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Encino, California 19. Encino, California 1996

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He's crazy about Elvis. Standing on the deck of his L.A. home, looking out ...er a yard that has been deluged by about a century's worth of recent rain, ".;Jri Petty is remembering back to childhood days in Florida, when he got to

1 ::e Elvis in action. "My uncle did some work for the movies, so when Elvis :me to film in Gainesville, I got to go," he says, peering into the past. "And !saw all these people just going crazy around him, all these girls screaming ii..rough the fence, handing him records to sign."

Since Tom had no records for Elvis to autograph, he immediately set about remedy the situation. He sold his Wham-0 sling-shot to a friend for her full

:Aection of Presley 45s. "And she had all the good ones," he happily recalls. Although he never got a chance to go back for a signature, this .closeness to

King forever changed his mind about what the future might hold. "I saw those people going crazy, and then I heard this music. And I realized this is

iornething I could do. And this could be a way for me and for my friends to :et out, to get out of Gainesville for good. And it worked. "

These days Petty is the guy often on the other side of the fence as hysteri-a1 fans clamor and scream for his autograph. But for someone with nearly two decades of solid success under his belt, he takes it in quiet stride, continuing to revel in the process of writing songs and making records as he has for years. lie's a songwriter whose work crosses over every demographic, especially after

510 SONGWRITERS ON soNawpaTIW

the enormous success of the undeniably appealing Full Moon Fever. He gets.iii,r, eluded with the older acts on VH-1 and the new ones on MTV, and persiSriiir almost every radio format, whether classic rock, hit radio or album alternative. "I get a lot of letters from little children," he says with pride. "And I really like that, because little kids don't lie." Yet he avoids any commercial consideraticnS. when making his music, and doesn't talk of demographics. "I don't even 4. the word," he insists.

The following interviews took place a few weeks after the release of flowers, a brilliantly eclectic album brimming with the beaming energy of creation. Wildflowers was the perfect title for this colorful collection of sOrig .,1 that emerged. almost of their own accord, sparked by the gentle guidance their creator. Real wildflowers don't grow just anywhere—they need an,414,, place to flourish freely, a place untrampled by the hordes, and unhinderec,IX! -' concrete and urban sprawl. Petty discovered this wild place within, and LL tured more than two dozen songs into existence for this album alone, [iiiftk honing down the album to an essential 15 songs, Petty used many of the oth4 for his next album, songs for the movie She's the One.]

"I don't want to be one of those people who are miserable even whiii they're successful," he says, "That's not the way I want my life to go." He's oi of the rare ones who has managed to find happiness in the heart of huge .cori mercial success, and has done so by staying in touch with the thing he loye's the most, the music.

This love of music has been a recurring theme in his life since he was!q., kid. Born on October 20, 1953, Petty started playing'guitar at the age of44,., proudly mastering "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham. Mostly he was self taught "I learned chords in the key of C," he says. "I learned C, 07, F and O. I goa right out of the way, because F is really tough. It will hang you up for a 14., time." Though he's got more insight into songwriting and record making th* most, he's never taken an academic approach to music; from the start herl jected formal music education in favor of learning from friends, a pattern continues to this day. "My mom paid for me to take a [guitar] lesson," he sa$': "but I could see that it was going nowhere. [The teacher] kept telling mit keep my thumb on the back of the neck, and I'd see these guys on TV audi their hands were all over the guitar. Then I met this neighborhood kid who* ally helped me a lot. He'd come over and sit down and I'd learn things. It iti‘i:v fabulous. We. had a great time."

Later in life, having achieved years of consistent success, he still learns from his friends. Attributing much of the easy-going greatness of his Full Mprt Fever album to the contributions of Jeff Lynne, he says that their collaboratipr "had that happy feeling of a friend showing another friend some new chock And when talking about his time as the youngest member of the Traveling \;(4,!, burys, joining Lynne and legends Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Roy bison, instead of concentrating on his own unique contributions to their music Petty happily talks of soaking up all he could learn from the others—absorbiii chords from Harrison, melodies from Orbison, and spontaneous brilliance frpd Dylan. In a field where most artists figure early on that they know everythirig: Tom Petty has had the wisdom to keep learning.

pf, PEI 1Y 511

He started writing songs almost as soon as he could play the uitar, "My frst'song was called 'Baby, I'm Leaving,' or something like that," he recalls. Which, looking baClc, was probably a blues. Although," he adds wi h a laugh,

'I 'vas hardly seasoned in the blues." Though songwriting was not a major pri-canyamong his friends in those days, Petty kept churning them out then as he

6 today. He played in bands from high school on, the first tilt° n together day to impress girls, which it did. Mostly they would perform the hits of

learning songs from records—a great education for any s ngivriter—'a Tom mostly keeping his own songs to himself.

