September 14, 2026
I am often tickled to find out where certain song lyrics come from. I just read that Tom Petty credits George Harrison for saving one of his best songs. Tom had a lyric that went, "I'm standing at the edge of the world," and George heard it and said, "What the hell does that mean?" so Tom said he re-attacked the song and changed the lyric to, "There ain't no easy way out," and THAT my friend, is the key line that sets up the entire premise in "I Won't Back Down."
I Ain't No Ex-President's Son!
In another backstory about lyrics, we learn that John Fogerty was livid when he heard that the grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, got a "quiet deferment" during the Vietnam War when all of us Boomer Boys were given I-A status and threatened with being drafted. Fogerty wrote, "Fortunate Son" for Credence Clearwater Revival and the rest is chart topping history. Well, he did change the status of the draft dodger. . .
"I ain't no senator's son. . ."
—John Fogerty, "Fortunate Son"
"Life is the art of drawing without an eraser." but you can change the direction of the line! An Old Timer taught me that!
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