Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Released: April 13, 1999

Songwriter: Tom Petty

Producer: Rick Rubin Tom Petty Mike W. Campbell

Well, she was standing by the highway
In her boots and silver spurs
Gonna hitchhike to the yellow moon
When a Cadillac stopped for her
And she said, "Hey, nice to meet you
Are you goin' my way?"
Yeah, that's when it happened
The world caught fire that day

And she went down swingin'
Yeah, she went down swingin'

Well, she was over twenty-one
In trouble with the law
And it didn't faze her none
She called her mother-in-law
And said "I need a little money
I know I can count on you
After that night in Vegas
And the hell that we went through"

We went down swingin'
Like Benny Goodman
Yeah, we went down swingin'
Yes, we did

Moonlight on the interstate
She was 'cross the Georgia line
Looked out the window feeling great
Yeah, it had to come in time
And she said, "I'm never going back"
She said, "At last, I'm free
I wish Ma could see me now
She'd be so proud of me"

She went down swingin'
Like Glenn Miller
Yeah, she went down swingin'
Like Tommy Dorsey
Yeah, she went down swingin'
Like Sammy Davis
She went down swingin'
Like Sonny Liston

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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