Welcome everyone to the latest Top Five Fridays! This week, I focus in on the music of the late, great Tom Petty.
He’s an icon in the world of music and has a bunch of unreleased music coming out as part of a box set titled American Treasure and there’s no doubt that you’ve heard Keep A Little Soul on our station. It’s a great song and it got me thinking what are my favorite songs of all-time from a man who had such a great career both musically and as the voice of Lucky on King of the Hill.
Without further ado, let’s get into the countdown!
5. The Last DJ
It’s a deeper cut in Tom Petty’s discography, but it’s a really cool song off the album of the same name that is partially inspired from real life DJ Jim Ladd, who had a very freeform style throughout his career at various stops. A big reason why I like this song in particular is because it has a steady beat throughout that has you tapping your feet throughout. It never changes the pace and that’s a great thing.
4. Louisiana Rain
A Florida native writing a good song about rain in Louisiana? That definitely makes it into the top five along with the fact that it has a very trippy intro. What’s interesting is that this song was something from back from his time with the band Mudcrutch and while putting together the album Damn the Torpedoes that this and Don’t Do Me Like That wound up making the album while working with Jimmy Iovine on the album.
3. I Won’t Back Down
I usually put the music videos for the song, but you have to check out this amazing moment of the Florida Gators fans singing along to the iconic Petty song shortly after his passing. It’s a great song in general and if you know his association with the University of Florida. It’s such an empowering song that you need to listen when you want to get ready to attack the day.
2. Runnin’ Down A Dream
From the second that intro hits, you really just feel like getting up and moving. To me, it’s not the typical Petty song you’d find on a top five list, but I love it simply because of the fact that it is a high-energy track and the music video is really cool (full disclosure: hadn’t seen the music video until recently).
1. You Don’t Know How It Feels
This is hands down my favorite song from Tom Petty and might have been the first song I remember hearing from the musical icon. Once that harmonica hits, I know I’ve got to get through the rest of the song and sing along with the chorus. Tom Petty was a mastermind of coming up with great lyrics that everybody could outright enjoy from start to finish. Sure, I could’ve gone with Free Fallin’ or Mary Jane’s Last Dance, but sometimes the first impressions are always the best impressions and that’s what I took away from hearing Petty’s music back when I was a kid.
-Clint Domingue