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* One day, I suddenly understood these Tom Petty lyrics…
Somewhere, somehow somebody
Must’ve kicked you around some
Tell me why you want to lay there
And revel in your abandon
Honey, it don’t make no difference to me, baby
Everybody’s had to fight to be free
You see you don’t have to live like a refugee
Now baby you don’t have to live like a refugee
The song came on the car radio and I sang the lyrics to a friend of mine who just couldn’t get his act together. I didn’t do it to taunt him or to be mean, but to try and help him understand what he was doing to himself because all of his friends were worried about him.
I was in college at the time, but a couple of years later, I realized I was doing the very same thing. I’d been bouncing around with no direction, no plan, no ideas for a plan. Reveling in my abandon. And the clock was ticking…
* CBS…
Tom Petty, the rocker best known as the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is dead at 66, CBS News has confirmed.
The legendary musician suffered a full cardiac arrest and was found unconscious and not breathing in his Malibu home Sunday night. He was taken to UCLA Santa Monica Hospital and put on life support, reports TMZ.
* The Question: Your favorite Tom Petty song?
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:23 pm
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My first concert was Petty, with Lenny Kravitz opening. Free Fallin’ will be my favorite.
Comment by 360 Degree TurnAround Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:25 pm
Learning to Fly. It’s a simple one, and more commercial, but the words really hit me once and they’ve stuck with me. He wrote it with politics in the background, so it’s kind of fitting for this site.
Well some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I’ve started out for God knows where
I guess I’ll know when I get there
I’m learning to fly, around the clouds
But what goes up must come down
Comment by twist Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:29 pm
Wow, so incredibly sad. Will always regret passing my chance to see him in concert this last summer.
“You Wreck Me.”
Comment by Boone's is Back Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:30 pm
“last night” traveling w’s
Comment by roy Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:30 pm
“Runnin’ Down A Dream.” One of the top open road songs of all time.
Comment by Count Floyd Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:32 pm
What twist said
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:33 pm
“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” but on another day I might say “Refugee” or “Free Fallin’”
Comment by yinn Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:33 pm
“American Girl” for both me and my daughter.
Comment by We'll See Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:34 pm
This really bummed me out. Such a great song writer, so many great ones it is hard to choose. Probably “Don’t come around here no more.” Honorable mention to “Yet so Bad” and “Southern Accents.”
Comment by Reaganing Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:34 pm
I have come to appreciate Tom Petty more in the last few years. So sorry I never got a chance to see him in concert.
Today has gone from really bad to worse.
Comment by Because I said so.... Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:34 pm
Wildflowers. You belong somewhere you feel free.
Comment by Emily Miller Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:34 pm
So many great songs, so distinct. Favorites are “Rebels”, “Even the Losers” and “Runaway Trains”.
Comment by Stooges Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:37 pm
“Don’t come around here no more.”
When I hear it - I’m 18 again (I wish)!
Comment by WhoKnew Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:39 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlTJrNJ5lA
I won’t back down.
Comment by Farm boy Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:40 pm
Don’t Come Around Here No More …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m576G3UWUCU
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:41 pm
Don’t come around here no more and I won’t back down are two of my favorites. He had talent, he will be missed.
So many deaths of those I grew up listening to, watching and a few I have met that influenced me. Makes me realize my own mortality.
Comment by FormerParatrooper Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:41 pm
This news is just crushing. A legend lost. Yer So Bad, I Won’t Back Down, or just about all of Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1.
Comment by On the other hand Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:43 pm
Saw him in concert around 1990 in Carbondale. Great show. Always liked American Girl. I also liked his Traveling Wilburys music too–what a great collection of artists.
Comment by Steve Rogers Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:43 pm
Breakdown. That song always gets me. Who would’ve thought Bob Dylan would outlive 3 of the 5 Wilbury’s?
