Released: October 19, 1979
Songwriter: Tom Petty Mike W. Campbell
Producer: Jimmy Iovine Tom Petty
"Refugee" is a late-70s song recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, written by band members Tom Petty (lyrics) and Mike Campbell (music). It was released in January 1980 as the second single from their 1979 album "Damn the Torpedoes". It peaked at number 15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1980. Read more on Last.fm.
Length: 4:26
[Verse 1]
We got somethin', we both know it
We don't talk too much about it
Ain't no real big secret all the same
Somehow we get around it
[Pre-Chorus]
Listen, it don't really matter to me, baby
You believe what you want to believe
[Chorus]
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
[Verse 2]
Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Tell me why you wanna lay there
And revel in your abandon
[Pre-Chorus]
Honey, it don't make no difference to me, baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free
[Chorus]
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
No baby, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
[Bridge]
Baby, we ain't the first
I'm sure a lot of other lovers been burned
Right now this seems real to you
But it's one of those things
You got to feel to be true
[Verse 3]
Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
Tied up, taken away, and held for ransom
[Pre-Chorus]
Honey, it don't really matter to me, baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free
[Chorus]
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
No, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
You don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
We got somethin', we both know it
We don't talk too much about it
Ain't no real big secret all the same
Somehow we get around it
[Pre-Chorus]
Listen, it don't really matter to me, baby
You believe what you want to believe
[Chorus]
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
[Verse 2]
Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Tell me why you wanna lay there
And revel in your abandon
[Pre-Chorus]
Honey, it don't make no difference to me, baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free
[Chorus]
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
No baby, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
[Bridge]
Baby, we ain't the first
I'm sure a lot of other lovers been burned
Right now this seems real to you
But it's one of those things
You got to feel to be true
[Verse 3]
Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
Tied up, taken away, and held for ransom
[Pre-Chorus]
Honey, it don't really matter to me, baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free
[Chorus]
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
No, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
You don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
more tracks from the album
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Greatest Hits (1993)
- Mary Jane’s Last Dance
- I Need to Know
- Into the Great Wide Open
- Don’t Come Around Here No More
- You Got Lucky
- Listen to Her Heart
- Anything That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll
- Runnin’ Down a Dream
- Even the Losers
- Free Fallin’
- The Waiting
- American Girl
- Learning to Fly
- Don’t Do Me Like That
- Here Comes My Girl
- Refugee
- I Won’t Back Down
- Breakdown
From the albums
- Damn the Torpedoes (1979)
- Pack Up the Plantation: Live! (1985)
- The Rolling Stone Collection - 25 Years Of Essential Rock (1993)
- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Greatest Hits (1993) (1993)
- Playback (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) (1995)
- Anthology Through The Years (2000)
- The Best of Everything (2019)
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers popular songs
- 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