| "I Won't Back Down" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Tom Petty | ||||
| from the album Full Moon Fever | ||||
| B-side | The Apartment Song Don't Treat Me Like A Stranger (12" and CD single only) |
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| Released | April 1989 | |||
| Format | 7", 12", cassette, CD | |||
| Recorded | 1988 | |||
| Genre | Heartland rock | |||
| Length | 2:59 | |||
| Label | MCA | |||
| Writer(s) | Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne | |||
| Producer | Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Mike Campbell | |||
| Tom Petty singles chronology | ||||
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"I Won't Back Down" is the first single from Tom Petty's first solo album, Full Moon Fever released in 1989. The song was written by Petty and his writing partner for the album, Jeff Lynne. It reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Album Rock Tracks chart for five weeks, starting the album's road to multi-platinum status.
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Petty recalled the recording of this song to Mojo magazine: "At the session George Harrison sang and played the guitar. I had a terrible cold that day, and George went to the store and bought a ginger root, boiled it and had me stick my head in the pot to get the ginger steam to open up my sinuses, and then I ran in and did the take."
A message of defiance against unnamed forces of difficulty and possibly oppression, the lyric is set against a mid-tempo beat:
Due to its themes, the song was played often on American radio following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.[1] Petty and the Heartbreakers played a quiet but full-of-resolve version of the song at the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon following the attacks.[1][2]
The music video, directed by David Leland, was shot on March 22 and 23, 1989 on a sound stage at Pinewood Studios and released on April 24, 1989. George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Mike Campbell and Ringo Starr are featured in the video[3] along with George's famous painted stratocaster "Rocky". Starr is depicted in the video as playing the drums on the song, though in reality, drumming was performed by Phil Jones.
| Chart (1989) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 12 |
| U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 29 |
| U.S. Cash Box Top 100 Singles | 11 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 5 |
| German Singles Chart | 66 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 49 |
| UK Singles Chart | 28 |
George W. Bush used "I Won't Back Down" at campaign events during the 2000 presidential race but was compelled to stop using the song after receiving a cease and desist letter from Petty's publisher. Petty did not want the use of his song to be construed as an endorsement of candidate Bush. Jim Webb used the song for his successful bid for one of Virginia's U.S. Senate seats in 2006, as did Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign. The song was also used at campaign events for Congressman Ron Paul of Texas during the 2008 Republican presidential primary campaign, as well as for events for his Campaign for Liberty. The song was also played at an event for Republican Connecticut gubernatorial nominee, Tom Foley.
The Ottawa Senators used the song as a campaign anthem in December 1990 at their presentation to be awarded an NHL franchise at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida. The unlikely bid received unanimous support from the NHL and the franchise was awarded on December 6, 1990.[4] The Johnny Cash cover has also been used for a Rogers Sportsnet advertising campaign for the 2010-2011 NHL season.[5]
The song was also released as downloadable content for Rock Band 2