In Mudcrutch, his first real band, Petty was chosen to sing all Dylan and as songs because of the obvious, though unintentional, vocal imilarities,

ever wanting to get identified as the guy who sings like Dylan, he onetheless *kid himself professionally propelled in this direction. "I remembe playing in

he says, "and the club owner came back and said, 'You real y ought to Hr,:that kid who sings the Dylan songs sing some more. Because t lose sound LA good.' But I really wanted to sing like everybody at the time. wanted to ,r1g like John Lennon and I wanted to sing like Elvis."

The vocal similarities to Dylan and The Byrds continued to be prominent cisihis first albums with the Heartbreakers, first emerging in the idst of the 'New Wave," 1976. Though often linked with many of the now-d funct New Va.ye bands, The Heartbreakers wisely followed Petty's. heart, voiding all aends to create an American music all their own. "I am profou dly Amen-u"'" he says with pride. Still, the influence of Springsteen has crept into

Petry's music—as in the use of long, lyrical lines compacted into s all phrases, - lyle that both artists simplified in later years. Careful not to rip ff someone

tke's style, Petty purposely avoided listening to any music by the Boss while nting songs.

'''.. :Today Petty exudes an almost Zen-like contentment, inspired but unbur- •:iened by the legacies of Dylan, Springsteen and even the King, E vis Presley.

earing blue jeans, a grey cardigan and fur-lined boots, he's in the usic room chis home, drinking coffee, surrounded by guitars, Elvis mem rabilia and other souvenirs of a Musical life. On a big wooden desk is a old crown -zLorned with giant faux-jewels. Asked if it had anything to do w th his own ,LLve to become king, he laughs and explains that a friend recent y sent it to

"But it doesn't fit," he quickly adds. "My head it too big for 't. Which I [aink is somehow appropriate."

e, and that

y came out nd quickly n I put on were a few posing, you two years, elusive for

•

It seems like you've been on a songwriting roll for a long ti the new songs came easy.

Yes. They did. They did come out in an easy way, though th a Long period of time. Some of them appeared really naturally

jiici some I had to wait bn. But, truthfully, I wrote a lot more th Lie, album. Yeah. We did 25 that we finished records of and there :Lire that never got recorded. So I was in this constant state of co night say. [Laughs] Or decomposing. For a year and a half. Ali-nos really. So some came really quick and some didn't. Some were reall

• SONGWRITERS ON SONGWRITaq

When songs don't come easy, do you continue to work on them orl..d&; you put them aside to come back to them later?

Probably it depends on how intrigued I am by the bit I've got. If I kncA;.,:,I. really have got something, I'll stick with it and chase that thing down, y6i1' know? But if not, things can lay around for a long time.

Is it tough to reconnect with diem after they have laid around fiif awhile?

Yes. I think it's preferable to finish them as fast as possible. It's just that doesn't always work that way. Usually, unless it's an extremely strong seginent:; or portion of a song, I'll just discard it and move onto something else. Buil!' 4 it's really strong, I'll keep coming back to it. But they're hard to come b.y: [Laughs]

Do you work on songs with your guitar, and work on music and words at the same time?

I try to, yeah. I work mostly with the guitar or piano. I've found, especiak with this last album, that I really prefer getting the melody and music at same time as hopefully a chunk of the words. I think this is better—mo' ter—for me than trying to marry the two together at different times. I think, f ,", was always happiest with stuff that I wrote that came alive all in one try. you know, honestly, you do anything you can to make it work.

Is it unusual for something to arrive in one piece, with words and mil sic together?

