Tom Petty knew how to kick off a song with a bang, and these four opening lines are some of the best from his long and lucrative discography. Let’s take a look at just a few of Tom Petty’s best opening lines!
1. “Refugee”
“We got something, we both know it, we don’t talk too much about it.”
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This killer tune from the 1979 album Damn The Torpedoes is a straightforward, delightful piece of work from Petty’s late-1970s era. The whole of that album is incredible, but there’s something so convincing about “Refugee”, in particular.
That opening line is tense, full of a sense of danger, and showcases Petty’s ability to confront complex concepts with a sense of vivid picture painting.
2. “Insider”
“You’ve got a dangerous background in everything you dreamed of.”
Tom Petty wasn’t playing games in the opening lines of this famous Stevie Nicks collaboration. A standout track from the 1981 album Hard Promises, Petty originally wanted Nicks to take on the song as a whole. That opening line alone sounds like something from a solid Fleetwood Mac song, after all.
Luckily, Nicks decided to record it with Petty as a duet, and the rest is history. Though, opting to make it a duet makes the subject and target of the song even more mysterious.
3. “American Girl”
“She was an American girl raised on promises.”
“American Girl” is one of Tom Petty’s most immediately recognizable songs and one of the very best to come from Petty and The Heartbreakers’ self-titled debut 1976 record.
The instrumental introduction of the song is a bit more recognizable than anything else (outside of the chorus, obviously), but those opening lines also stick to you. Petty created a character so relatable and so honest that it’s hard not to love the titular American girl.
4. “Breakdown”
“It’s all right if you love me, it’s all right if you don’t.”
Short, sweet, and to the point, there’s something profound about Tom Petty’s admission in the opening lines of “Breakdown” from 1976. “Breakdown” is a timeless piece of work from Petty’s debut album with The Heartbreakers. And that line in question is a great example of his more emotional, yet still apathetic songwriting.
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