The greatest Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song, according to Mike Campbell: “It’s so universal”
When it comes to defining the classic American rock sound, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers certainly played a part. With tracks like ‘Free Fallin’ or ‘American Girl’, they wrote their fair share of timeless hits with the talent of Petty leading the charge. But by his side, Mike Campbell was just as much of an essential force. Being part of the band from the start to the sad ending with Petty’s passing, the guitarist saw them through it all.
That’s exactly why asking him to pick his favourite track from the band feels so cruel. It’s the classic cliché, but asking a musician to play ‘favourites’ with their own work truly is like asking a parent to pick their favourite child. Each release is something carefully made and even more carefully raised up and nurtured like a parent doing their based to make and develop a good kid who will go out into the world and be a good person.
Just like child rearing, too, no musician can truly see their work clearly, just as kids so often get a pass through the eyes of loving parents. Albums are clouded with personal context. Maybe it was a joyful time in the band’s history, making their reflection on the release kinder. Maybe it was a rocky process, meaning that certain songs will always serve as a sonic reminder for certain arguments or fights the group had, or even situations like bad breakups that will haunt certain lyrics forever.
But despite that, and despite often saying they could never ever decide, most musicians do hold a secret candle for particular songs or albums in their discography and occasionally dare to openly play favourites when asked about it.
For Mike Campbell, when asked by Vulture, the best of the Heartbreakers, or his favourite track, comes in the form of ‘Refugee’. Despite being the opening track of their third album, Damn the Torpedoes, with many bands already feeling seasoned by then, the Heartbreakers still felt fresh. Given that they’d release 13 records in their time, they were still only babies here, and Campbell sees ‘Refugee’ as representing the first signs of greatness in their infancy.
“It’s so universal and it’s one of the first big hits we wrote together,” Campbell said, with the track being one of the first successes to be credited to both him and Petty as a writing duo.
It’s a track that captures that early process, too. “I had a four-track reel-to-reel tape recorder and a record that had some drum beats on it. I played that on the machine and I made up some chords because I wanted to practice lead guitar, and those chords became ‘Refugee’ as we know it,” he said, fondly recalling the song’s origin as he added, “I gave the music to Tom and he wrote the words.”
With those two elements coming together and clicking into place, still widely regarded as one of the band’s best moments, it’s not just that Campbell likes the build of the song. Going hand in hand with his somewhat objective view on the artistic worth of ‘Refugee’, it’s mostly the moment it represents; when Campbell and Petty finally found a collaborative groove, as he said, “It was a lucky moment for us.”
