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The AE Song of the Week:

Well, I won't back down
No, I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

No, I'll stand my ground
Won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down
Gonna stand my ground

And I won't back down
(I won't back down)
Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out
(I won't back down)
Hey, I will stand my ground
And I won't back down

Well I know what's right
I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground

And I won't back down
(I won't back down)
Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out
(I won't back down)
Hey, I will stand my ground
And I won't back down

(I won't back down)
Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
(I won't back down)
Hey, I won't back down
(I won't back down)
Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out
(I won't back down)
Hey, I will stand my ground
And I won't back down
No, I won't back down

"I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty, from the album "Full Moon Fever" (1989)*. Written by Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne; Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Gone Gator Music; Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind. Watch the All-Star video here.
 *Before recording Full Moon Fever, an arsonist burned down Tom Petty's house while he was in it with his family and their housekeeper. They escaped, but Petty was badly shaken and spent much of the next few months driving between hotel rooms and a rented house. It was on these drives that he came up with many of the songs for the album; the fire was a huge influence, especially on this song. Petty felt grateful to be alive, but also traumatized - understandable considering someone had tried to kill him. "I Won't Back Down" was his way of reclaiming his life and getting past the torment - he said that writing and recording the song had a calming effect on him. The arsonist was never caught, which made Petty's plight even more challenging. As for motive, there was no direct connection made, but eleven days earlier, Petty won a lawsuit against the B.F. Goodrich tire company for $1 million. Goodrich wanted to use Petty's song "Mary's New Car" in a TV commercial, and when he wouldn't let them, their advertising agency commissioned a copycat song that the judge felt was too similar. This was the first single from Full Moon Fever, which was co-produced and co-written by Jeff Lynne. Petty and Lynne worked on the album at Mike Campbell's house. As guitarist for the Heartbreakers, Campbell has written and produced many songs with Petty. In a Songfacts interview with Campbell, he explained what happened when they brought the album to MCA Records: "We thought it was really good, we were real excited about it. We played it for the record company and they said, 'Well, we don't hear any hits on here.' We were very despondent about the whole thing and we went back and recorded another track, a Byrds song called 'I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better,' thinking at the time that maybe they'll like this one. In the interim, they changed A&R departments and a whole new group of people were in there. We brought the same record back like six months later and they loved it - they said 'Oh, there's three hits on here.' We were vindicated on that one. It was the same record. We played the same thing for them and they went for it. I guess it's a situation of timing and the right people that wanted to get inspired about it. At the end of the line, if the songs are good and if the public connects with certain songs, that really is the true test, but you've got to get it out there."

This was Petty's first single without the Heartbreakers credited as his backing band. Members of the band did play on Full Moon Fever, but it was listed a Tom Petty solo album. Petty released another solo album - again with extensive contributions from the Heartbreakers - in 1994 with Wildflowers. The video, directed by David Leland, features Ringo Starr on drums, with George Harrison and Jeff Lynne on guitar. Harrison did play on the track and contributed backing vocals, but Ringo had nothing to do with the song itself - a session musician named Phil Jones played drums on the Full Moon Fever album. In some shots, Mike Campbell is playing George Harrison's Stratocaster guitar, which he called "Rocky." It was Harrison's suggestion for Campbell to play it. Around this time, Petty was active in the group The Traveling Wilburys with Lynne, Harrison, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. This is perhaps Tom Petty's most personal song. In a 2006 interview with Harp, he said, "That song frightened me when I wrote it. I didn't embrace it at all. It's so obvious. I thought it wasn't that good because it was so naked. So I had a lot of second thoughts about recording that song. But everyone around me liked the song and said it was really good and it turns out everyone was right – more people connect to that song than anything I ever wrote. I've had so many people tell me that it helped them through this or it helped them through that. I'm still continually amazed about the power a little 3-minute song has." (Knowledge courtesy of Songfacts.com)