Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Released: May 5, 1979

Songwriter: Tom Petty

Producer: Jimmy Iovine Tom Petty

[Verse 1]
You got a criminal mind, you got criminal looks
Boy, you better look out or you're going to get hooked
Don't you ever feel guilty when you come up short?
Man you better be careful, you're going to get caught

[Chorus 1]
'Cause you're the criminal kind, you're the criminal kind
Man, what you going to do, now where you going to hide?
They're calling you a sickness, disease of the mind
Man, what you going to do, you're the criminal kind

[Verse 2]
Don't you ever get tired, don't you ever want to quit?
Yeah it's been a long time and you still don't fit
Dog tags on your mirror, hanging down from a chain
Give up little sister, this ain't going to change

[Chorus 2]
'Cause he's the criminal kind, the criminal kind
Man, what you going to do, now you're running out of time
They're calling you a sickness, disease of the mind
Man, what you going to do, you're the criminal kind

[Bridge]
Yeah, and that little girl you used to know
Just don't come around no more
Now she ain't there to watch the door
She don't want to die in no liquor store

[Verse 3]
I hope they all made money, I hope they all get rich
Yeah, I hope they give hell to every son-of-a-bitch
That put a man on the carpet or stuck him out on the line
Whatever let him get a taste of the criminal life

[Chorus 3]
Yeah, the criminal kind, the criminal kind
Now what you going to do, where you going to hide?
They're calling you a sickness, a sign of the times
Man, what you going to do, you're the criminal kind

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.

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