re: Should we be celebrating Tom Petty?

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He was a lifelong drug addict

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I think this is too strong. He definitely had a heroin problem in the 1990s that was kept secret until just a couple of years before he died. That isn't all that uncommon for rock and roll, but his developing a (by most reports initial) hard drug problem in his mid-late 40s is relatively unusual. Without question the drug combination that killed him (and, for that matter, Prince not long before that) was initiated by well meaning doctors (and not so well meaning pharmaceutical companies) treating legitimate complaints of pain.

Many, many artists end up with some form of mental health issue, whether it be depression, alcohol, drugs, some combination leading into all that is a matter of resources and availability.

You know who else was a "lifelong drug addict"? The King of fricking Rock and Roll. Despite that (not because of that), he is still regarded as a great artist.

let's get to the point, let's roll another joint

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He was a lifelong drug addict who died of an overdose of powerful opioids combined with fentanyl.

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Lots of very famous musicians have died and still die from drug related causes. Should we not celebrate any of them for what they accomplished musically, despite their flaws?

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Newman was definitely was a transient

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Newman as from New Orleans and at least wrote about Louisiana a fair amount. However, his line "college mean, from LSU - went in dumb, come out dumb too" would seem to mean LSU shouldn't be in a rush to claim him.

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Newman as from New Orleans and at least wrote about Louisiana a fair amount. However, his line "college mean, from LSU - went in dumb, come out dumb too" would seem to mean LSU shouldn't be in a rush to claim him

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In reality, this was a very clever take down of those mocking and demeaning Southerners. If you consider ALL of the lyrics, of course, and not just the truly inflammatory ones.

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In reality, this was a very clever take down of those mocking and demeaning Southerners. If you consider ALL of the lyrics, of course, and not just the truly inflammatory ones.

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Eh. The song certainly is a take down of all sides, but the LSU part is not meant facetiously, IMO.

Just because it turns out the Yankees laughing at Lester Maddux are hypocrites, it does not mean Newman thinks Lester Maddux isn't a shitbag.

So we can’t celebrate musicians who did drugs? Lmao ok

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The song certainly is a take down of all sides, but the LSU part is not meant facetiously, IMO.

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I disagree. Now, the song is in character (and my evidence of this is that Newman is of Jewish ancestry and wrongly believed Cavett was Jewish), but I think he was sincerely rebuking the Cavett interview. Not so much a defense of Maddox, but of the people of Georgia (and more broadly, the South).

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Just because it turns out the Yankees laughing at Lester Maddux are hypocrites, it does not mean Newman thinks Lester Maddux isn't a shitbag.

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Obviously correct, but even in character,

"Well, he may be a fool, but he's our fool
If they think they're better than him, they're wrong"

That's pretty damning. "Lester Maddox is a fool and you fancy New Yorkers are hypocritical fools."

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link?

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The opening verse:

Last night, I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart arse New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well, he may be a fool, but he's our fool
If they think they're better than him, they're wrong
So I went to the park, and I took some paper along
And that's where I made this song

This is clearly and unambiguously a reference to the Dick Cavett appearance by Lester Maddox and Newman has confirmed as much. Dick Cavett is a Gentile from Nebraska.

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Can you provide a link to where RN specifically says he thought DC was Jewish?

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No and perhaps it was the narrator's error, not Newman's. "Jew" is obviously a fun word to work in a rhyme, particularly in a song where you drop about 20 N-bombs.

But that's clearly to whom it is referenced (and the interview which inspired the song), regardless of whether one interprets it as a slur (which I do, albeit a slight one) by the song's "character" and if the mistake is Newman's or the character he created.