You’ve heard them on the FM radio, on car stereos, and—if you were lucky—in concert. You’ve grown up with them. They’re pillars of 20th-century rock ‘n’ roll, recorded by a band of brothers who ran down the dream for 40 years, evolving and electrifying until the very last encore.
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They’re Tom Petty‘s best songs, and if you’ve somehow missed them—perhaps you’ve lived in an area devoid of radio, television, record shops, or reliable WiFi until this very moment, and you’ve stumbled across our website as part of your pop-culture awakening—we’ve got you covered.
1. “Free Fallin’“
Bass player Howie Epstein infamously left the recording studio while “Free Fallin'” was being tracked, telling Petty he simply didn’t like the song enough to play on it. Ouch! With a verse, chorus, and bridge all built upon the same three-chord pattern, “Free Fallin'” is pop rock music at its simplest—the sort of streamlined, straightforward anthem that’s almost too undemanding to be trusted. Epstein might’ve balked at the song’s effortless thrills, but “Free Fallin'” became Petty’s biggest hit, thanks to a chorus that evokes the same airborne, meteoric feeling as the title itself. Good art doesn’t always need to be complex.
2. “Don’t Come Around Here No More“
For their first 20 years of existence, the Heartbreakers pivoted with the times, adjusting to changing trends without abandoning their core sound. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” finds the band embracing synth-pop. Co-written and co-produced with Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics, it’s more of an electro-psychedelic mushroom trip than a heartland rocker, rooted in a swirling soundscape of reverb, electronic snare hits, and sitar-like guitar arpeggios. During the song’s final moments, the atmosphere lifts and Mike Campbell’s electric guitar rings out like a dinner bell calling the Heartbreakers back home.
3. “You Wreck Me“
With raw, ragged gang vocals (“Whoa! Yeah!”) that announce the arrival of each chorus, “You Wreck Me” sounds like it’s coming straight from the garage. The guitar-driven rocker marks the climactic peak of the critically rejoiced-over Wildflowers record. Petty originally wrote the song as “You Rock Me,” even recording an initial version with those lyrics in place. Later, he revised the song’s signature refrain, substituting “wreck” for “rock” and proving that one syllable—one vowel sound—can make an entire song’s worth of difference.
4. “Breakdown“
The Heartbreakers didn’t always rely on high volume or fast tempos to pack a punch. The laidback lope of “Breakdown” is a prime example, with Petty and company casually sauntering their way toward a big, biting chorus. Campbell’s guitar theme is immortally cool—an easy, effortless riff that’s all about attitude—and Petty’s vocal delivery is welcomely bizarre, with the singer adopting a Cuban accent that only makes the song more mysterious. Relatively unknown fact: power-pop pioneers Dwight Twilley and Phil Seymour added their voices to the song’s stacked harmonies, and made cameo appearances on “American Girl” and “Strangered in the Night” on the Heartbreakers’ self-titled debut album, as well.
5. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance“
Petty’s best-selling album isn’t Full Moon Fever or Damn the Torpedoes; it’s (technically) Greatest Hits, the 1993 compilation that sold 12 million copies during its first 12 years. Part of the album’s commercial appeal was the inclusion of “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” the final single to feature original drummer Stan Lynch (and the last Top 40 hit to be released under the Heartbreakers name).
Like “Free Fallin’,” the song’s introductory guitar riff isn’t really a riff at all; it’s a chord pattern that’s simple enough to be replicated by the countless cover bands who’ve tackled this song since its release. And that’s the joy of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ music—it often sounds easy to play, which makes it easy to love, too. Then again, you try playing those guitar riffs with Mike Campbell’s nuance.
6. “Runnin’ Down a Dream“
This horsepowered rocker might be the best driving song in history. It’s an anthem tailored for the fast lane, peppered with a quick reference to Del Shannon (“Me and Del were singing a little ‘Runaway'”) and laced with Jeff Lynne’s crisp, multi-layered production. The best part is Campbell’s single-string guitar riff, a monstrous moment that’s so incendiary, it could jumpstart a vehicle on its own.
7. “Here Comes My Girl“
With a spoken-word verse that flings the doors open to a chiming, melodic chorus, “Here Comes My Girl” balances sheer attitude with sparkling hooks. Petty and Campbell allegedly wrote the song during the same week they finished “Refugee,” a mind-boggling feat of creativity that makes us feel terrible about the way we spent our own 20s. The song is equal parts Bob Dylan-worthy talking blues and Byrds-caliber rock, proof that Petty took his cues from the greats.
8. “The Waiting“
We don’t talk enough about Petty’s ability to write a killer pre-chorus. Like “You Wreck Me,” “The Waiting” sets up its chorus with a simple exclamation—”I said yeah, yeah! (Yeah, yeah!)”—that’s built for audience singalongs, fist pumps, and sheer joy. Byrd Roger McGuinn’s influence is again evident from the very first strum of Petty’s Rickenbacker, but “The Waiting” is something singular, punctuated by a guitar riff and subsequent solo that are every bit as melodic as the vocal melody itself.
9. “American Girl“
How ironic that “American Girl” became Petty’s second Top 40 hit in the UK, yet never charted in the country its own title references. The song marks the cornerstone of Petty’s catalog, introducing the big hooks, memorable guitar lines, and rhythmic stomp that would come to define his sound. As far as anthemic outros go, “American Girl” is neck-and-neck with “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” with both songs reaching a new peak thanks to Campbell’s fleet-fingered fretwork.
Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images