Comment by SweetLou86 Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:44 pm
The Waiting…especially the live version
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:44 pm
“Shadow of a Doubt” - usually rock & roll guys have the exact opposite reaction to smart, independent women (and it’s tuneful as heck).
Comment by lake county democrat Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:45 pm
Runnin’ Down a Dream
Comment by My New Handle Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:47 pm
It wasn’t my favorite, but today its tragically fitting and sad, ‘A Face in the Crowd’.
Comment by blue dog dem Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:47 pm
American Girl
Free Falling a close second
Comment by The Way I See It Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:47 pm
I’m answering the best I can, as I have freely admitted I lack in musical aptitude and know enough to look really foolish discussing it.
The movie “She’s the One” by Edward Burns had as its soundtrack songs by Tom Petty allowing the film to have a consistent musical feel throughout.
It’s not a film I consider all that great or special, or even Edward Burns’ best work as a writer, director or actor, individually or as a collective, but the music Tom Petty had for what Burns cobbled together in his film was really great and made the film so much better.
To that “Walls (Circus)” would be the song I’d choose, which may or may not make much sense to others, but like I said, music isn’t my wheel house, but Petty’s work with Edward Burns and “She’s the One” really stuck with me, along with the Petty catalog that my appreciation to is limited to my lacking in music awareness.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:48 pm
Here Comes My Girl
(especially the “watch her walk” aside)
Comment by northsider (the original) Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:48 pm
Wow, this day can’t get any worse. ‘Last Dance’ and ‘Yer so Bad’ top my favorites.
Comment by Sheeesh Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:51 pm
Woman in Love
Insider
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:52 pm
Part of the first Farm Aid back in 1985 in Champaign …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xSPnHUbRNk&list=PLNVdgfOEXnVprNK5MN-R27IuM4m76B_AH
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:53 pm
===especially the “watch her walk” aside===
Yeah, man.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:54 pm
Free fallin’
Runnin’ down a dream
Won’t back down
Comment by alas Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:56 pm
Refugee
Petty was amazing
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:57 pm
American Girl, Here Comes My Girl, Listen to Her Heart
Comment by Flynn's mom Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:58 pm
Swingin’
Comment by Anoniphone Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 3:58 pm
Mary Janes Last Dance…Godspeed
Comment by Loop Lady Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:00 pm
As a MTV kid, “You Got Lucky” and its post-apocalyptic video will always be up there.
Comment by City Zen Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:00 pm
Breakdown. Simple, straightforward rock.
Go ahead, give it to me.
Comment by The Doc Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:02 pm
Walls. And them maybe Zombie Zoo.
:-(
Sad day.
Comment by Anon Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:02 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SFNW5F8K9Y
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:06 pm
Breakdown. And close behind with a totally different feel and sound, Wildflowers.
Comment by Responsa Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:09 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNxfPAF1frM
Comment by btowntruth from forgottonia Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:09 pm
Refugee
Don’t Come Around Here No More
You’re Jammin’ Me
Comment by SAP Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:12 pm
I only like one of his songs, yet it is one of my favorite songs of all time…American Girl.
Comment by JS Mill Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:12 pm
I also go with Runnin Down a Dream
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qv4-m-cIZf4
Comment by Joe M Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:12 pm
yer so bad
Summerfest in Milwaukee will never be the same
Comment by frisbee Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:16 pm
I have Full Moon Fever on vinyl and didn’t hear the CD version until years later. Halfway through the CD, he explains that they will pause because people who have the album on vinyl would be getting up to flip it over about now. It is an absurd little anachronism that still makes me chuckle.
Comment by SAP Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:17 pm
Impossible for me to pick just. Best I can do is narrow down to three. You Tell Me, Even The Losers and Runnin’ Down A Dream.
RIP, Mr. Petty.
