Cage Match: Tom Petty vs. Tom Petty

Posted on by Matt Wardlaw
cagematch

Since it’s the week of Thanksgiving, filled with special family time and nightmarish visits from relatives, I’ve been reflecting on the things that I’m thankful for.  Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, for instance.

I know this seems like an odd thing to mention right off the bat, but has any one of your family members given you a really cool Thanksgiving gift this year, like Tom did?  I didn’t think so.  I’m sitting here looking at my copy of the deluxe edition version of The Live Anthology – filled with CDs, DVDs, vinyl, Blu-ray….seriously Tom, you shouldn’t have.

A feeling of wonder creeps across my mind – wondering if it will be okay for me to sit at Thanksgiving dinner with headphones on, listening to The Live Anthology?  Because that’s probably the only way that I’ll have time to soak in all of the cool stuff inside this set in a timely fashion.

Dear family, I ask for your patience and understanding in this time of musical confusion, and perhaps we can watch 400 Days, the included Petty documentary about the making of Wildflowers after dinner if you’re up for it.

It’s times like these that really make you appreciate all that you’ve been given in life – things like all of the wonderfully catchy songs that Tom and his Heartbreakers have shared with us over the years.  I could really pick any two Petty songs for this week’s Cage Match, but how about these two monster hits?

We got somethin’, we both know it, we don’t talk too much about it
Ain’t no real big secret, all the same, somehow we get around it

Now, there’s not a single one of us reading this that hasn’t sung this next part in unison with friends – in the car, at a Petty concert…wherever you were, you’ve done it!

Listen, it don’t really matter to me baby
You believe what you want to believe, you see

You don’t have to live like a refugee
(Don’t have to live like a refugee)

And then you’ve got the other song in today’s Cage Match – a song which has one of the greatest opening riffs known to man.

Refugee or Runnin’ Down A Dream – What’s your favorite?

15 Comments on “Cage Match: Tom Petty vs. Tom Petty”

  3. I love Runnin' because it's the epitome of how TP can work up so much intensity while looking like Bernie from 'Weekend at Bernie's.' And I enjoy singing along to the woo-hoo's at the end more than the Refugee chorus.

    But I vote for this Refugee because (1) the horns sound amazing, (2) the back-up singers can't keep from dancing funkily, (3) even Bernie comes to life and (4) I'm dancing somewhere along the spectrum in between (2) and (3). I would also add (5) those sweet, sweet muttonchops.

  4. I gotta tell ya – the version of “Refugee” from The Live Anthology is a selling point for the whole set. I think it's from Irvine in 1983, and it's hands down, the most killer version that I've ever heard. There are a few tracks like that on this new set, and the whole thing is sequenced perfectly!

    I'll agree with ya – it is indeed lots of fun to sing along with the woo-hoo's on Runnin!!

  5. It's a tough call, but I think I'm gonna have to go with Refugee. I was going to describe the reasons, but I think I'll save it for an upcoming Infinite Play.

  7. “Somewhere, somehow,
    somebody must have kicked you around some
    Who knows maybe you were kidnapped tied up,
    Taken away and held for ransom”

    Refugee !!!

  8. American Girl. Hands Down. When I went to college in 1977, I could only afford 3 new albums: Eric Clapton, The Jam, and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. From the very first time I heard “American Girl”, it seemed I already knew the lyrics. It still pierces me right in the heart. 🙂

  10. Don't get greedy on us, Guru!

    You're really going to have a problem choosing with some of the upcoming
    Cage Matches, if you keep this behavior up!!

    🙂

  12. American Girl. Hands Down. When I went to college in 1977, I could only afford 3 new albums: Eric Clapton, The Jam, and Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. From the very first time I heard “American Girl”, it seemed I already knew the lyrics. It still pierces me right in the heart. 🙂

  14. Don't get greedy on us, Guru!

    You're really going to have a problem choosing with some of the upcoming
    Cage Matches, if you keep this behavior up!!

    🙂

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