It's not unusual for most of it to arrive. For the whole song tb arrive in stand), is really strange. Really unusual. I don't think it's ever happened to Me' more than once or twice. It happened to me once .on this album, the son ..: "Wildflowers," I just took a deep breath and it came out. The whole son; Stream of consciousness: words, music, chords, Finished it. I mean, I just played it into a tape recorder and I played the whole song and I never played it again. I actually only spent three and a half minutes on that whole song. ,So,„ I'd come back for days playing that tape, thinking there must be something wrong here because this just came, too easy. And then I realized that the're's probably nothing wrong at all. [Laughs]

Did that one come in the midst of writing the other songs or was that. the first one for this album?

No, it was kind of in the middle. It really surprised me. And I was really nervous to play it for anybody. Because I thought maybe I'd stolen it. Maybe if", came from somewhere else. I played it for Rick Rubin and he said, "Oh! I love this," So I figured I'd do it then, and we made the record.

It's such a nice, gentle opening for' the album, as opposed to startin with a big rock single.

.I really searched my soul a lot for what should open, and this always kit, coming back as the opening song. Because it sort of sets the mood, I think. 1s's a long album and there's a lot of different stuff to come, but for some reasori that song would only work first. Like I said, I had to cut ten, songs out, and really didn't want to cut that one out. But I didn't know where else to put it in the sequence except first. So I put it there.

vf PETTY

Did you think of making it the title song later, after finishir the al-

\lo. After writing the song.--4 didn't have the title, obviously, until I had .ong. And I thought it. was a great title for the album. But it 'still .didn't

tssitate making it the first song.

')id you write "Wildflowers" with somebody in mind? It's dir cted to a

? un: "You belong among the wildflowers." don't know. It just appeared. Maybe in retrospect I can piec together

,t's about. I just write these songs. And then I hope there's so e sort of h and some sort of timelessness to them. And if it feels like the e is, then

itl'feei, okay, that's a song. But it's very hard to get that, too. It's eas to say it. 't really takes a long time to get that. I kind of try to play unt I go into

-ni-subconscious space. And then things start arriving. And then you get so ,Olt up in the process that you don't want to look much deeper t the time .ause it could really make the whole thing disintegrate. I feel t at way. I

t want to look too far behind the curtain, just glad that they're arriving. And then suddenly, like a b It of light-

-g later on, I see, oh, I know what that is about. I would never h ve written

.t if I had known what it was about. [Much laughter] Never ould have

,red that revealed.

But you're careful not to question them while writing— No, you mustn't. You've got to let them just arrive. [Pause] Yea you can't

,stion what you're doing, because that could really get in the wa of what's .7 mg to come up. .

Is it more of a sense of following it than leading it? Or just letting it happen. On this album I didn't do any sec nd drafts,

'ter. Which is something I've always done. I've always sat and :efined the ng after I've done it. But there's zero refinement [laughs] on thlis album, I

- felt like I had to write whatever comes out—then.

How did you get to that trance state when songs begin to appen? There are some days when you pick up the guitar and it's very friendly to

you and it sounds very beautiful and you can just play C and it so nds great. Some days you pick the thing up and it's just not friendly. It's no ringing. It doesn't want to respond. That's kind of how I know, "Oooh, it's be ng friendly today!" [Laughs] "Oooh, I feel very musical and things are coming. But when

not, I just close down. I could write a song now if I had to. But I don't think it would necessarily

be good. You've got to have some real, very real, inspiration. But t look for it o hard is ridiculous. If it feels like music, then probably some le el of inspi-on is working. Then you just start to play. Play "Walk Don't R n" for half

-an hour, or whatever has come into your mind, and from there you 11 move off that into something. You'll find a couple changes, or a lyric that comes into

your own mind.

It's a funny thing about songwriting, that you can work har4 on a song

for months, and then a really great one will pop up almost on itis own, like

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SONGWRITERS ON SONGWRITI44

"Wildflowers," with hardly any work. So it's not an activity where wotk. equals achievement.

Not really, no, because you're dealing in magic. It's the same with any other imaginative work—painting or filmmaking—it's this intangible thing th,r has got to happen. And to really seek it out too much might not be a gH idea. Because, you know, it's very shy, too. [Laughs]

But once you've got it, you can work on songs and improve them. Orice you've got the essence of them. You see if there's a better word, or a bette change.

Is part of getting to that place building up a momentum in writing doing it ,a, jot, and getting on a roll?

