"Free Fallin" is the opening track from American musician Tom Petty's debut solo album, Full Moon Fever (1989). The song was written by Petty and his writing partner for the album, Jeff Lynne, and features Lynne on backing vocals and bass guitar. The duo wrote and recorded the single in two days, making it the first song completed for Full Moon Fever.
Petty explained in an interview with Billboard magazine that he and Jeff Lynne were sitting around trying to come up with a song, and Lynne got him to say "free falling". The next day they recorded the song. Petty did not write the song about a specific person, but instead about what he saw during his frequent drives along Ventura Boulevard.[8] Lynne said "Probably the second song we wrote [for Full Moon Fever] was 'Free Fallin'.' I got the chords to it and we both fleshed out the chorus. It was like 'Evil Woman' in that we got a repetitive chord sequence and then the melody turns into a chorus. Everyone who heard it knew it was a hit, and the next song we did was 'I Won’t Back Down.'"[9]
"Free Fallin'" is widely regarded as one of Petty's best songs. Billboard and Rolling Stone both ranked the song number four on their lists of the greatest Tom Petty songs,[10][11] while WatchMojo considers it to be Tom Petty's best song.[12]
The music video for the song was directed by Piers Garland and Julien Temple and features a teenage girl seen in various places around Los Angeles, including a 1960s pool party and a 1980s skate park. Petty is also seen performing in these places and others, such as the former Westside Pavilion mall.[13]
In 1996, Stevie Nicks covered the song for the Party of Five soundtrack. This cover was also included on her Enchanted (Stevie Nicks album) box set (Released 1998.) Nicks frequently has included the song in both her shows with Fleetwood Mac, as well as solo, since Petty’s death in 2017. The performances are often accompanied by a video tribute to Petty.
