Released: May 5, 1981
Songwriter: Mike W. Campbell Tom Petty
Producer: Jimmy Iovine Tom Petty
[Verse 1]
It didn't feel like Sunday, didn't feel like June
When he met his silent partner in that lonely corner room
That over looked the marquee of the plaza all-adult
And he was not looking for romance, just someone he could trust
[Chorus]
And it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could put up with it for a little while
He was working on something big
[Verse 2]
Speedball rang the night clerk, said "Send me up a drink"
The night clerk said "It's Sunday man, wait a minute, let me think
There's a little place outside of town might still have some wine"
Speedball said, "Forget it, can I have an outside line?
[Chorus]
And it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could put up with it for a little while
He was working on something big
[Verse 3]
It was Monday when the day maids found the still-made bed
All except the pillows that lay stacked up at the head
And one said, "I know I've seen his face, I wonder who he is"
The other said, "It's probably just another clown working on something big"
[Chorus]
And it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could put up with it for a little while
He was working on something big
[Chorus]
Yeah, and it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could put up with it for a little while
He was working on something big
It didn't feel like Sunday, didn't feel like June
When he met his silent partner in that lonely corner room
That over looked the marquee of the plaza all-adult
And he was not looking for romance, just someone he could trust
[Chorus]
And it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could put up with it for a little while
He was working on something big
[Verse 2]
Speedball rang the night clerk, said "Send me up a drink"
The night clerk said "It's Sunday man, wait a minute, let me think
There's a little place outside of town might still have some wine"
Speedball said, "Forget it, can I have an outside line?
[Chorus]
And it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could put up with it for a little while
He was working on something big
[Verse 3]
It was Monday when the day maids found the still-made bed
All except the pillows that lay stacked up at the head
And one said, "I know I've seen his face, I wonder who he is"
The other said, "It's probably just another clown working on something big"
[Chorus]
And it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could put up with it for a little while
He was working on something big
[Chorus]
Yeah, and it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could put up with it for a little while
He was working on something big
- Hard Promises (1981)
- Playback (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) (1995)
- Mary Jane’s Last Dance
- Learning to Fly
- American Girl
- The Waiting
- Breakdown
- Refugee
- Into the Great Wide Open
- You Got Lucky
- Here Comes My Girl
- Don’t Come Around Here No More
- Walls (Circus)
- Even the Losers
- Insider
- Don’t Do Me Like That
- Rebels
- It’ll All Work Out
- Christmas All Over Again
- Swingin’
- Southern Accents
- Listen to Her Heart
- I Need to Know
- Room at the Top
- A Face in the Crowd
- Jammin’ Me