or does Tom Petty's American Girl have the most blow-your-mind greatest lyrics EVER? Doing a little question-development research for Music Slut, I was reminded of how great a song that still is. It had been a while.
I don't even know how to describe the lyrics' greatness. Poignant? Bittersweet? Yearning? It reads like literature, and sounds even better. No matter how many times I hear it, it never fails to make my hair stand on end. Who knew Tom Petty was such a poet?!?!
Well, she was an American girl,
raised on promises.
She couldn't help thinking
that there was a little more to life somewhere else.
After all, it was a great big world,
with lots of places to run to.
And if she had to die trying,
she had one little promise she was gonna keep.
Oh yeah, all right.
Take it easy, baby.
Make it last all night.
She was an American girl.
Well, it was kind of cold that night.
She stood alone on her balcony.
Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by,
out on 441, like waves crashing on the beach.
And for one desperate moment there,
he crept back in her memory.
God, it's so painful when something that's so close
is still so far out of reach.
Oh yeah, all right.
Take it easy, baby.
Make it last all night.
She was an American girl.
If you haven't heard it in a while, do yourself a favor. But only listen to the originally-recorded version, none of the live performances where they've got to 'jazz it up' (ugh, you know how Sweet Pickles feels about live music!).


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