Hear Tom Petty’s isolated vocals for his classic song ‘Learning to Fly’
The late, great Tom Petty had a career like nobody else, the kind of inspiring and intricate run of expressions that has endeared him to millions. After making his mesmerising arrival in 1976 with his gut-punch debut LP Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, over the next 40 years, he would carve out a niche for himself that is incomparable to anybody else. Despite being recognised as one of the greatest American songwriters of all time, he also possessed one of the era’s defining voices.
From the 1970s onwards, Petty would become a figure of Americana, his shining drawl reverberating across the globe as a figure of the country’s heartland. By 1991, Petty and his voice had become as ubiquitous in the US rock scene as the electric guitar itself. One song that defined both his songwriting style and his unique voice was the hit ‘Learning To Fly’.
Like many of his counterparts, Petty had a distinct sound, one which he honed to a tee. However, unlike his contemporaries, Petty made the distinct call to stick to a sonic structure rather than experiment with each album as stars like Dylan and Springsteen had. Many have tried to follow in Petty’s footsteps, but nobody has quite nailed Americana in the same way that he mastered it. Part of that mastery was his unique way of telling stories.
‘Learning To Fly’ is the kind of song that exemplifies that style. While many assumed the song was about drugs, Petty’s inspiration was far more interesting. He had seen a pilot speaking on TV during an interview and claimed that learning to fly was actually pretty simple compared to landing, or as he neatly put it, “the hardest part is coming down”. It’s easy to see how the drugs reference can be inputted into the song, and Petty likely dined out on the dalliance, but the switch of inspiration is indicative of his unique vision.
The track was also informed by the world around Petty and his most personal relationships. While speaking about the Gulf War that raged at the time, Petty also used the song to share his feelings on the band dynamics surrounding him. The previous record has seen Petty take his chance as a solo artist, whereas Into The Great Wide Open was another Heartbreakers affair. “I wanted that song to be a kind of redemptive song, only in the vaguest way, certainly not literally,” Petty told Billboard.
The song also has links to another of Petty’s projects. He wrote the song alongside his Traveling Wilburys bandmate and former ELO frontman, Jeff Lynne. Another former bandmate, Bob Dylan, would also use this song to pay tribute to Petty shortly after his passing: “It’s shocking, crushing news. I thought the world of Tom. He was a great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him,” Dylan told the crowd in 2017.
Listen to the crystalline vocals of Tom Petty on the classic Heartbreakers song ‘Learning To Fly’.
