Top 25 Tom Petty Songs of All Time

Tom Petty taught me what Rock and Roll was all about. I think I was in 7th grade when I bought Damn the Torpedoes (on 8 track). That low-strung guitar & high voice (like mine). I sang along for untold hours.

Awhile back, Tom Petty was asked in an interview why he always played every single hit in their concerts. Didn’t he get tired of playing those same songs over and over? His answer was something like if it was my favorite band, and I paid good money for tickets, and they didn’t play American Girl or Free Fallin’ I’d be disappointed.

I saw him with the Heartbreakers several times down through the years and they never disappointed. Through it all he never lost sight of the fans, and we loved him for it. They played their hits. We all sang along. Every night was magic.

For four decades Tom Petty set the standard for how to write a monster hook in the midst of a really good rock song. Even up to the very end he was still writing great songs. Every artist in the business loved the man. Every record executive feared him. He was a force of nature, and I’ll really miss him.

Here’s my Top 25 favorite Tom Petty songs of all-time:

1. American Girl
2. You Wreck Me
3. Free Fallin’
4. Walls
5. You Don’t Know How it Feels
6. Breakdown
7. Running Down a Dream
8. The Waiting
9. I Won’t Back Down
10. Jammin’ Me
11. Room at the Top
12. Don’t Come Around Here No More
13. Mary Jane’s Last Dance
14. Wildflowers
15. Learning to Fly
16. Even the Losers
17. Into the Great Wide Open
18. Angel Dream
19. Refugee
20. Climb That Hill
21. Free Girl Now
22. Swinging
23. Yer So Bad
24. Don’t Do Me Like That
25. Listen to Her Heart

Encore: It’s Good to be King, Here Comes my Girl, Last DJ