Tom Petty on the happiest song of all time: “No piece of music can make you feel better”
Music has always been about bringing people together. Although there can be a hint of attitude amongst fanbases, the core ethos of all good music comes from getting people of different persuasions to unite in song. While Tom Petty has had more than a few optimistic anthems under his belt, he considered one song by his contemporaries to be one of the most uplifting tracks ever.
When Petty started cutting his teeth as a songwriter, not all of his songs were meant to be too substantial. Operating in his first act, Mudcrutch, Petty was still making songs indebted to his idols like The Byrds and The Rolling Stones, making a name for himself in his native Gainsville before the band fell apart coming to California.
After getting signed as a solo artist, Petty wanted a band to help him realise his rock and roll dreams. Reconnecting with Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, The Heartbreakers were born in 1976, with Petty penning odes to the American heartland on tracks like ‘Breakdown’ and ‘American Girl’.
By the time the band had reached their third album Damn the Torpedoes, Petty’s songwriting had become far more complex, making songs that were about making different sonic textures like ‘Refugee’ and ‘Here Comes My Girl’. Although Petty was free to do whatever he wanted after winning a lawsuit with his record company, his following albums would also see him rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in rock history.
After accompanying Bob Dylan on tour, Petty would connect with George Harrison and Jeff Lynne to form the basis of The Traveling Wilburys alongside Dylan and Roy Orbison. Although every band member admitted to being in awe of Orbison whenever he sang, Petty had the utmost reverence for Harrison as a songwriter.
First getting the itch to play rock and roll from seeing The Beatles play on The Ed Sullivan Show, Petty came to see Harrison as a big-brother figure, with ‘The Quite Beatle’ even appearing in the video for Petty’s solo smash ‘I Won’t Back Down’. Outside of his friendship with Harrison, Petty always had a soft spot for one of his friend’s final Beatles compositions.
As the Fab Four were winding down at the end of the 1960s, Harrison would contribute one of the sunniest rock tunes of all time with ‘Here Comes the Sun’, having written it while playing hooky from various label meetings. When talking about the song later, Petty recalled, “No piece of music can make you feel better than this. It’s such an optimistic song, with that little bit of ache in it that makes the happiness mean even more”.
After seeing how Harrison approached songwriting, Petty eventually made an optimistic song of his own on his next solo record. Recorded with Rick Rubin, ‘Wildflowers’ became one of the purest tunes that Petty would ever create, with lyrics that detail someone who deserves to be free to roam wherever they feel. Although Petty may have been happy to observe Harrison’s songwriting half the time, it didn’t take long for that cosmic optimism to rub off on the heartland rocker.