Comment by TRH Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:18 pm
I’ll be the boy in the corduroy pants
You be the girl at the high school dance
Run with me wherever I go
And just play dumb, whatever you know
Oh, yeah, you wreck me, baby
You break me in two
But you move me, honey
Yes you do
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:20 pm
A Face in the Crowd
Yer So Bad
What a great talent. So glad I was able to enjoy him live.
Comment by X Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:20 pm
I live close enough to Wrigley and the wind was just right this summer I could open my windows and hear most of the concert.
I think I might have liked him best as Lucky on King of the Hill.
Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:22 pm
Mary Jane’s Last Dance, a favorite to play. So long, Tom…
Comment by Ken_in_Aurora Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:24 pm
Here comes my girl
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:24 pm
Caught between the longing for love
And the struggle for the legal tender
Comment by proudstatetrooper Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:29 pm
Here Comes My Girl
Comment by swILL Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:30 pm
Oh no! Just learned the news by clicking on Cap Fax…. this is really sad. So many great songs… a true artist. I love Breakdown, but my anthem has to be Won’t Back Down. Listened to it many times over the past two years.
Comment by pawn Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:33 pm
Free Fallin’
I was 12 or 13 when the video came out and I truly believed that what life was like in southern California. What an amazing music video.
Comment by Red Ranger Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:34 pm
He did an acoustic version of Won’t Back Down on TV after 9-11. I remember being confused, scared, and unsure of anything that day, but as soon as I heard him sing that, I felt comfort.
This one stings.
Comment by A State Employee Guy Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:37 pm
I thought I had a favorite, but then I see one posted above and I’m like, “oh yeah, that one!” and “oh yeah, that one!”
Too many great ones.
Comment by Flippy Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:37 pm
It’s Good to be King (if just for a while)
Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around w/ Stevie Nicks
Comment by friendofthedevil Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:40 pm
well, i never get titles right, but Great Wide Open? Free Fallin? Runnin down a dream? I can’t pick. love them all I”m sad I never saw him in concert, love that my husband did. also love the Traveling Wilburys. this is a super sad day for music lovers. Somebody hold Steve Nicks very close because no doubt she is super, super sad right now.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:41 pm
“Runnin’ Down a Dream,” loved it for years, finally have a car worthy of the tune. RIP, Tom.
Comment by Shamrockery Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:41 pm
“Won’t back down” is a good one, and reportedly Tom Petty admitted once that he liked Johnny Cash’s cover more than his original version.
Comment by Flippy Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:45 pm
I was at Memorial Stadium for this one. Like kids playing in the garage; Bob, Willie, Tom and the Heartbreakers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je9MZYOywho
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:46 pm
So many great ones.
You Wreck Me
Don’t Fade on Me
Comment by anonlurker Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:47 pm
It appears CBS jumped the gun.
Lesson for you young journalists out there; best to get it right, instead of “first.”
Comment by wordslinger Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 4:59 pm
I saw him numerous times with Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead. I’d have to credit Stevie Nicks, but their duet of, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” gets my pick.
Comment by Dead Head Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 5:11 pm
I feel dead inside at the moment. I know it won’t last, but this hits hard.
As to the qotd, I don’t think I could answer this with one song, or even a dozen. Between his solo work, the Heartbreakers, the Traveling Wilburys, and Mudcrutch, he must have dozens of songs that qualify as my favorite.
But my first favorite, the song that made me a Tom Petty fan from the first moment I heard it, is Mary Jane’s Last Dance.
But I love it all.
My heart is aching. I’ll miss you, Tom.
Comment by Jerry 101 Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 5:16 pm
Time To Move On
Comment by Decaturland Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 5:20 pm
Shadow of a doubt/ here comes my girl….
There goes my baby, there goes my only one.
I think she loves me, but she don’t want to let on.
Yeah, she likes to keep me guessin’,
She’s got me on the fence with that little bit of mystery,
She’s a complex kid and she’s always been so hard to figure out.
Yeah, she always likes to leave me with a shadow of a doubt.
