Wildflowers (Tom Petty song)

"Wildflowers" is a song by Tom Petty, the opening track from the eponymous album. The song became quite popular in concerts, and though it was not released as a single, it charted on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart at number 16.[1] AllMusic describes it as having a simple but effective folk-based chord progression, with a sprightly, almost country-oriented rhythm.[2][3]

"Wildflowers"
Single by Tom Petty
from the album Wildflowers
Released1994 (1994)
2020 (home recording)
GenreFolk rock
Length3:10
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Tom Petty
Producer(s)Rick Rubin
Tom Petty singles chronology
"You Don't Know How It Feels (Home Recording)"
(2020)		 "Wildflowers"
(2020)		 "Leave Virginia Alone"
(2020)

The song has gone on to become one of the most beloved in Petty's catalog. Petty also stated "Wildflowers" was easy to write and compose.[4] It was one of the non-singles which were included on the compilation The Best of Everything (others were "Southern Accents", "Square One", "Angel Dream" and "Dreamville").[5]

On August 20, 2020, a posthumous release of the home recorded demo version of the song was released as single alongside a music video. The video contains never-before-seen footage shot by Martyn Atkins during the recording of "Wildflowers".[6] On the same day, it was officially announced that on October 16, a posthumous album titled Wildflowers & All the Rest would be released. It is a comprehensive re-release of "Wildflowers" including the home version (released as a single in August) along with the album Wildflowers and many unearthed gems and demos/home recordings.[7]

The title of the November 2020 book Somewhere You Feel Free: Tom Petty and Los Angeles comes from a lyric in the song.[8]

"Wildflowers" is also Tom Petty's fourth most streamed solo song on Spotify, even surpassing the same album's big hit "You Don't Know How it Feels".[9]

Composition

Petty described writing "Wildflowers":

I just took a deep breath and it came out. The whole song. Stream of consciousness: words, music, chords. Finished it. I mean, I just played it into a tape recorder and I played the whole song and I never played it again. I actually only spent three and a half minutes on that whole song. So I’d come back for days playing that tape, thinking there must be something wrong here because this just came too easy. And then I realized that there’s probably nothing wrong at all.[10]

References
  1. "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Chart History". Billboard.
  2. "Wildflowers - Tom Petty | Song Info". AllMusic.
  3. "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tour Statistics | setlist.fm". setlist.fm.
  4. Kelly, Sean. "Tom Petty's 'Wildflowers' Turns 25: The Stories Behind the Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock.
  5. "The Best of Everything: The Definitive Career-Spanning Hits Collection 1976-2016 - Tom Petty, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  6. "Tom Petty - Wildflowers (Home Recording) [Official Music Video]". August 20, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020 – via YouTube.
  7. "Tom Petty's Long-Awaited Wildflowers Comprehensive Collection To Be Released". TomPetty.com. August 20, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  8. "Exclusive: Interview With Author of New Tom Petty Book". Best Classic Bands.
  9. https://open.spotify.com/artist/2UZMlIwnkgAEDBsw1Rejkn
  10. "Tom Petty Tells The Stories Behind His Songs". Performing Songwriter Ent., LLC. October 20, 2014.
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