by Ana Carolina Lopes

I think every woman, or everyone really, who loves music has wanted to be Penny Lane at some point. Not the mystical, center of tourism, probably annoyingly disturbing for locals, road in Liverpool. But the 1970’s muse, the band-aid, the one who inspires the music, created by Cameron Crowe in early 2000’s, played by Academy Award nominated actress – for this very role – Kate Hudson.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to be backstage at a concert, talking to the artists, making friends, making contacts, making love, and most of all, being part of history? Who wouldn’t want to have people fall in love with you, especially when they love music as much as you do? I would. Definitely.

There are some who were indeed Penny Lane, who served as muses and got to live that dream. Imagine having such a significant life that people develop a character based on you. I’m talking about Miss Pamela Des Barres and the astonishing, unpredictable and all surprising GTO’s – Miss Mercy, Miss Cynderella, Miss Lucy, Miss Sparky, Miss Christine and Miss Sandra; Bebe Buell, Lori Maddox, Cynthia Plaster Caster and so many more who were unafraid, were unapologetically themselves and engraved their names in the sound walls of rock and roll.

As Miss Penny Lane, the famous band-aid, navigates through the streets and the traffic in front of the notorious Continental Hyatt House (or Riot House, if you will), on the iconic Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, with an inexperienced William Miller (who shares the same last name as Miss Pamela Des Barres, née Miller), to make a great entrance in Crowe’s Oscar winning motion picture, Rod Stewart’s “Every Picture Tells a Story” plays in the background.

The first few notes of the song in the scene start as one of my favorite quotes ever is being spoken. It’s a serious advice. They are words I truly live by and I thank Cameron Crowe for writing them. They are a 101 on how to live life: “Never take it seriously. If you never take it seriously, you never get hurt. If you never get hurt, you always have fun. And if you ever get lonely, just go to the record store and visit your friends”.

But are you in the mood for a love letter? If you do, read the lyrics to “Maggie May”, an associated tune of the soundtrack of this wonderful film. A love letter doesn’t always have to be cute. It has to be honest. Truthful. And there are all kinds of love. This particular love letter is filled with pleading and strength to tell Maggie May (or Penny) like it is.

An older woman and a younger boy. Though I don’t think he would, William could “collect his books and get back to school” instead of going on tour with Stillwater and especially with Penny Lane who, in many ways, “took him away from home just to save her from being alone” – see the “Why doesn’t he love me” scene. And she did end up alone after all, but in her own terms. And he eventually did “get on back home”, also in his own terms (he was already addicted to the beautiful music and a writer, there was nothing mom could do). He had “found himself a rock and roll band that was in need of a helping hand” and guided them on the path to run deep.

He loves her, but he does not fail to mention that she broke his heart, “and that’s what really hurts”. Penny Lane is Maggie May. Maggie May is Penny Lane. And William Miller, and this helter-skelter scene of rock and roll, is everything in between.