I was certainly on a roll for a long time. I felt like I was on a roll for thu album because I wrote so many songs. I must have written thirty songs. Whicbi for me, is unusual, to write that much in that period of time. But it doesw always happen like that.. Each experience is different. I tend to find that di,. ones I like best usually are the ones that appear pretty quickly. They just pc up, and maybe going through all that hell helped to make one suddenly pap up. Maybe it didn't, I don't know.

And, generally, the best ones came easily? Most of them, I think, came easier than harder. There are exceptions, of

course.

I've gotten the feeling with much of your recent work, starting with, "Freefalling" and the Full Moon Fever album, that you were having a lot of fun writing and recording these songs.

Yeah, that was a tremendously fun record to write. The whole Full Moon' Fever album in general was written extremely fast. The fastest one that I eye( did. Though I had Jeff Lynne to help me a lot of the time. It's kind of like thi4 exhilaration you get from new people being around, and I was suddenly in* whole different environment, I lived in a different house and I had a whole ferent circle of friends around, and I had been through this really long tour:: with Bob Dylan all around the world, I had just gotten off that and I felt really. liberated. .

I wasn't even thinking about writing an album or anything, it just startedl to happen. And I was twice as much in a hurry because I thought Jeff would have to go to England in nine days. So we literally wrote a song every other day, and we'd spend the next day to make the record, and then right back to: writing the song. And we didn't take it seriously in the least. I think that was; kind of the spirit of that album. It was an entertaining album,

And that was much different from how you approached writing other - albums? • Well, they're all different. I had been in the same band a long time, and the band starts to influence the songs. You start to write for the band, because: you know from doing previous records how they play and what they do well", and what they don't. On Full Moon Fever I hit another ,place. And I was really. relieved when it happened, And there are some people that don't like that

-TOM PETTY

nlace. There are some people who wish I'd never gone to that place. [Laughs]

ait I don't care, you know, because I think it was good work. [Laughs]

"Freefalling" seems like that perfect S-ymbol for that kin of song, as if ou allowed yourself to freely fall into it.

Very much so. I recall you giving Jeff Lynne a lot of credit for helping you write that

Yeah. He sat beside me as I wrote that song. Actually, I th'nk "Freefalling" ..as his line. I think it was the only thing he said.

It was a good thing. Yeah. Thank-you very much, Jeff. [Laughs] I was just playin on a keyboard

and Jeff was listening to this song. And I played that lick And he said, 'Whew, that's good." And I said, "Really?" And he said, "Yeah.' And then, al-nost to make Jeff laugh, I ad-libbed the verses. And he's there with his tape- corder recording it. And then I got to the chorus and I didn t know what to

do. And I remember it very well. He said, [imitating Lynne's low British-accented. voice] "Freefalling." And I didn't even know what that meant, but I just sang it. And he said, "Go up! Go up! Go up an octave." So I weiy up an octave, rid there it was. You know? It was done.

I think I wrote the last verse after he left. But the chor s never change through the whole song. It's really just the same three cho ds, all the way

4r—through. And we went in to make the record the next day immediately at Mike Campbell's house. And Mike was saying, "When did yo do this?" I did t yesterday. "Wow. Gee." He was actually kind of weirded out. ecause we had ust come back from being on the road, and had only been ome for a few lays, and songwriting wasrit high on the list of priorities, like 'Let's dig in and

'- make some records." We were going to relax for a little while. [Laughs]

I've always loved that line about "all the vampires in e valley move west down Ventura Boulevard." It really captures that kind of spooky feel-

ing valley gets at night. I think I had once gone down Ventura Boulevard and I ept stopping at

Ml those red lights. And it was night, and on the side of the rod you'd see the post office or these different buildings. And there would be ti se teenagers iii these big clothes. Kind of stepping back into the shadows. I on't know what they were doing there but I saw them as vampires. It was real late and there are these shadowy people standing off the street. And I think hat's where that image came from. But it's hard to be sure. Because you write t e song in three or four minutes. But in reflection I think that's probably w iere that image

comes from. You said that working with Jeff had that happy feeling of a friend show-

ing a friend a new chord. It was. He showed me a couple of chords and it opened up a whole new

world for me. For me it was a revelation. Nobody had ever showed me a di- , rninished chord. [Laughs]

It's the great thing about guitar. As long as I've been banging on it I can still find something I didn't know. That fascinates me. I never new that. Well,

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J 10 SONGWRITERS ON SONGWRITING

shut my .mouch. So through that whole Wilburys experience I really kept eyes open. And memorized [[aughs] how they did a lot of things. Because thyou had a lot of writers and they all had their own little chord tricks. And I tried to learn as many of them as I could.

