The only song Tom Petty called “perfect”
(Source: Far Out / Songwriters Hall of Fame)
Tom Petty didn’t mince his words when he performed. No matter what kind of heartland rock his fans were listening to, no one could deny that everything he sang came from his soul when he stepped up to the microphone. Petty did admit, however, that some songs were easier than others, and when he performed “You Got Lucky,” he admitted that everything flowed like clockwork.
When Petty finally entered the studio to Long after dark, he had already endured more hardships than musicians twice his age. Aside from losing his mother on the previous album, Ron Blair’s abrupt departure from the group meant they were flying blind with new recruit Howie Epstein, who Petty admitted stole from Del Shannon’s band for his latest record.
Although Epstein fit like a glove, Long after dark isn’t really the fireworks that many had hoped for. Petty was still recovering and since this was his third attempt with the same producer, the frontman spent most of the album comparing it to treading water and felt he hadn’t taken his sound as far as he had hoped.
On the other hand, “You Got Lucky” is nearly flawless for the time. As one of the first songs where Petty breaks out the synths, it’s definitely a departure from the usual formula, but almost every single melodic line could be another hook, from Mike Campbell’s guitar fill at the beginning to Benmont Tench’s synth line at the beginning.
Despite his feelings about making the album, Petty knew he had created something special with “You Got Lucky,” telling Paul Zollo, “It’s beautiful. It was a hit single for us. It’s just kind of a love song. You know what that song is? It’s the perfect little single. When I hear it on the radio, I think, ‘Wow, we really filled in every little gap right.’ And the groove was so good.”
As if the synthesizers weren’t enough of a clue, this was also Petty’s first real introduction to the 1980s, as it was the first MTV video he made. It shows him and the rest of the Heartbreakers wandering through a desert landscape, wearing some sort of discarded clothing from a Mad Max Movie.
The song worked; it became one of Petty’s most enduring classics, but it was also one he didn’t really want to repeat again. If you listen to the outtakes from the music video featured in the documentary Pursuing a dream, Even Petty made fun of the song during filming, saying the synthesizers were crap and that they wanted more textures on the next record.
Although Petty had the final say on whether the song could be played on the radio, “You Got Lucky” is more than just a catchy tune in his repertoire. If anything, this was the kind of perfect pop song that felt like he was adopting the Phil Spector-style structure for one of his hits into his own music.
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