The Last DJ

Lyrics

The last DJ
Well you can't turn him into a company man
You can't turn him into a whore
And the boys upstairs just don't understand anymore
Well the top brass don't like him talking so much,
And he won't play what they say to play
And he don't want to change what don't need to change

There goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey? 

And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice
There goes the last DJ 

Well some folks say they're gonna hang him so high
'Cause you just can't do what he did
There are some things you just can't put in the minds of those kids

As we celebrate mediocrity all the boys upstairs want to see
How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free

There goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey? 

And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice
And there goes the last DJ

Well he got him a station down in Mexico
And sometimes it'll kind of come in
And I'll bust a move and remember how it was back then

And there goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play
And says what he wants to say, hey hey hey? 

And there goes your freedom of choice
There goes the last human voice.
And there goes the last DJ

History

The song "The Last Dj" was written by Tom Petty and performed by him and the Heartbreakers. The song was released September 23, 2002 and was said to be influenced by a story of a Dj from Jacksonville, FL who moved to Mexico after becoming feed up with being limited on what he could play.

The Message

The message behind "The Last Dj" is that the music industry is turning its artist into slaves and as time goes on eventually only what the music industry allows will be played, that's where the reference "The Last Dj" comes from. The fear artist's creativity being completely restricted to the point where their lyrics don't even mean anything anymore to them. Music is meant for not just the artist but for he/she listeners and listener respond better to  authenticity because that raw emotion is what makes the music real and relatable. Putting guidelines on musicians are only gonna harm the music industry in the long run and that's what Tom Petty was trying to convey in his song.