Tom Petty – “Even The Losers”

Tom Petty always knew how to write an anthem, and this is one of his best.  A rallying cry for anyone who’s been rejected or on the losing side of love.

“Even The Losers” (Tom Petty) Copyright 1979 Alamo Music Corp (ASCAP)

TRANSCRIPT:

Hello and thanks for joining me for another episode of I’m in Love with That Song, the podcast where we explore a different song each episode. This time, we’re listening to “Even The Losers” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

My name is Brad Page, and on this podcast, I pick a favorite song of mine and really look at the little details and moments that make it a great song. I don’t focus on music theory or technical musician-y stuff. This is a podcast for anyone who’s a music fan—at least, I hope so. So, on this episode, we’ll be listening to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Even the Losers.”

“Even the Losers” is the third track on the third album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers called Damn the Torpedoes. The album was recorded throughout 1978 and ’79 and released in October of ’79. This album turned out to be their big breakthrough album, and it’s certainly one of my all-time favorite records. The album was produced by Jimmy Iovine and engineered by Shelly Yakus.

The Heartbreakers are: Tom Petty on lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Mike Campbell on lead guitar; Benmont Tench on piano, organ, and backing vocals; Ron Blair on bass; and Stan Lynch on drums and backing vocals.

“Even the Losers” was written by Tom Petty, and the song structure is pretty straightforward. You’ve got an intro, verse, chorus, and a bridge. What’s interesting is that there’s no third verse in this song. Most songs do have at least three verses, but here, Petty foregoes a third verse and goes straight into an extended chorus at the end. But when the song starts, it begins with a completely separate piece of music that was edited in.

That voice there? That’s the voice of Mike Campbell’s wife, Marcy. Campbell was recording some demos at home and the washing machine was making a lot of noise. So when Mike yelled at Marcy to turn it off, she replied, “It’s just the normal noises in here.” I think she was annoyed by the whole thing. The tape recorder was still running, so the conversation was captured on tape, and later when Tom Petty heard it, he thought they should take that clip and edit it into this song. So let’s go back and pick it up from that point.

On this intro, you’ve got an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar playing the same parts, doubled. And that’s a technique that works great because while the electric guitar adds some grit, the acoustic guitar gives the notes some clarity. So you end up with a part that has some bite to it, yet the notes still really pop. That shaker actually works great on this song. And listen to how the bass and the kick drum are really locked in together. There’s a lot of reverb on the drums, but they’re still very crisp and punchy.

In this second verse, you can really hear that combination of pent-up anger and hurt in Petty’s voice. He was so good at conveying that feeling. Mike Campbell starts adding these little guitar fills. Like every word you said was meant to be, no, it couldn’t have been that easy to forget about me.

The organ part on the chorus really helps to build the emotion. Now we come to the guitar solo, and this is a classic Mike Campbell guitar solo. According to Campbell, the idea behind it was, “What would Chuck Berry do?” Now, Chuck was known for playing two notes at once in his guitar solos, and so Campbell builds this whole solo around playing two notes constantly through the entire part. It’s not a particularly flashy solo, but it fits the song perfectly.

There’s a term that musicians often use: “serve the song.” And it means to play a part that’s in service of the song rather than to yourself or your ego. It’s all about playing what makes the song better, not what makes you look good. Mike Campbell is easily in my top three guitar players of all time because he’s always playing in service of the song. He never overplays, he doesn’t underplay—it’s just the right notes at the right time. I love this guy.

Now we’re at the bridge and the band dials it back just a bit. Check out the organ part. They break for dramatic effect; the drummer keeps the beat going on the ride cymbal, and then the organ builds it back up. I love the sound of the drums here. It’s great how he sings “little bit of pride” like he’s barely holding onto any pride at all, and then finds the strength to defiantly sing “they get lucky sometimes.” Tom Petty calls us to our feet as the drums drive us into the final guitar solo.

“Even the Losers,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. This song is a real rock and roll anthem because it speaks to longing and pain and loneliness, and yet offers an element of hope and a rallying cry for all of us loners, which is what every great rock and roll anthem does one way or another. Petty wrote the lyrics based on a painful experience from his youth: in love with a girl who just wasn’t going to love him back. The first girl that broke his heart—source material for a million great songs.

All of the lyrics that are really specific, like smoking cigarettes on the roof and throwing rocks into the water by the overpass—those things really happened to Tom Petty. It’s always interesting to me when a song includes lyrics that are really specific and yet somehow make the song more universal.

Well, thanks for listening to one of my favorite songs with me. And before we go, I want to mention two resources that I used for a little research on this song. One is the book called Petty: The Biography by Warren Zanes—great book. And the other is an episode of Classic Albums that focused on Damn the Torpedoes. That’s available on DVD. If you’re a Tom Petty fan, I recommend checking both of those out.

Well, I’m looking forward to doing this again next time on I’m in Love with That Song. You can email me at lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com or look for I’m in Love with That Song on Facebook.

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