Welcome to the song of the day, where we feature a single track, whether its brand new or older than us, overlooked or overplayed, our favorite or no one’s favorite; as long as its interesting, it can be the song of the day.
When I saw Jason Isbell in Nashville on a Friday last October, a few weeks after Tom Petty’s death, he came out for the encore and played this song. He had played a different Petty song every night, and he emerged and said “nothing says Friday night better than this right here,” and played the opening riff. I’ve thought about it every time I’ve heard the song since then, because it’s so true.
The song was the second single from Petty’s self-titled debut, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, following “Breakdown” and preceding “Anything That’s Rock & Roll.” The b-side for this 1977 release was “The Wild One, Forever.” The song was recorded on July 4, 1976, American’s 200th birthday. Anyway, happy Friday night.