‘Out in the Cold’: The one song that “annoyed” Tom Petty
As any disgruntled coach would say, ‘they can’t all be winners’. While it might seem easy for artists to chart one amazing tune after another on the hit parade, there comes a point where everything starts to fall apart, leading to songs that fail to hit the mark either in the studio or upon release. Although Tom Petty famously held a decent track record of making landmark albums that have stood the test of time, he was annoyed at the idea of releasing one of his most underrated songs.
By the time Petty reached the 1990s, though, he had made a name for himself as one of the few rock titans still relevant. Although he may have been able to squeak by embracing the aesthetic of MTV throughout the 1980s, the end of the decade would see him creating a string of masterpieces, starting with working alongside Jeff Lynne and George Harrison in the Traveling Wilburys.
After thinking about making a solo record, Petty would team up with Lynne and guitarist Mike Campbell to help put together his solo debut, Full Moon Fever. Since Petty was not inclined to split up The Heartbreakers, he figured the next album would be an extension of his solo material, featuring Lynne working with his backing band.
Although the rest of the group would recall feeling uncomfortable making what would become Into the Great Wide Open, the album would spawn even more massive hits for them, including the anthem ‘Learning to Fly’. However, Petty got outvoted when choosing the single with a heavier groove than the other songs on the record.
After being known for ballads like ‘Free Fallin’ off his last record, the label wanted a little more tempo, singling out the cut ‘Out in the Cold’. While the track may have been fantastic, it was clear that they wanted to reproduce the same intensity that came from ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’ from one album earlier, featuring a central riff that chugs along at an insistent pace.
Looking back on how everything was constructed, Petty was perturbed that ‘Out in the Cold’ got the green light, saying, “’Out in the Cold’ was never something that I was particularly knocked out with. It was fun, but I was always annoyed that two songs 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”.
Although tracks like ‘Two Gunslingers’ and ‘All The Wrong Reasons’ off the same album may have benefited from having stronger melodies and sharper lyrics, ‘Out in the Cold’ is still one of the finest songs of this era of the band. Compared to the usual sounds of Petty’s material, this is his way of blending his heartland rock identity with a punk attitude, which would come in handy one year later.
With the rise of grunge happening at the start of the 1990s, Petty would become something of a godfather of the genre, joining the ranks of Neil Young as one of the progenitors of the alternative movement. Petty may have wanted a mellow introduction to the album, but it’s a good problem when even the lesser songs sound this good.
