The Meaning Behind “Love Is a Long Road” by Tom Petty and How a Motorcycle Inspired the Track

Tom Petty released Full Moon Fever as a solo album. It caused some resentment among The Heartbreakers, most notably from drummer Stan Lynch, who was the only band member not to appear on the tracks.

But the relaxed atmosphere of the sessions and Petty’s freedom from the confines of a band gave way to a masterpiece album. And some of Petty’s best-known songs, “I Won’t Back Down”, “Runnin’ Down a Dream”, and “Free Fallin’”.

The sense of freedom and ease is also at the heart of “Love Is a Long Road”, an album track and B-side to “Free Fallin’”. Ironically, the inspiration came from a bandmate.  

About “Love Is A Long Road”

Tom Petty wrote the song with guitarist and fellow Heartbreaker Mike Campbell. Campbell’s motorcycle inspired the music, and he said of the tune, “This feels like a motorcycle shifting gears.”

Jeff Lynne co-produced the track with Petty and Campbell and helped the pair smooth out the “chaotic” arrangement of the demo they’d recorded. Though Lynne is famous for his elaborate productions with Electric Light Orchestra, “Love Is a Long Road” features a more economic approach that came to define Petty’s records.

There was a girl I knew
She said she cared about me.
She tried to make my world
The way she thought it should be.

The lyrics describe a tumultuous romance. It’s a boy who can’t be tamed and a girl destined for a broken heart. She tries to change him, but only succeeds in pushing Petty’s character further away.

There were so many times
I would wake up at noon.
Yeah, with my head spinning ’round
I would wait for the moon.

Road Song

There’s a real knees-in-the-breeze vibe to this track, and Campbell’s motorcycle analogy fits. Tom Petty’s lyrics are often formed from an underdog and rebellious spirit, which the open road embodies.

I’ve never even sat on a motorcycle, but I’ve seen enough to understand the exhilaration of shifting gears on a fast bike barreling down an open road. There’s intense danger to riding this hunk of metal on two wheels, with nothing to protect you but a leather jacket, helmet, and gloves.

The groove in “Love Is a Long Road” feels easy, and Petty’s bad-boy character, you imagine, would rather burn through some stretch of lonely desert than be stuck inside a stifling relationship. Most relationships are messy, but young love is especially so. In the song, Petty’s dude wakes up at noon. Not exactly husband material.

Yes, love is a long road. And often that journey leads you to find someone else. “Love Is A Long Road” is a searching rock banger and shows how Petty felt the rock and roll spirit deep in his bones. It also mirrors Petty’s getaway from his own band. What else would you expect from an album that opens with “Free Fallin’”?

Photo by Mychal Watts/WireImage