Straight Into Darkness: Tom Petty as Rock Mystic

by Megan Volpert

As Megan Volpert stood over train tracks preparing to surrender to the psychedelic blindness of simple human misery, of all the Heartbreakers tracks available to come through her headphones, “Straight Into Darkness” is the one that did. In this highly philosophical and deeply personal exploration of one obscure Tom Petty song, Volpert’s essays comb through the musical, historical, rhetorical, and sociological implications of a forgotten gem in a legendary catalog with satisfying results.

Through this epic celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the Long After Dark album, Petty and Volpert each emerge as modern mystics who argue that in the face of powerlessness, we rebel anyway. Volpert judges the forty years of Petty’s career with one finger on the pulse of Bob Dylan and an occasional whiff of Bruce Springsteen, looking at the sometimes-violent mob scene of concerts as a type of transcendent communion. Straight Into Darkness offers a compelling vision of rock and roll fandom where the songwriter’s hardworking sense of humor is enough to save us from absurdity. All you need is Albert Camus and a couple of chords.

182 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2022

Reviews

[Gary Anderson]

“Straight Into Darkness” would be considered a deep track on one of Tom Petty’s lesser-appreciated albums, 1982’s Long Before Dark. For author Megan Volpert, “Straight Into Darkness” is her “personal anthem” and the song that she says saved her life. Straight Into Darkness: Tom Petty as Rock Mystic is Volpert’s super-deep dive into the song. In addition to thorough explication of the lyrics, musical structure, and arrangement, Volpert also contextualizes the song in Petty’s career and how it resonates with Albert Camus’s philosophical views. I enjoyed the entire book, but the parts I found most compelling were Volpert’s narratives involving her own experiences as a Pettyhead. This book has to make readers wonder, “Which song is my personal anthem and what all can I say about it?”