Was Dylan the biggest influence? It was really all of them. They were all really good in their own way it

what they did. George Harrison has an amazing bank of chords in his mind. He ,

really knows a lot about playing the guitar and writing songs, and I learned a lot from him. Bob, of course, is just miles beyond all of us. But you sit and try to learn with him, It was a really valuable experience for me.

I was wondering if that easy approach to writing was inspired by DyiF,-He seems to have generated a lot of that kind of spirit in the approacl writing.

Well, it's tough with Bob because he's been such a profound influence Cr, me. Since I-was a teenager, it's mainly been awe that I feel for him, I atm try not, to be influenced by Bob because I'm so influenced by him I try to - most stay away from anything that sounds like Bob. Then when you can b, come friends and work together for all those years, you know that it's st rubbing off on you.

I did really enjoy the opportunity to work with him. He's just so daft-transcendental. He's just the absolute depth. That's what he really is, And: becomeS really apparent [laughs] when you're working with him. Damn, bee good, you know? He's really good.

He certainly never carried himself that way or presented himself like till If anything, he.'s really one of the boys. But he's so good, you know. He'd tax the simplest thing and it would becoine such a marvelous thing. I really wisl had film of some of that. Because with the Wilburys, it was more like an perimental band, where you didn't show up with anything. There were no son - when you showed up. You simply showed up. And then everyone sat down to-gether. And had to knock out a song. So, you know, some times different pee-

' pie would take the lead and then the others would follow along. I remember, we did one song, called "If You Belonged to Me," it was on

the second album, we were all there, and we were all working with Bob, hp' really.he wrote the song. I think I got a few lines in that. But you would co, tribute a line, and then he'd take the line and say, "Oh, that's good," and em-bellish on it like you would not believe! And I'd feel really proud, like, "Wov, I'm really glad that I helped him get to that place." Because I never woulc have gotten there, I really admire him a lot.. He's a really terrific writer,

We spoke about song openings before, and one that is very strong is - "Crawling Back to You": "Waiting by the side of the road /For day to break so we could go /Down into Los Angeles /With dirty hands and worn-ou. knees."

Yeah, Well, I saw the "worn-out knees" having a double meaning of craw ing and the way you see these people with no knees in their jeans anymor. The same with "dirty hands"—it can be a matter of conscience, or maybe yc, were just changing a tire. [Laughter]

7. 1T)M PEI 1Y

There was another verse I took _out because it was too long. It was a re-Ilection on this trip I took a long time ago to Birmingham, A abama, with 'Mudcrutch. The first gig we went to fell through because we were wearing ten-nis shoes, and we got fired before we. even played a note. So we went out on 'the street and we 'just started going into bars and asking to sit it., So that we could get a gig. And we finally landed this gig at this place called the Crazy *rse, which had topless girls. It was this really wild trip. Part of the song was riflecting on that trip. I kind of moved it to Los Angeles. [Laugh.] Later on,

It's also such a nice lead-in to the verse that starts, "I' so fired of being tired, sure as nighttime follows day / Most things I worry bout / never Lappen anyway. ..."

[Pause] I was very pleased when that line appeared. [Laughs]

Do you remember that happening? I remember that line. I was very pleased with that line. Tha 's when I re-

slued that it was a song. It's often like that. We're going on and in but where ate we going? And suddenly, that's where we're going. And all o a sudden, it

makes sense. It's a great feeling to have written a song. Still, to this day, I get excited

-, and it just lifts my mood immensely. It's hard work, sometimes, its really hard, just to have one that feels great.

Yeah. I was very happy when that line came up. That was lu k. Or divine tntervention or something. It's just sometimes that you get to the end of a verse, and pow, there's that line. It's a good feeling.

You wrote "You Wreck Me" with Mike Campbell? Yeah. That's mostly Mike's contribution.

