Here I go again! I continue to work through the pain of losing Tom Petty. It’s much like losing Prince just a year and a half ago. How do you express to someone you never met that somehow were able to express your inner self much more articulate than you yourself can ever could.
So, instead of giving you a list of Tom Petty songs that I love, I thought that, perhaps, I would give to you all a list of his songs, with and without his impeccable band of master musicians The Heartbreakers. And, even when Tom released a “solo” album, guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench were there. Then, drummer Steve Ferrone, multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston and bassist Ron Blair were around as well.
So, here are The 25 Tom Petty Songs That Mean The Most To Me.
25. “Room at the Top” (Echoes, 1999)
24. “Louisiana Rain” (Damn the Torpedoes, 1979)
23. “A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me)” (Hard Promises, 1981)
22. “Here Comes My Girl” (Damn the Torpedoes, 1979)
21. “Saving Grace” (Highway Companion, 2006)
20. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” (Greatest Hits, 1993)
19. “Honey Bee” (Wildflowers, 1994)
18. “Southern Accents” (Southern Accents, 1985)
17. “Hometown Blues” (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 1976)
16. “Don’t Do Me Like That” (Damn the Torpedoes, 1979)
15. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” – Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (Bella Donna, 1981)
14. “You Can Still Change Your Mind” (Hard Promises, 1981)
13. ” Learning to Fly” (Into the Great Wide Open, 1991)
12. “Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)” (Damn the Torpedo, 1979)
11. “Free Fallin'” (Full Moon Fever, 1989)
10. “Dreamville” (The Last DJ, 2002)
9. “You Don’t Know How It Feels” (Wildflowers, 1994)
8. “You Got Lucky” (Long After Dark, 1982)
7. “Breakdown” (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 1976)
6. “American Girl” (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, 1976)
5. “Listen to Her Heart” (You’re Gonna Get It, 1978)
4. “The Waiting” (Hard Promises, 1981)
3. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” (Southern Accents, 1985)
2. “Even the Losers” (Damn the Torpedoes, 1979)
1. “Insider (with Stevie Nicks)” (Hard Promises, 1981)
As you can surmise from the song titles that I have chosen, I really enjoy those wistful, nostalgic, borderline melancholia songs that Petty was so good at hiding within his album. Every album has one or two of those songs that would cut right down to my heart, exposing my soul for me to analyze. And, although I will continue to have these songs, I will no longer experience the joy of opening a new Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch or Petty album in order to find those gems he placed in the dark corners of his albums.
Tom Petty, thank you for helping me find me along the way.
If My Records Could Talk 