Tom Petty > Quotes

“I've learned one thing, and that's to quit worrying about stupid things. You have four years to be irresponsible here, relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember the time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So stay out late. Go out with your friends on a Tuesday when you have a paper due on Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does...”
― Tom Petty

“Excuse me if I have/some place in my mind/where I go time to time.”
― Tom Petty

“You belong among the wildflowers
You belong in a boat out at sea
You belong with your love on your arm
You belong somewhere you feel free”
― Tom Petty

“Sometimes life, will get you down, break your heart, steal your crown.”
― Tom Petty

“Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down”
― Tom Petty, Conversations With Tom Petty

“Yeah and it's over before you know it
It all goes by so fast
Yeah the bad nights take forever
And the good nights don't ever seem to last”
― Tom Petty

“Most things I worry about never happen anyway.”
― Tom Petty

“So I started out for God knows where.
I guess I'll know when I get there.”
― Tom Petty

“How 'bout a cheer for all those bad girls?
And all those boys that play that rock and roll?
They love it like you love Jesus,
It does the same thing to their souls.”
― Tom Petty

“Running down a dream...
working on a mystery...
going wherever it leads...”
― Tom Petty

“People come, people go
Some grow young, some grow cold
I woke up in between
A memory and a dream

So let's get to the point, let's roll another joint
Let's head on down the road
There's somewhere I gotta go
And you don't know how it feels
You don't know how it feels to be me”
― Tom Petty

“Well, I started out down a dirty road
Started out all alone
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill
And the town lit up, the world got still

I'm learning to fly but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

Well, the good ol' days may not return
And the rocks might melt and the sea may burn

I'm learning to fly but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

Well, some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I've started out for God knows where
I guess I'll know when I get there

I'm learning to fly around the clouds
But what goes up must come down”
― Tom Petty

“I had to learn a new way of playing. I had to practice a lot, and just find ways around the limitations. So it was a bad idea to break my hand.

You said you were doing a lot of cocaine. Did that affect your songwriting?

No. I think it affected my breaking my hand.”
― Tom Petty, Conversations With Tom Petty

“Do something you really like, and hopefully it pays the rent. As far as I'm concerned, that's success.”
― Tom Petty

“I'm old enough to have lived in a country where, if you were willing to work hard, you could have a fairly nice life. You could support your family, and even get a shot at owning your own home. But you never thought you'd get a swimming pool. Now culture has hypnotised people into thinking they're really nothing if they're not wealthy and a Kardashian.”
― Tom Petty

“I'll stand my ground and I won't back down...”
― Tom Petty

“You will never be told when the next bit of education is coming or where it's coming from or who the teacher will be. That information will only reveal itself after the fact. All that you can do is leave a little room there for the next lesson to come through. Someone will be carrying it. You just leave the door open a crack.”
― Tom Petty, Runnin' Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

“Hey hey hey
I was born a rebel
Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning
Yeah, with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel, born a rebel”
― Tom Petty

“Free Falling"

She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too

It's a long day livin' in Reseda
There's a freeway runnin' through the yard
I'm a bad boy, 'cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart

And I'm free, I'm free fallin'

All the vampires walkin' through the valley
Move west down Ventura Blvd
All the bad boys are standing in the shadows
All the good girls are home with broken hearts

And I'm free, I'm free fallin'

I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her name in the sky
I wanna free fall out into nothin'
Gonna leave this world for a while

And I'm free, I'm free fallin”
― Tom Petty

“I don't believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs.”
― Tom Petty

“Well, I know what's right, I got just one life.”
― Tom Petty

“Well I don't know but I've been told, you never slow down, you never grow old.”
― Tom Petty , Greatest Hits Petty Tom & the Heartbreakers