He came up that with chord pattern and gave it to you? Yeah. Well, he actually gave it to Mick Jagger. [Laughter] e never even

‘played it for me. And I guess Mick couldn't come up with anythi g, And Rick [Rubin] remembered it and asked him to play it for me. So whe he played it for me I took the tape home and learned the lick, and wrote th song to it.

So he had just the guitar part? No, he really had the whole idea, the whole chord structu

Ching.

But no melody or words? No. And it just sounded kind of like a jam, you know. I don

,was another one that was done pretty fast. And I really liked that I thought it sounded very much like an old Heartbreakers record. it would be interesting to have a throwback suddenly, where y

e. A nostalgic one, almost.

Did the title emerge immediately? No. It took me forever to get the title. That was one wh

(hole melody sketched out and most of the words, but I coul At tide for a long time. I was singing "You rock me," but I kn

,uing to fly. I was using it as a dummy line to get to the next o he next day it hit me. Because I didn't want to change the phr

517

e and every.

t know. That one. You see, So I thought u go back in

re I had the n't figure out w that wasn't le. And then asing. I could

518 SONGWRITERS ON SONGWR1Tgl

change "rock" to "wreck" and this whole picture emerged. It's amazing to'fir how one word can completely change the entire thing. It's the hardest thing.}Ye. cause if you've got one word wrong, you've got to be so patient. And learned this from experience, that one word can mean so much. It can changè. the entire thing. It can really lift the whole trip and elevate it if you're patien-( enough to get that, that one little word or key line. Very important.

And it's quite a difference from the vibe of "You rock me." Yes. But I was smart enough to just go ahead and sing "You rock me

cause I felt it. I felt the same emotion, really, and I felt the same melody. . a. the same timbre in the voice. So I'm glad that I was smart enough not to jti.'t quit. - --

Does that kind of experience lead you to believe that the song is ready there, and that you need to uncover it—

I had to find'it, yeah. It's almost like it's there and I just have to keep dig-ging until it reveals itself.

With your indulgence, I'd like to name some of your songs to see w response you might have to them, starting with one of your most powe songs, "Southern Accents."

I started with the title. I. thought at the time I was going to do an al based on southern themes and southern music. I wrote it at the piano. Ve0;, late at night, about four or five in the morning. I still think it's probably onel my best two or three things that I ever wrote. I thought it was very person4 so that was one where it just took me over. [Laughs] I don't know what hap; pened there. I do have a vague memory of being extremely glad when I hit th'e: bridge. I actually woke up my wife and made her listen to this song. hi

"Refugee." Mostly Mike [Campbell] had the whole track downs , the whole chord pro.'

gression. It's one of the first things that we actually wrote together. It took minutes. Literally, just a few minutes. I remember walking around the rootni singing it, just circling the room. The words came very fast, and there are only two verses. And that was it. Finished.

"Learning to Fly." That was inspired by the Gulf War. I remember that line about the rock5

melting and the sea burning being directly inspired by seeing this whole thine on TV I think that was the jumping off point. It became something a litii: more substantial than that but that is how it started.

"Breakdown." I wrote it on a break from recording at the Shelter Studio in Hollywood.il

think we took a break because we had recorded everything we had and I made up "Breakdown," I wrote it on the piano. I still have that piano. I bought-it [Laughs]

Many years later, it's sitting in my living room. I wrote it very quickly. It's a very short song., I played it to them, and they

really dug it, and we made the record.

I think we got the drumbeat from a Beatles record, "All 1,..sc varied it. That was the idea, to have that kind of broke 'Llehhat.

The next night I wrote "The Wild One, Forever" on the same circumstance, where we took a break. Because we thought, "Great, I'll just write another one." So the band pl an hour I wrote a new song.

The next night, though, it didn't work. [Laughs] I realize to be able to do that every night.

"Two Gunslingers." Oh, I love that one. Thanks for noticing that one.

It's one of my favorites. The whole idea of a gunslinge gexistence is great, saying, "I'm taking control of my life."

It really cracks me up, still, that song. [Laughs] I was tre with that one. That was one of those rare moments when I a something and entertain the people at the same time.

Did it come together qiiickly? Yeah, it did, in a couple of hours. Written during the Ou

of that album [Learning to Fly] was written as the war was g ink, whether I liked it or not, influenced the writing.

