The one Tom Petty song he “struggled” to write: “It was fun, but I was always annoyed”
Tom Petty, despite his undeniable talent and resilience, faced numerous challenges in the studio throughout his career.
From disputes with record labels to internal band dynamics, Petty often encountered obstacles that hindered the creative process. But, while he was still able to produce a whole ream of amazing songs, he did so fighting the good fight against his own record label on many occasions. But one track would pose a whole new run of issues.
One such instance was during the making of the song ‘Out in the Cold’, where Petty found himself grappling with difficulties that impeded the recording process. Despite these challenges, Petty’s determination and commitment to his craft ultimately prevailed, resulting in the creation of enduring heartland rock classics.
By the time Petty had settled in to make the record Into the Great Wide Open, though, the greatest competition he had to work against was his own creativity. After freeing himself from the Heartbreakers for the first time in his career, his last album, Full Moon Fever, saw him making a quantum leap with ELO frontman Jeff Lynne, turning in one classic after another on songs like ‘Free Fallin’ and ‘Runnin’ Down A Dream’.
While it’s no easy feat trying to get anywhere close to that calibre, Petty came back to the Heartbreakers with a similar mindset. Instead of changing what had come before, Petty thought the next best thing would be to get Lynne in the studio with the rest of the band and try to make lightning strike twice.
For a brief moment, it even seemed to work, with tracks like ‘Learning to Fly’ and the title track becoming massive singles out of the gate. When it came time to record ‘Out in the Cold’, the entire track seemed a bit too forced for Petty.
Discussing his discography with Paul Zollo, Petty remembered having a hard time trying to nail down what he wanted to say, recalling, “I think I struggled with that one. I struggled with the lyrics quite a bit. It was one of those things where you struggle, and you always wonder if you got everything out of it that you could”.
He was ultimately disappointed with it. “‘Out in the Cold’ was never something that I was particularly knocked out with,” he explained. “It was fun, but I was always annoyed that there were two songs that got played all the time on the radio in LA, ‘Out in the Cold’ and ‘Making Some Noise,’ which I thought were the lesser songs of the album, really.”
Then again, Petty didn’t think that the song had what it took to be a lead single. Looking at ‘Out in the Cold’ in conjunction with the rest of the record, hearing such a harsh guitar next to tracks like ‘Two Gunslingers’ and ‘All The Wrong Reasons’ is absolutely jarring when heard out of context, sounding like all three songs should be playing on completely different radio stations.
Although the song at least gave the band a chance to cut loose, it was only masking the hard time the band had put the album together. Since Lynne was known for doing lots of overdubs in the studio, drummer Stan Lynch said that he had a hard time fitting into the group’s dynamic, thinking that all they wanted to do was have him play a little bit at a time while they fiddled with it after the fact.
While Lynch would be sent packing after he said he didn’t like any of Petty’s new material, the band would eventually make a grand return to their organic roots on Wildflowers. With the help of Rick Rubin, the band blended the hard and soft sides of their sound across one project, putting bluesy romps like ‘Honey Bee’ right next to mellow songs like ‘Hard On Me’. For all of the hits on Into the Great Wide Open, ‘Out in the Cold’ encapsulates the kind of growing pains going on in the background of every session.
