Land of Broken Dreams
by Jed Moffitt and Stan Snow

Soon after Tom Petty passed away, Jed Moffitt and I were talking by phone, and unbeknownst to each other, we had both started writing songs about Tom. Mine was already finished (Fallen Hero) but Jed’s was still in the works. I had some ideas, so he let me work on it, and the next thing we knew I was playing it on piano and singing it. Most of the lyric was Jed’s, however, and as he was writing it he was reflecting back to the years of his youth when he used to drive to Tower Records after high school, thumbing through new vinyl albums….scrounging a few bucks to buy the latest Tom Petty. Tom had dreams, just like we all did. Those dreams took him to LA, where the pursuit of dreams either broke people down, or turned a lucky few into legends. Tom inspired us all. Keep the dreams alive!

In the Halcyon days, of platinum and vinyl,
You could lay down your dollars, and be part of a rock star’s dream
You thumbed through the pictures, of the princes who rose
to the top of the rarefied air in this Pyramid Scheme

Rock and roll children in rebellion, couldn’t care less
They were down for the sound, and the chambers of the locked away princess
A squire emerged from the fire, and carried us to heights we’d not seen
He brought us together in the land of broken dreams

Vipers and stoners and frat boys and loners
Conspired together to tether the squire to the stage
The squire became a knight, became a king, and he would sing,
Long after midnight, a wellspring of anthems from the golden age

In the city of the tortured executive, a coronation began to unfold
and the thought he would leave us that night was forever untold
We ransacked the store, and we still wanted more
But the streambed runs dry where the pure water flowed,
Leaving one for the angel of death, and one for the road

Interlude

Where is he now?
this american golden child?
Who gave us his life for a season
and who for some reason our mothers reviled
Who will broker this mexican standoff
As we wait for the world to explode?
Singing one for the angel of death…and one for the road

Stan Snow: Vocals, piano and guitars
Jed Moffitt: Keyboards
Mia Boyle: Backing vocals
Mike Stone: Drums
Chris Symer: Bass
Don Gunn: Mixing
Ed Brooks: Mastering

Copyright 2019 Jed Moffitt BMI and SAS West Music BMI. All rights reserved.