"Free Fallin'" | ||||||||||||||||||
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Single by Tom Petty | ||||||||||||||||||
from the album Full Moon Fever | ||||||||||||||||||
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Released | October 27, 1989 | |||||||||||||||||
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Genre | Heartland rock, soft rock | |||||||||||||||||
Length | 4:14 | |||||||||||||||||
Label | MCA Records | |||||||||||||||||
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Tom Petty singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||||
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12 tracks |
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"Free Fallin'" is the opening track from Tom Petty's 1989 solo debut album, Full Moon Fever. The song was written by Petty and his writing partner for the album, Jeff Lynne (and also features Lynne on backing vocals and bass guitar). The duo wrote and recorded the single in two days, making it the first song completed for Full Moon Fever.
"Free Fallin'" is one of Petty's most famous tracks, as well as his longest-charting. It peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in January 1990. Petty and The Heartbreakers performed the song at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1989 with Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin and at the February 2008 Super Bowl XLII Halftime Show. The song is ranked #177 on the Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was featured in the 1996 film Jerry Maguire and The Sopranos episode 2.13, "Funhouse" (2000). Lou Reed selected the song as one of his 'picks of 1989'.
Multiple references to Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley appear in the lyrics of the song, including:
Tom Petty explained in an interview with Billboard magazine that he and Jeff Lynne were sitting around trying to come up with a song, and Lynne got him to say "free falling". The next day they went and recorded the song. He didn't write it about any person, but instead what he saw on his frequent drive through Ventura Boulevard.