I’m Free-eee, Freeee Faaalling!

(Tom Petty’s Free Falling features in Michael’s short lockdown scene in Torpid, a little piece of inspiration while his brain is fritzing.)

It’s a lyric that you just have to sing along with – no holding back, just belt it out. Tom Petty captured something deep inside us that tells of the joy of living, so that for many it reminds us of some magical moment we experienced.

For me, Free Falling evokes all that is beautiful about America.

I was in Dallas for a couple of weeks, helping our US distributor with the local launch of our new product. The senior partner couldn’t go, so I stood in for him on the understanding that a free fall parachute course was part of the deal.

After ground training at Gainesville Airfield, I joined four other students for lunch down the road – the two couples comprised a pair of sisters and their respective husbands. As we drove the short distance to the diner, the boys were already giving one of the girls a really hard time about her accent, and her sister was egging them on.

This girl had one of those terrible screechy voices like nails drawn across a blackboard. Small animals ran in fright when she spoke and glass objects vibrated, ready to shatter. Obvious Team Bully decided that I should be included in the discussion. “So don’t you think she has a terrible voice?”

Fully aware that my very English accent was as overwhelming to Texans as a French person’s would be to me, my reply was obvious. “Please don’t take offence, but as you’ve asked – I think she has one of the sexiest voices I’ve ever heard.”

Their conversation changed to the quality of the food. The thankful glance from their victim made me feel so good about myself.

So here’s another man who was affected by this song. One who knows far more about why.