The song is a powerful push back against an abusive relationship on behalf of the woman Tom loved. The way the lyrics are organized, with the verses describing the abuse in the past tense and the uplifting chorus being in the present tense really drives home that idea that “No longer will you be a slave. No longer will you have to crawl”. It’s a celebration of liberation and freedom that is specific to a personal situation but again has that anthemic universality that would make a stadium full of people who might not know its origins sing along in full-throated support!

If you want to listen to the song before you listen to the episode, you can find it here : https://youtu.be/vxfQun7sfok

And if you want to hear the live version from the Fillmore in ’99, you can find that here : https://youtu.be/1p7e5MgqkcI

Don’t forget to follow me on social media, like, subscribe, and please, leave a rating if you like the show.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetompettyproject

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tompettyproject.bsky.social

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetompettyproject

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thetompettyproject

Threads: https://www.threads.net/@thetompettyproject

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way and when you’re looking for Tom’s music, please visit the official YouTube channel first and go to tompetty.com for official merchandise.

A last very special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, “Conversations with Tom Petty”, this podcast wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to research. And further thanks to Warren Zanes for his outstanding book “Petty, the Biography”.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producer: Paul Roberts

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-tom-petty-project.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.