Quotes by Tom Petty

An average show is two hours. And that's usually right up to the curfew or the union triple time. I always feel like I could have played a little longer or something, but it's hard for me to pay attention to anything for longer than that.

I didn't think you could just become a rock and roll singer.

I think if I'd quit years ago, I'd never have known what I was capable of doing.

How about a cheer for all those bad girls? And all those boys that play that rock and roll? They love it like you love Jesus, It does the same thing to their souls.

I saw Bob Dylan getting criticized in Australia by this guy who was saying, 'Your new songs aren't as relevant as your old songs.' And Dylan just said, 'Well, I'm out here writing songs-what are you doing?'

I love doing my 'Buried Treasure' show.

My family wasn't involved in the college. They were more of just your 'white trash' kind of family. And so I have that kind of background, but I always kind of aspired to be something else, and I made a lot of different friends over the years that were passing through.

The great thing about the Wilburys was that none of us had to take the heat by ourselves. I was just a member of the band. Nobody felt like he was above anybody else. We had such a good time.

You believe what you want to believe.

I would never put my songs in a commercial.

It's always been great to be onstage. It's really effortless up there. It's not a lot of work.

The music has to be affordable. It's the common man that keeps it going, and if you price it out of his realm, it becomes a thing of the elite.

A rebel without a clue.

She's a good girl, crazy about Elvis, loves horses, and her boyfriend, too.

You're dealing in magic-it's this intangible thing that has to happen. And to seek it out too much might not be a good idea. Because, you know, it's very shy, too. But once you've got the essence of them, you can work songs and improve them. You see if there's a better word, or a better change.

Gypsies at home watching Jerry Falwell on TV, might mean something to you, it ain't nothing to me.

I like to be an optimist, but I like to be a realist, too.

Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down.

If you don't run, you rust.

There was no use pretending, no magic left to hear, all the music gave me was a craving for lite beer.

I could come home, and I would spend the rest of the night just lying on the floor or the sofa listening to albums. It was like a movie to me. I still do, really, and doing the radio show ensures that I'll be sitting there listening.

As time goes by, you seem to weed out the things that were making your life hard.

I like a good beer. Of course, I'll drink a bad one too. Let no person thirst for lack of real ale! Thank god for long-necked bottles, the angel's remedy.

Where the sky begins, the horizon ends, despite the best intentions.

We haven't always been boy scouts, but we never lost sight of the music, Let me remind you that this ain't the end.

'Free Fallin' is a very good song. Maybe it would be one of my favorites if it hadn't become this huge anthem. But I'm grateful that people like it.

A good song should give you a lot of images; you should be able to make your own little movie in your head to a good song.

I tend to write on an acoustic guitar or the piano. I have kind of a rule: if I can't sit down and play this and get the song over, I don't take it to the band, because most any good song, you can sit down and deliver it with a piano or a guitar.

When you get older, your health becomes important to you, things start breaking down, you've always got a different ache or pain.

Take back your insurance, baby, nothing is guaranteed. Take back your acid rain, let your TV bleed.

I always tell my kids, Find something that you love and within that you'll find some job that you can do and you'll always be happy. You'll go to a job that you want to go to.

I'm not trying to be cool. I have a problem with lights. I have one eye that's become super-sensitive to lighting, so I do wear sunglasses quite a bit.

The poison came in liquid, she was naked all the time.

Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks. Some doors are opened, some roads are blocked. Sundowns are golden, then fade away. And if I never do nothing, I'll get you back someday.

And the days went by like paper in the wind. Everything changed, then changed again. It's hard to find a friend. It's hard to find a friend.

You were the one who made things different, you were the one who took me in. You were the one thing I could count on, above all, you were my friend.

You get in there, you get the job done and you get the hell out.

I'm tired of screwing up. I'm tired of being down. I'm tired of myself. I'm tired of bein' down.

Lord, please watch over all these lost children born to chase the hurricane.

I never could have dreamed that her heart was so wicked, but I keep coming back because it's so hard to kick it.

There was rock and roll across the dial, when I think of her it makes me smile.

You spend your life dreaming, running 'round in a trance, You hang out forever and still miss the dance, And if you get lucky, you might find someone, To help you get over the pain that will come.

Way up in the nosebleeds we watched him on the screen, they'd hung between the billboards so cheaper seats could see.

