18:51 (1 year ago) Permalink

lol

― EZ Snappin, Monday, 19 March 2012 18:55 (1 year ago) Permalink

hahaha

― pplains, Monday, 19 March 2012 18:56 (1 year ago) Permalink

irl lol

― we can be gyros just for one day (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Monday, 19 March 2012 18:56 (1 year ago) Permalink

If CCR had written and recorded "Witchy Woman" instead of the Eagles...
― chocolatepiekid, Friday, 4 December 2009 20:00 (2 years ago) Permalink

I can sorta hear Petty singing You Might Be Right, and it would sorta work, but what I really want to hear is ^^^

― On the sidelines in a trash can grumping (Dan Peterson), Monday, 19 March 2012 20:18 (1 year ago) Permalink

okay full confession: I did not know Kool G Rap's "Road to the Riches" was built around a Billy Joel sample

― the sir edmund hillary of sitting through pauly shore films (Shakey Mo Collier), Monday, 19 March 2012 20:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

I don't know if it would be the best thing ever, but this thread is making me wish I could hear Petty covering this tune. He released a live box set with a ton of covers recently, so I guess it could still happen. Someone should send him this thread.

― o. nate, Monday, 19 March 2012 20:28 (1 year ago) Permalink

I actually had the idea one night listening to some prog song that it could be converted to the chiming guitars and McGuinn-isms of Petty. I think it was "Northern Lights" by Renaissance, but I just listened to that, and I must have been high.

― On the sidelines in a trash can grumping (Dan Peterson), Monday, 19 March 2012 20:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

okay full confession: I did not know Kool G Rap's "Road to the Riches" was built around a Billy Joel sample

Yeah! That's the one being played at the beginning of the "My Life" video upthread.

― pplains, Monday, 19 March 2012 20:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

"You May Be Right" as is would fit right in on a Johnny Cougar (Mellancamp) album like American Fool or Uh Huh, when his sound was pretty much cold tapping the Stones before he brought in the violin and the accordion. I definitely think "You May Be Right" has a big time Stones sound especially with the harp and beat.

I think it is a pretty good rock and roll tune, there is just the automatic flinch factor that it is the dude that did "Piano Man".

― earlnash, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 00:16 (1 year ago) Permalink

if looks could kill, this dude's face is genocide

― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 01:29 (1 year ago) Permalink

hodor

― balls, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 02:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

There is definitely some Stones in "You May Be Right" - also some "new wave". Check out his outfit on the cover of the single:

Other bands who might be able to do interesting covers of "You May Be Right": The Cars, Elvis Costello

― o. nate, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

That pic above but one: Who painted a face on a lightbulb?

― Mark G, Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

daaaaamn Joan Jett was mannish in '80.

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 20 March 2012 14:26 (1 year ago) Permalink

Man, just listened to the first side of Glass Houses for the first time in a while - it's pretty damned solid. Nobody's idea of a great new wave record but as far as pop-rock goes I'd rate it decently. Wouldn't say it's his best but I think it's underrated within his catalogue.

― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 29 March 2012 02:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

dunno about Tom Petty, but somebody coulda really gone somewhere with this - good material on this record!

― Doctor Casino, Friday, 30 March 2012 02:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

^^^^ The standout gem on this record, along w/the rarely discussed Don't Ask Me Why. Still have unabashed love for this record more than 30 years after first buying it.

― jpattzlovevampz 2 hours ago (Phil D.), Friday, 30 March 2012 13:22 (1 year ago) Permalink