Tom Petty Quotes

“I've learned one thing, and that's to quit worrying about stupid things. You have four years to be irresponsible here, relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember the time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So stay out late. Go out with your friends on a Tuesday when you have a paper due on Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does ...”

— Tom Petty

“Sometimes life, will get you down, break your heart, steal your crown.”

— Tom Petty

“Most things I worry about never happen anyway.”

— Tom Petty

“People come, people go
Some grow young, some grow cold
I woke up in between
A memory and a dream
So let's get to the point, let's roll another joint
Let's head on down the road
There's somewhere I gotta go
And you don't know how it feels
You don't know how it feels to be me”

— Tom Petty

“I'll stand my ground and I won't back down ...”

— Tom Petty

“Hey hey hey
I was born a rebel
Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning
Yeah, with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel, born a rebel”

— Tom Petty

“When I decided to be a musician I reckoned that that was going to be the way of less profit, less money. I was sort of giving up the idea of making a lot of money. It was what I loved to do. I would have done it anyway. If I'd had to work at Taco Bell I'd have still been out at night trying to play music.”

— Tom Petty

“Do something you really like, and hopefully it pays the rent. As far as I'm concerned, that's success.”

— Tom Petty

“'Free Fallin' is a very good song. Maybe it would be one of my favorites if it hadn't become this huge anthem. But I'm grateful that people like it.”

— Tom Petty

“When I was a kid, we didn't have any blues stations. I never heard Howlin' Wolf or Muddy Waters or any of those people until the Stones had come along, and I took it upon myself to find out who these people were that they were covering.”

— Tom Petty

“TV does not care about you or what happens to you. It's downright bad for your health now, and that's not a far-out concept. I think watching the TV news is bad for you. It is bad for your physical health and your mental health.”

— Tom Petty

I developed a problem with authority. Any time that authority was what I interpreted as being unjust, I stood up to it, and that became my personality.

— Tom Petty

I don't know, my music has always just come from where the wind blew me. Like where I'm at during a particular moment in time.

— Tom Petty

I think that if people realize that with an mp3, you're only getting five percent of the sound that's there. But when you hear the entire thing ... I think it would save the music business. It's such a drastic change.

— Tom Petty

“It's very easy to be cynical about the hall of fame. But on the other hand, it's really a beautiful thing for someone like me. I dedicated my entire life to this music.”

— Tom Petty

“The music business looks like, you know, innocent schoolboys compared to the TV business. They care about nothing but profit.”

— Tom Petty

Making a record? You've got to have the song, then you create a record. I think it's the same with a live performance. If the material is strong, you're already 90% there. I always tell young people it's all about the music, the songs. Work on the songs, work on the songs, work on the songs.

— Tom Petty

“I'm not trying to be cool. I have a problem with lights. I have one eye that's become super-sensitive to lighting, so I do wear sunglasses quite a bit.”

— Tom Petty

“If 20,000 people start to sing, you tend to go along with it.”

— Tom Petty

“You were the one who made things different, you were the one who took me in. You were the one thing I could count on, above all, you were my friend.”

— Tom Petty

If you look around at America, that's one of its biggest problems is you have corporations that can never be pleased at a profit.

— Tom Petty

I'm certainly not a Robin Hood, I'm not that way. I don't want to come through, burn everybody for $200 a ticket and then they can't afford to come see me again. Plus, I just don't think it's right. I don't think we need that much money. I just do what seems like the logical thing to do.

— Tom Petty

When you kill somebody's little sister with a missile, he's going to hate you forever. And the next generation will hate you even more.

— Tom Petty

“I'm actually better on the guitar than when I started, I think, because I've had so much time with it and I still practice and I love to do it and I love to sing.”

— Tom Petty

“You need eagles wings to get over things that make no sense in this world.”

— Tom Petty

I think sometimes maybe you're going to connect with the audience more than others, but the journey is about getting all there is to get out of this group of people.

— Tom Petty

“I never could have dreamed that her heart was so wicked, but I keep coming back because it's so hard to kick it.”

— Tom Petty

“Bring me a girl, they're always the best. You put 'em on stage, and you have 'em undress.”

— Tom Petty

The poison came in liquid, she was naked all the time.

— Tom Petty

“We could move catalog, if he'd only die quicker.”

— Tom Petty

I like making money like anybody else, and I'm paid well, but I think there is a point at which you can out-price your audience or your base.

— Tom Petty

“Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have kicked you around some. Tell me, why you want to lay there, revel in your abandon?”

— Tom Petty

“You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won't back down.”

— Tom Petty

“You're dealing in magic-it's this intangible thing that has to happen. And to seek it out too much might not be a good idea. Because, you know, it's very shy, too. But once you've got the essence of them, you can work songs and improve them. You see if there's a better word, or a better change.”

— Tom Petty

“Well, I started out down a dirty road Started out all alone And the sun went down as I crossed the hill And the town lit up, the world got still I'm learning to fly but I ain't got wings Coming down is the hardest thing Well, the good ol' days may not return And the rocks might melt and the sea may burn I'm learning to fly but I ain't got wings Coming down is the hardest thing Well, some say life will beat you down Break your heart, steal your crown So I've started out for God knows where I guess I'll know when I get there I'm learning to fly around the clouds But what goes up must come down”

— Tom Petty

You belong among the wildflowers You belong in a boat out at sea You belong with your love on your arm You belong somewhere you feel free

— Tom Petty

“You get in there, you get the job done and you get the hell out.”

— Tom Petty

We haven't always been boy scouts, but we never lost sight of the music, Let me remind you that this ain't the end.

— Tom Petty

The waiting is the hardest part.

— Tom Petty

“I'm not interested in the TV much. I quit watching the news a couple years ago and my outlook on life has gotten a whole lot better.”

— Tom Petty

“I remember things being more clearer, at one time things were more real.”

— Tom Petty

“Gypsies at home watching Jerry Falwell on TV, might mean something to you, it ain't nothing to me.”

— Tom Petty

“Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks. Some doors are opened, some roads are blocked. Sundowns are golden, then fade away. And if I never do nothing, I'll get you back someday.”

— Tom Petty

“Take back your insurance, baby, nothing is guaranteed. Take back your acid rain, let your TV bleed.”

— Tom Petty

“I had the radio on, I was driving. Trees flew by, me and Del were singing, Little Runaway, I was flying.”

— Tom Petty

“At twilight time the smog makes a rainbow.”

— Tom Petty

“But not me, baby, I've got you to save me.”

— Tom Petty

“There was no use pretending, no magic left to hear, all the music gave me was a craving for lite beer.”

— Tom Petty

“I'm not any happier anywhere than when I'm in the studio. I'm over the moon about it. It keeps me young, it keeps me feeling like I have some purpose.”

— Tom Petty

“I didn't worry about my career ending, but there were days where I felt pretty beat up by it all and just pretty tired, because they didn't make it easy for me. And coming right off the last lawsuit, it was the last thing I wanted to get involved in. When it was over, we didn't really celebrate, we were just exhausted. I lost all interest in the record business and never wanted to do anything except hand in a record again.”

— Tom Petty