My mama was a rocker way back in fifty-three, buys them old records that they sell on TV.

I'm not interested in the TV much. I quit watching the news a couple years ago and my outlook on life has gotten a whole lot better.

I should have known right then it was too good to last, God, it's such a drag when you're livin' in the past.

Just wonderin', waitin', worryin' about some silly little things, that just don't add up to nothin'.

The waiting is the hardest part.

Let's get to the point Let's roll another joint.

Sometimes life, will get you down, break your heart, steal your crown.

At twilight time the smog makes a rainbow.

I don't treat the band like I'm above them or that they're a hired hand for me. We've never worked that way. So I'm a team player. I would be very uncomfortable having to do this alone.

Oh yeah, alright, take it easy baby, make it last all night. She was an American Girl.

You get into your late fifties, people start falling like flies all around you. I don't take life for granted any more. I'm really glad to be here.

Redemption comes to those who wait, forgiveness is the key.

I've got a room at the top of the world tonight. I can see everything tonight.

Last dance with Mary Jane

One more time to kill the pain

I feel summer creepin' in and I'm

Tired of this town again.

Time to move on, time to get going. What lies ahead I have no way of knowing. But under my feet, baby, grass is growing.

If you listen long enough you can hear my skin grow tough love is painful to the touch must be made of stronger stuff.

The waiting is the hardest part, every day you get one more yard. You take it on faith, you take it to the heart, the waiting is hardest part.

My sister got lucky, married a yuppie, and took him for all he was worth. Now she's a swinger dating a singer, I can't decide which is worse.

Any time you're making a living at what you love to do, you're blessed.

I can't crawl any further. You never crawled for me.

I've been more and more into production lately, and I really, really love that. I love recording.

When I was a kid, we didn't have any blues stations. I never heard Howlin' Wolf or Muddy Waters or any of those people until the Stones had come along, and I took it upon myself to find out who these people were that they were covering.

I've never had any idea that what I like would resonate with the audience, and I'm pleasantly surprised when it does.

It's kind of a lonely work, because you just have to keep your pole in the water. I always had a little routine of going into whatever room I was using at the time to write in and just staying in there till I felt like I got a bite.

At the end of the day, you're just phonograph records.

The radio has so many rules, and songs don't. You don't necessarily write to a rule book unless you're, like, just doing it professionally, which has never been my thing.

I had the radio on, I was driving. Trees flew by, me and Del were singing, Little Runaway, I was flying.

I'm certainly not a Robin Hood, I'm not that way. I don't want to come through, burn everybody for $200 a ticket and then they can't afford to come see me again. Plus, I just don't think it's right. I don't think we need that much money. I just do what seems like the logical thing to do.

The truth is that if you play on TV there is always a sponsor. There is no way around it. I've already passed on so much money I don't worry about it anymore.

I don't eat fish and chicken and all that. But I will have some eggs. So I'm not technically a vegan. But I eat pretty sensibly, and before a tour, I will usually work out a lot. I'll get a trainer, or I have a guy I've known a long time.

As we celebrate mediocrity, all the boys upstairs want to see. How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free.

There's a freeway running through the yard.

There goes your freedom of choice, there goes the last human voice.

I think that if people realize that with an mp3, you're only getting five percent of the sound that's there. But when you hear the entire thing... I think it would save the music business. It's such a drastic change.

Sometimes, giving up your privacy is a little like going to the dentist and we have let him have access that no one's ever had.

I'll stand my ground and I won't back down.

Even the losers get lucky sometimes. Even the losers keep a little bit of pride. They get lucky sometimes.

You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won't back down.

I ain't really sure, but it seems I remember the good times.

So I started out for God knows where. I guess I'll know when I get there.

Good loving is hard to find, you got lucky babe, when I found you.

I don't understand the ones that have no sense of hope and invest in hate. That's not gonna work out, you know? It's a waste of your time!

I think watching the TV news is bad for you. It is bad for your physical health and your mental health.

'Free Fallin'' is a very good song. Maybe it would be one of my favorites if it hadn't become this huge anthem. But I'm grateful that people like it.

Honey, don't walk out, I'm too drunk to follow.

God, it's so painful when something that's so close is still so far out of reach.

But not me, baby, I've got you to save me.

I remember things being more clearer, at one time things were more real.