Music Review: Tom Petty "Runnin' Down A Dream"

Tom Petty

Runnin’ Down A Dream

Album: Full Moon Fever

Year: 1989

          Tom Petty goes on a spontaneous road trip in the enticing  “Runnin’ Down A Dream.”)

               A wild guitar opens the single, setting a self-determining tone.  The sky was a crystal blue without a cloud. The sun, in the middle of it, shined in all its glory. There was no way he was going stay inside. He begins to pack his suitcase and gets his duffel bag. He grabs the key to his convertible. Once in, he pulls the top down and heads towards the freeway. He moves the dial to the oldies station. Del Shannon’s 1961 hit “Little Runaway” plays as he taps the steering wheel in time to it while he sings along. (“It was a beautiful day, the sun beat down/I had the radio on, I was drivin'/Trees flew by, me and Del were singin' little Runaway/I was flyin'.”)

             In the chorus, he isn’t sure where’s going. But he’ll know once he gets there. It’s something he has to do. (“Yeah runnin' down a dream/That never would come to me/Workin' on a mystery, goin' wherever it leads/Runnin' down a dream.”)

               He sets the car on cruise control and takes in the mountains. He could be anyone right now. There is no past for him. Sometime between Arizona and Nevada, he hit thunderstorms. It was a downpour and the sky turned a chilly gray. He put the top up on his car and put the heat on. (“I felt so good like anything was possible/I hit cruise control and rubbed my eyes/The last three days the rain was unstoppable/It was always cold, no sunshine.”)

               The  chorus is sung again.

             The threat of more storms doesn’t scare him. It only made him want to power through it. He slammed his foot and let the car go 80 miles per hour. Something more exists out there. He’ll find it. (“I rolled on as the sky grew dark/I put the pedal down to make some time/There's something good waitin' down this road/I'm pickin' up whatever's mine.”)

                   The chorus is sung again.

               Petty can’t slow down. He’s always hungry to learn something new. There is no anxiety for him as he drives the expressway. The high speed and unlimited road is freeing to him. He can go anywhere. Although he’s soft spoken and quiet, there’s a need that he has to just go.

            The fearless “Runnin’ Down A Dream” wants to live as much as it can.