Released: April 13, 1999

Songwriter: Tom Petty

Producer: Rick Rubin Tom Petty Mike W. Campbell

Put down your things and rest a while
You know we've both nowhere to go
Yeah, Daddy had to crash
He's always halfway there, you know
And no, I don't pretend there's any more of that
They say one day, you'll look up and laugh

And hear the same sad echo when you walk
Yeah, the same sad echo when you talk loud and clear
It's the same as the same sad echo around here

I promise you this winter
I will worship you like gold
And ride your train forever
Electric fortunes to be told
And I don't want to question or even celebrate
All the joy you took and then gave back too late

It's the same sad echo when you lie
It's the same sad echo when you try to be clear
It's the same as the same sad echo around here

Well, I woke up right here in a pool of sweat
And with a box of pills and you
Yeah and I'm going to keep my head
I'm going to keep my cool, I'm so in love with you
Yes and in another world, nothing was like this
There may have been a girl, there never was a kiss

The poison came in liquid
She was naked all the time
And no one could explain it
It was all between the lines
And I don't seem to trust anyone no more
It could be faith, but I'm just not sure

It's the same sad echo every day
Yeah the same sad echo another way when you call
It's the same as the same sad echo most of all

Oh well, you just got tired, you just gave in
You took it hard, then you just quit
You let me down, you dropped the ball
You fell on your face most of all
And I don't want to mean anything to you
And I don't want to tempt you to be true

It's the same sad echo coming down
It's the same sad echo all around in my ears
It's the same as the same sad echo around here

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers – an L.A.-based gang of sharp-dressed garage-rock refugees from Gainsville, Florida – released their debut LP in November 1976, featuring two tracks which are now part of their long list of hits, “Breakdown” and “American Girl.”

Since that first LP in ‘76, the band’s style has epitomized and largely defined the American “heartland rock” movement – a vintage-guitar twang, hard lyric truth, and searing vocal attitude.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been nominated for 17 Grammy awards and sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making them one of the world’s best-selling bands of all-time.