"Mary Jane's Last Dance." That was one I wrote during the Full Moon Fever session

Ithe chorus. I just had the loop going around and around an

.--of the words and everything. And I played that tape for Ric ilced it a lot and suggested I write a chorus. So I tried to fit

...was making Wildflowers, and there were maybe five years bet nr. the verses and the chorus.

Is Mary Jane a marijuana reference? I don't think I was writing about spot. I think it was jus

can't imagine that I'd write a song about pot necessarily. I d enough there to write about. [Laughs]

"The Waiting." I remember writing that one very well. That was a hard ,ne. Went on for

r‘reeks. I got the chorus right away. And I had that guitar riff that really good Couldn't get anything else,. [Softly] I had a really hard t me. And I knew

it was good, and it just went on endlessly. It was one of tho e where I really worked on it until I was too tired to go any longer. And I'd get right up and

:kstart again and spend the whole day to the point where ot er people in the 2. house would complain. "You've been playing that lick for hou s," Very hard.

It came in piece by piece. First the chorus, which was pre ty easy. And the verses took a long time, and the bridge even longer, I knew, en I had gotten

kthat chorus, that I was definitely onto something very good. A d I just couldn't, or the life of me, figure out where to go with it. Eventually I iid.

It's one of those special songs that people can easily ad pt to their own #lives. I think of that line frequently: "The waiting is the hardest part."

JOM PETTY

ame.piano at the were so naive I yed cards and in

oh, I'm not go-

questioning his

endously pleased tually got to say

E War. AlMost all ing on. Which I

I wrote all but really had most [Rubin] and he sh it up while I een the writing

a girl's name. I n't think there's

519

Got to Do." We rhythm on the

[OM PETTY

It's one that has really survived over the years because it's so adaptable to so many situations. I even think of that line from time to time. Because I really:6 don't like waiting. I'm peculiar in that I'm on time, most of the time. I'm veryYt. punctual.

Roger [McGuinn] swears to me that he told me that line. And maybe he::, did, but I'm not sure that's where I got it from. I remember getting it fronik something I read, that Janis Joplin said, "I love being onstage, it's just the wait ing I hate."

"American Girl." I think the original inspiration was Bo Diddley. If you listen to the beat,, i;

it's a Bo Diddley beat, And it's forever being equated with the Byrds. EvenJ Roger thought it was the Byrds. But we honestly didn't think about the Byrds at the time. But it must have been influenced by the Byrds in some way, but I didn't realize it at. the time, There's also no 12-string on that record. It's just: two six-strings playing off of each other.

"You Got Lucky." That came from a riff that Mike had. It was almost a throwaway. Almost'

just tossed off And the next thing we know, it's the single.

oviv w tu I tAS UN SUNGWRITINC.P!

"Don't Come Around Here No More." I was always very partial to that one. Odd song. That was an idea thaf

Dave Stewart had, this tom-tom thing going. I think it was my idea to take tt double-time when it got out a little ways. We really went nuts. We worked on that record for a long time. We wrote it very quickly. We were doing stuff like grabbing the tape and pulling it off the reel. There's one part, if you listen where the piano does this r-r-r7v-v thing. And we did that by literally grabbing the tape and yanking if off the reel.

Did the two of you write the song to that beat? Yeah, I think he had a drum box playing the beat, that tom-tom thinp.

And then [on the record] we put Stan Lynch playing real drums, along with , Yeah, we wrote it with that little beat playing again and again. That was am-ally the day we met. We met and we wrote that song. '

Did you write "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" specifically as a duet to do with Stevie Nicks?

No, I wrote it with Mike. And cut the track for Hard Promises, And that would be an interesting tape to hear, because it's the same track. But with me singing it, it sounds more like a blues. It doesn't sound like a pop song at She wanted a song really bad for a couple years. She kept coming around and . saying, "Please, I'm trying to do a solo album, I need a song." And I dot know if I really wanted to. I kind of wanted just to write my own songs, and kept politely declining. .

She got pretty adamant about it, you know, and I didn't really know StevIL, well, but she would come around and visit some times. I thought she seeme kind of strange. And I kind of liked Stevie, I still do. In there is a wonderfii' person [-laughs]. And we would sit and sing with an acoustic, and boy, yt, know, she can really sing. So I said, "Okay, I'll write you a song." And I wrot,

'01

her this song called "Insider.". And I really liked that song. I wrote it for her

'with her in mind. So she comes and I played her the song. She says, "I love it. Can you put

it down for me?" So I put the track down and I sang a vocal fo the .track. And she immediately wanted to sing along. I had pictured it that sh would take my voice off of it. She didn't want to take the time to do that. Sh wanted to sing right then. So they put a mike up and she sang a harmony to hat I was doing.

