Released: May 5, 1981
Songwriter: Tom Petty
Producer: Jimmy Iovine Tom Petty
[Verse 1]
You've got a dangerous background
And everything you've dreamed of
Yeah, you're the dark angel
It don't show when you break up
[Pre-Chorus 1]
And I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one left in the dust
Yeah, I'm the broken-hearted fool
Who was never quite enough
[Chorus]
I'm an insider, I've been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars
I'm an insider
[Verse 2]
It's a circle of deception
It's a hall of strangers
It's a cage without a key
You can feel the danger
[Pre-Chorus 2]
And I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one you couldn't trust
I'm the lonely, silent one
I'm the one left in the dust
[Chorus]
I'm an insider, I've been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars
I'm an insider
[Verse 3]
I'll bet you're his masterpiece
I'll bet you're his self-control
Yeah you'll become his legacy
His quiet world of white and gold
[Pre-Chorus 3]
And I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one you left to rust
Not one of your twisted friends
I'm the one you couldn't love
[Chorus]
I'm an insider, I've been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars
I'm an insider
You've got a dangerous background
And everything you've dreamed of
Yeah, you're the dark angel
It don't show when you break up
[Pre-Chorus 1]
And I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one left in the dust
Yeah, I'm the broken-hearted fool
Who was never quite enough
[Chorus]
I'm an insider, I've been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars
I'm an insider
[Verse 2]
It's a circle of deception
It's a hall of strangers
It's a cage without a key
You can feel the danger
[Pre-Chorus 2]
And I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one you couldn't trust
I'm the lonely, silent one
I'm the one left in the dust
[Chorus]
I'm an insider, I've been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars
I'm an insider
[Verse 3]
I'll bet you're his masterpiece
I'll bet you're his self-control
Yeah you'll become his legacy
His quiet world of white and gold
[Pre-Chorus 3]
And I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one you left to rust
Not one of your twisted friends
I'm the one you couldn't love
[Chorus]
I'm an insider, I've been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars
I'm an insider
- Hard Promises (1981)
- Pack Up the Plantation: Live! (1985)
- 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