The Tom Petty song inspired by Janis Joplin
The musical prowess of Tom Petty blossomed at an early age. Inspired by the Beatles’ appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, he found his calling in music and soon began playing with local bands. His determination and passion for music led him to form the Heartbreakers in the mid-1970s, laying the foundation for a remarkable career.
Petty’s meteoric rise commenced in 1976 with the unveiling of the eponymous debut album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. One of the album’s standout tracks, ‘Breakdown’, encapsulated Petty’s gritty vocals and the band’s contagious dynamism. It catapulted their initial success and cemented Petty’s stature as a leading presence in the rock scene.
Across his illustrious career, Petty unfurled a string of hit albums and chart-topping singles. Among these, Damn the Torpedoes, Full Moon Fever, and Wildflowers stand as pillars of his artistic legacy. These albums showcased Petty’s unparalleled songwriting finesse, birthing anthems that resonated universally across diverse audiences.
For his 1981 album, Hard Promises, Petty took his time crafting ‘The Waiting’. This enduring and iconic single, heralded as one of his finest, didn’t materialise overnight. Initially, Petty had only the central riff, the anchor around which the song evolves. Nevertheless, he persisted, eagerly awaiting a breakthrough. Then, a pivotal moment emerged — a spark ignited by Janis Joplin.
“That’s all I had,” Petty said, explaining the riff. “I did that for weeks. And then finally I hit on, ‘The waiting is the hardest part / Every day you get one more yard…’ And then I’d go, ‘Now what?’ You eat dinner, you come back, sit down, pick up the guitar. People start banging on the wall. ‘Don’t play that anymore!'”
The sentiment behind this song resonates with anyone familiar with the ache of anticipation, as Petty explained: “That was a song that took a long time to write. Roger McGuinn swears he told me the line – about the waiting being the hardest part – but I think I got the idea from something Janis Joplin said on television. I had the chorus very quickly, but I had a very difficult time piecing together the rest of the song. It’s about waiting for your dreams and not knowing if they will come true.”
More than a decade had passed since Joplin’s death when Petty and his band laid down ‘The Waiting’. Nonetheless, her influence comes through in the song’s themes of anticipation. “Everything else is just waiting,” she once said, discussing her mentality towards performing on stage.