I listened to it the next day and I really liked the edge, he came. to the session the next night and I said, "You know, Stevie, I don't re Ily want to give you this song. If you don't mind, I'd like to keep this song." It as really a low-rent thing to do, when you think about it, because I'd written t for her and it really probably should have been her song. But I really wai ted to keep it. 1,Laughs]

I said, "Would it really sound totally lame if I said I wan ed to keep this one and write you another?" She said, "No, not at all. I comple ely understand, if it's something that's personal for you and you want to keep i . But I do want you to give me something else." So I said, "Let me play you what I have." I had a few songs that I didn't think I was going to use for the a bum, and "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" was one of them. I played it and he said, "That.

like that." And I thought, "A blues? It's the last thing I wo Id ever dreamt that you'd go for. " And she said, "That's what I want. Really like this better,

I'm looking for a rock and roll kind of thing." So I said, "Great Knock yourself - out." [Laughs]

, And so I gave her that tape, and they took it. And t ey made it the duet—Jimmy Iovin.e and Stevie. Because my vocal was alread on it. And so she filled it up with all this harmony and girl singers and mad it much more

- of a pop song. Arid the next thing I know, it's a big hit rec rd. It probably wouldn't have seen the light of day if she hadn't done it.

You wrote "Jammin' Me" with Dylan. Was that similar t working with : him in the Wilburys or was that different?

It was different M that it was just me and Bob just sittiiiig there with a piece of paper trying to come up with stuff.

Again, it has that joyful feeling, as if the writing was a lot of fun. Yeah, we were having fun. And Bob always seems to me hat he writes a

'• lot of verses. Long after you think he's done he's still .writing. nd he's still do-ing more verses [Laughs] and then he gets convinced "I don' like this" and

-• then something better shows up in that ninth or tenth verse than what you ;•.had before. And you go, "Oh."

"Face in the Crowd." . I wrote it one evening with Jeff Lynne. Just strumming our guitars. He had

musical idea for that one and I worked on the words. Becau e it's very hard .: for me to sing other people's lyrics. Jeff is a melody guy. And h 's very good at !..rthat. He would do a lot of editing. One good thing about hinp and the whole ,-Wilburys experience is that I became completely unashamed. I ould spout out ';- anything, And that was really good for me. Because it was literally four or five

people sitting there going, "Handle with care." [Laughs] "No. Yes," Spout out

•

522 SONGWRITERS ON SONG TING

whatever I thought and it would immediately go to committee and ies nocked out or it's approved. And then that line would lead to something se. But that's a different way from how I usually work. But it really loosene me up. I'm not inhibited by trying anything lyrically just as you wouldn't be hibited to try anything on the guitat You just want to keep letting your min go and seeing what falls out. [Laughs]

When you're making an album, do you give any thought to hat will be the single, or try to write a hit single?

I think I may have thought about that in the late seventies whe we first started making records, and we needed a hit single to sell the recor. . "Don't Do Me Like That" I thought would be a hit single. But I never ave got caught up too much in it since then because you just can't anticipate a hit re-cord, or a hit song. I think a hit song is a really good song. I thin it's very simple. You can break it down to that simple of a thing. It may n ed some other aspects. But usually a really, really good song is going to be a hi on some kind of level. And that's what I go for. To write a good song. If it oyes me and has some kind of feeling of timelessness to it, then you do it.

But I think that's the difference between your songs, and ma y others, in that a lot of the others don't have that sense of timelessness, and then don't stand up to the test of time. I listened to "Breakdown!' to ay and it sounds as good as ever.

We were lucky in that we never got into any particular trend fad. You try to avoid it as much as you can. And I've just been fortunate tha way. Be-cause I didn't know that starting out. [Laughs] I didn't have a mas er plan. I was just going day to day. I'm still very pleased when I hear my o d records. You hear them on the radio and they really don't sound too bad. I ey really don't. So that's nice. I feel very blessed with that. I'm really very bl ssed.

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