Classic
Comment by Glass half full Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 5:27 pm
I can’t pick one, but thoroughly enjoyed reading the CapFax readers favorites and their eloquent explanations of why. And my son, who is a new but huge Petty fan, just discovered the Traveling Wilburys.
Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 5:41 pm
Runnin’ down a dream–he is singing with Del now.
Free Falling
Comment by G'Kar Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 6:00 pm
No Christmas was complete without “Christmas All Over Again”. Man, I loved that, and 95% of everything else he did. RIP Tom
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 6:07 pm
Wildflowers, was our father/daughter dance song at her wedding.
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 6:11 pm
“Won’t Back Down” — especially the Johnny Cash version. I am pretty much heartbroken about Petty’s death. He wrote and sang for the rest of us.
Comment by Chris G Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 6:17 pm
Straight Into Darkness
Comment by filmmaker prof Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 6:56 pm
Refuge. The first 45 I ever wore out. Sang karaoke to it in San Francisco two years ago as the meaning of the song came into focus for me. I substitute the f-word for “really” in the line “it don’t really matter to me babe/everybody’s had to fight to be free.”
Saw him at Riverport 8 or 10 years ago from the sixth row (single ticket from the box office day of show) when Stevie Nicks made a guest appearance.
Comment by Vote Quimby Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 7:54 pm
Runnin’ Down a Dream. One of the few songs where I know exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard it.
Comment by The_Equalizer Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 8:14 pm
Kudos anon. On swinging, great video too.
Comment by Roy Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 8:15 pm
Last Dance with Mary Jane
Comment by Mr B Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 8:18 pm
The news coverage on this is super confusing. Is he actually dead?
Comment by Saluki Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 8:34 pm
Even The Losers
Appeals to me so many ways.
Comment by Freezeup Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 8:36 pm
Every Petty song is best
But American Girl stands out.
66 too young
RIP Tom
Comment by Annonin' Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 8:48 pm
Even the Losers and The Waiting.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 8:52 pm
Full Moon Fever - the whole album
Probably one of the best albums ever, definitely the best album of that year (sorry Bonnie Rait, no).
Comment by siriusly Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 8:55 pm
Tom may still be with us. looks like initial report were wrong. I’m so confused right now.
Comment by thatsoutrageous Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 9:12 pm
Don’t Do Me Lie That
Comment by SAP Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 9:24 pm
Like
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 9:25 pm
To Find a Friend
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C-O5UlBuSHY
Comment by Tito Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 10:48 pm
I Won’t Back Down
Comment by TinyDancer(FKASue) Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 11:20 pm
NBC has confirmed that Tom has left the building. He was so young and I’m surprised by that as he’s been around forever. Welcome to the big band in the sky, Tom.
Comment by Amalia Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 11:37 pm
I Need To Know
Comment by OurMagician Monday, Oct 2, 17 @ 11:57 pm
“Louisiana Rain” and “Down South” are two of my favorites - but there are many.
Comment by BigDoggie Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 12:16 am
Won’t Back Down
He was great in concert.
What a talent
Comment by Jon Zahm Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 12:36 am
So many memories of singing Tommy Petty and the Heartbreakers songs with family and friends.
To really show my age–I remember when they were advertising a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers show in Chicago on WLS. I begged my mom to let me go, and she refused. Never got a chance to see him live.
Comment by Lynn S. Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 3:05 am
I won’t back down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlTJrNJ5lA
Comment by Aldyth Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 7:05 am
Swingin’
Comment by Gruntled University Employee Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 7:08 am
Not sure what mine is but the Gov likes Jammin me,”take back your pension plan.”
Comment by pool boy Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 8:12 am
– MrJM
Comment by @MisterJayEm Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 8:20 am
proudstatetrooper @ 4:29pm
You’re thinking of Jackson Browne. “The Pretender.” Released 1976
Comment by jacksonbrownefan Tuesday, Oct 3, 17 @ 9:08 am