Albums I Love #4: Wildflowers

Tom Petty's 2nd solo album and the 10th with his name on it

Late October 1994 was the season of surgeries. One was planned, one was not. Mine was the planned one, as my knee cap didn’t track right. It was an arthroscopic procedure and everything went fine. I was going to recover at home, hobbling around on crutches and starting physical therapy. I’m pretty sure I had it on a Thursday and my mom took me out to dinner the next night; I recall garnering sympathy as I awkwardly maneuvered to our table. Painful, but not a big deal. The big deal was that in the runup to my surgery my father-in-law had a heart attack. He survived but was going to need open heart surgery. It was scheduled for the Tuesday following mine, so on Monday my wife and I drove from NW Indiana to Lexington, Kentucky. We spent a lot of time at the hospital, of course, but as that week progressed I was to the point where I could move well enough to drive myself and I took advantage here and there. I found a place to shop CDs and a comics shop, but even more importantly I found a radio station that was playing songs from Wildflowers, which was due out soon on Nov. 1.

I’d gotten into Petty in the wake of Full Moon Fever, his undeniable first solo album from 1989 and my passion had remained through Into the Great Wide Open with the Heartbreakers (1991) and the absolute smash hit “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” a new track on his Greatest Hits (1993). Of course, I’d picked up his back catalogue as well, falling in love with Damn the Torpedoes and Hard Promises, to name a couple. To say I was excited for this new album would have been an understatement and catching those previews off the record meant a lot during a scary time. Luckily, my father-in-law lived another almost 27 years from that point before passing away in August of 2021.

We were back home by the time Wildflowers came out and I bought it on day of release. I loved it. Since it’s release, I’ve either listened to it or Matthew Sweet’s Girlfriend the most. Every road trip I’ve been on with a CD wallet, it’s been in there. I don’t have a definitive Top 10 of my favorite albums, but if I did, it would be in there. My original CD copy sits right next to the deluxe Wildflowers & All the Rest that came out back in 2020. If another version comes out down the road, I’m sure I’ll get that too. Let’s talk about why.

Wildflowers - What a lovely way to begin the album. It’s an open-hearted song that bounces on top of a shuffling beat, acoustic but with all sorts of nifty little instrumental touches. “You belong among the wildflowers…you belong somewhere you feel free.” Fantastic.

You Don’t Know How It Feels - This was the first single from the album and Petty’s last Top 40 hit. It’s melancholy, self-deprecating, funny, and fun. The harmonica draws you in, the line about rolling another joint stands out, you get two guitar solos (one from Petty and the other from Heartbreaker Mike Campbell). What more do you need? Oh, maybe the CD single, which has “Girl on LSD” as the “b-side.”

Time to Move On - Worth it for this verse alone: “Sometime later, getting the words wrong/Wasting the meaning and losing the rhyme/It’s nauseous adrenaline/Like breakin’ up a dogfight/Like a deer in the headlights/Frozen in real time/I’m losing my mind.” What imagery. Campbell’s slide guitar is also great.

You Wreck Me - The first “rocker” of the album and it’s a really good one. The Heartbreakers are all over these songs; in addition to Campbell, we have Benmont Tench on keys and Howie Epstein on bass and vocals. There’s a switch behind the drum kit with Stan Lynch no longer around and it eventually leads to Steve Ferrone becoming a full-fledged Heartbreaker (after that brief time when Dave Grohl could have been their new drummer - he’s their when they play “SNL” in this era). This song is a good argument for the Ferrone decision, as he keeps the propulsion going and drops in fills only as needed. Another great lyric here too - “I’ll be the boy in the corduroy pants/You be the girl at the high school dance” - as well a classic stinging Mike Campbell guitar solo.

It’s Good to Be King - This is an all-time TP song. It’s not just the piano riff. It’s not just the way Tom sings the word “velvet.” It’s not just the “ooo”s that Petty and Epstein harmonize on. It’s not just Ferrone’s cymbal work. It’s not just that sweet guitar solo. It’s not just the way the bass moves up the neck right before he sings “A sweet little queen, who can’t run away.” It’s not just the strings in the long coda. It’s all of that and more.

Only a Broken Heart - Devastatingly beautiful. Tench’s work on the mellotron and harmonium really add layers to it. My heart is still broken that Tom left us in 2017.

Honey Bee - You need a change of pace after the previous song and this one more than fits the bill. The ABSOLUTE swagger of this slab of bluesy rock, with dueling guitar solos from Petty (right side) and Campbell (left side). Everyone in the band is cooking. Turn it on and turn it the fuck up!

Don’t Fade on Me - This is just two acoustic guitars and Petty with some pleading vocals. Another winner.

Hard on Me - The arpeggiated guitars work so well with Ferrone’s sticks and snare, the rubbery bass, and Tench’s organ, setting quite a mood for Tom’s musings and self-harmonizing.

Cabin Down Below - Whenever I think about this one, I think of the guitar solo after Petty yells “hey.” Benmont has a perfect piano part too.

To Find a Friend - Here’s Ringo to play drums. I mean, why not? He does a great job, of course. I feel like all the Ringo haters had to shut up after “Get Back” came out. This another lovely, melancholy song about the days going by like paper in the wind. Tom was in his 40s when he wrote this. I’m in my 50s and definitely feel this some of the time. Thankfully, I can find friends like you reading these words. It means a lot.

A Higher Place - I don’t think Petty is often thought of as a great melodist, but the pile of hit songs should prove that he is. This song certainly shows off his melodic gift. Tench is listed in the credits as playing an orchestron, which I assume is a type of keyboard that also you to sound a bit like an orchestra. It’s a nice counterpoint to the electric guitar riff threaded throughout.

House in the Woods - This song is a real showcase for Steve Ferrone. Seriously, just play it one time and pay as much attention to the drums as you can. Then play it again and dig the way the rest of the instruments set a mood - the interplay of the guitars and the saxophone work (there are 4 credited sax players) and everything else contribute to a mighty love song. The album is 13 songs deep at this point and not out of good songs yet.

Crawling Back to You - Tucked away in the penultimate spot is this gem of a song. For me it all comes down to the two verses that start with “It was me and my sidekick…” and close out with “I’m so tired of being tired/And sure as night will follow day/Most things I worry about/Never happen anyway” and then the “ooo”s come back in and that’s enough right there. Luckily, there’s plenty more before and after.

Wake Up Time - The album ends with no guitars. Instead, it’s dominated by piano and strings, which leads to the sweeping romantic feel. “Well, if he gets lucky, a boy finds a girl help him shoulder the pain in this world/And if you follow your feelings/And you follow your dreams/You might find the forest there in the trees.” If you get lucky, you find an artist and an album to fall in love with, one that allows you to deepen your relationship as you get older. I was 23 and a year into my marriage when this came out; 30 years later and you can do the math. As I said above, I loved this album when I first heard it. I love it so much more now.