80s Throwback Party Radio: TOM PETTY WON'T BACK DOWN WHILE WAITING

TOM PETTY REALLY HIT IT IN THE 80s LIKE A REFUGEE

I'm sure, like a lot of you, a big old smile comes across your face when a Tom Petty song comes on the radio - the slow rocky crooning music just invites you to sing along. My personal favourite is THE WAITING.

Musically it is pretty simple, but, maybe that is what makes it great? I've read that Petty came up with the chorus and the guitar lick pretty quick - but, the rest of the song, even though it is pretty simple, took a lot of time to put together. He apparently played and played for days on end trying to complete the song. It drove his roomates nutty. And, the quotable lyric 'the waiting is the hardest part' - one of those facts that you completely overlook until an artist like Tom points it out. There are rumours that one of the guys from the Byrds (the band) told it to Petty, or that he ripped it off from Janis Joplin who said it in an interview once...but, like all artistic things quotes and stories are often reused/recycled/modified and you never know where you get 'em from right?

The waiting is the hardest part

Tom Petty says the song is about waiting to see if your dreams will come true. It's one of those quotes that could be used for many different things.

I think it would make a great quote in a dental office:

But, it appears the song is being played more than ever - covers and such. How do I know this? Stats of course. I ran across a website showing stats of how often and who is playing this song ... it's both interesting and odd. Here is a link - https://www.setlist.fm/stats/songs/tom-petty-and-the-heartbreakers-6bd6e20a.html?song=The+Waiting

Stand your ground Tom don't fall over!

Then there is all of those other singable car songs - Living like a refugee, Won't Back Down, Don't do me like that, Here comes my girl, Don't come around here no more, Free fallin, You don't know how it feels...so many!!!!