Tom Petty’s classic song that was inspired by The Doors

It’s been 25 years since Petty and a young band of starry-eyed musicians left Gainesville, Fla., and headed for the dreamy lights of Hollywood that Echo landed. The 15-track opus marked the group’s tenth outing and included the singles “Free Girl Now”, “Swingin'” and “Room at the Top”.

Since that fateful trip, the band have gone through turbulent times both as a group and in their personal lives – they ended an 11-year relationship with MCA to join Warner Bros, drummer Stan Lynch called it quits after 20 years ago. kit, and Petty divorced his wife of 22 years. No wonder that Echo it is steeped in stories of solitude, reflection and escape.

Displaying uncompromising faith and depth, Petty described the album as one of his most personal to date. In an interview broadcast during the world premiere of his Echo on the SFX Radio Network in New York City—just days before Petty and his Heartbreakers were the musical guests on both Saturday Night Live and The Late Show with David Letterman – Petty commented: “It kind of fell to me… in hindsight, you look back at (the songs) and go, ‘Oh, I see what I was thinking.’ But I think if I had known what I was thinking (when I wrote them), I would have been too ashamed to write them.”

Guitarist, bandmate and co-writing partner Mike Campbell added: “When you look at it later, sometimes you really see what the story was about more…”

The album deals with insecurities. “Counting on You,” for example, seeks solace in a world of uncertainty. When asked about the track, Petty replies with reserve: “It was a real dodgy number there, trading your Eldorado for love.”

Perhaps it’s no surprise then to hear a minimalistic quality to the band’s approach to their instruments throughout the recording. Lyrics about vulnerability are backed by simple, direct and steady orchestration. Before entering the studio, Petty explained that he and the band had been listening to The Doors “a lot”.

He added: “The album is not something like a Doors album, but what I admired about them was the use of space in the layouts. It’s often the hole in the music – the air and space around the instruments is so important. Like here on this album, I don’t think we’ll ever use more than four or five, maybe six instruments. But it’s very big and present and that’s the result of the space – so we can thank The Doors for that.”

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