Even the Losers

Even the Losers is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It is featured on their breakthrough hit 1979 album, Damn the Torpedoes. It is also featured on the band's 1993 Greatest Hits album. A live recording of it is included in the box set The Live Anthology. It has become one of the highest regarded songs of Tom Petty's repertoire.[4][5] The song was not released as a single;[6] it had a single release only in Australia. The song peaked at #11 on the Billboard lyric find.[7]

"Even the Losers"
Single by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
from the album Damn the Torpedoes
B-side
  • "Somethin' Else" (live)
  • "Stories We Could Tell" (live)
ReleasedJuly 1980 (July 1980)
Recorded1979
Genre
Length
  • 3:59 (album version)
  • 3:38 (single version)
LabelBackstreet
Songwriter(s)Tom Petty
Producer(s)
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers singles chronology
"Here Comes My Girl"
(1980)		 "Even the Losers"
(1980)		 "The Waiting"
(1981)

Writing and recording

The song was inspired by a night Petty had spent with a woman named Cindy and some friends in his hometown of Gainesville, Florida when he was young. Cindy had been the object of a junior high school crush of his. Unlike in school, Cindy liked him that night. It was also during that night Petty had an epiphany and realized he needed to be in a rock and roll band. The next morning Cindy said their relationship was limited to the previous night. Years later, that night was very much on his mind when he wrote "Even the Losers."[8]

During the recording session, guitarist Mike Campbell struggled to come up with a guitar solo. Petty asked, "Well, what would Chuck Berry do?" Within minutes, the solo was recorded.[9]

Before the track starts there is a female voice heard saying, "It's just the normal noises in here!" The voice is that of Campbell's wife Marcie from a demo recording Campbell had made in his home. He apparently was complaining to her about the noise of a nearby washing machine and the sentence was her reply.[10]

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ranked the song at 19 of Petty's greatest songs, ranked above other songs that were successful singles, such as You Got Lucky and Jammin' Me.[4] Corbin Reiff of Uproxx ranked it at 15 of Petty's best songs.[5] The Washington Post included "Even the Losers" on their list of 10 of Petty's best songs.[11]

Writing for Uproxx, critic John Kurp wrote, “'Even The Losers' sums up Petty’s career more than any other track in his hits-stuff discography" and the song "is the sound of pure pain. It’s an ode for anyone stuck in the 'glory days,' for the lovesick fools who can’t separate the good times (“We smoked cigarettes and we stared at the moon”) from the bad (“I shoulda known right then it was too good to last”), and how much that hurts. And yet, I see 'Even the Losers' as somewhat optimistic."[12]

Personnel

Cover versions
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References
  1. Lewis, Randy (October 4, 2017). "Tom Petty's final interview: There was supposed to have been so much more". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 27, 2019. Classic-rock staples including “Breakdown,” “American Girl,” “Refugee,” “Even the Losers,” “Learning to Fly,” “Listen to Her Heart,” “Here Comes My Girl,” “Walls,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance."
  2. https://iloveclassicrock.com/album-review-damn-the-torpedoes-by-tom-petty-and-the-heartbreakers/
  3. "Damn the Torpedoes by Tom Petty - Classic Rock Review". www.classicrockreview.com. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  4. Christopher R. Weingarten; Jon Dolan; Corinne Cummings; Nick Murray; Kory Grow; Andy Green; Will Hermes; Rob Sheffield (October 2, 2017). "Tom Petty's 50 Greatest Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  5. Reiff, Corbin (October 3, 2017). "The 20 Best Tom Petty Songs, Ranked". Uproxx. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  6. "Damn the Torpedoes". Pitchfork. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  7. "Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Even The Losers Chart History". Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  8. Zanes, Warren (2015). Petty: The Biography. Henry Holt and Company. pp. 46–47. ISBN 9780306824388.
  9. Hartman, Kent (2017). Goodnight, L.A.: The Rise and Fall of Classic Rock--The Untold Story from inside the Legendary Recording Studios. Da Capo Press. ISBN 9780805099690.
  10. Zanes, Warren (2015). Petty: The Biography. Henry Holt and Company. p. 154. ISBN 9780306824388.
  11. Argetsinger, Amy (October 3, 2017). "These were Tom Petty's best songs". Washington Post. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  12. Kurp, John (October 4, 2017). "One Of Tom Petty's Minor Hits Summed Up His Incredible Career/". Uproxx. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  13. http://www.bassplayer.com/artists/1171/mojo-man-ron-blair-with-tom-petty--the-heartbreakers/26841
  14. "Pat Green: Songs We Wish We'd Written, Vol. 2". AllMusic.
  15. staff (October 16, 2017). "Watch Ryan Adams Pay Tribute to Tom Petty with "Even the Losers" at ACL Fest". Relix. Retrieved October 29, 2017.
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