Tom Petty: Free Fallin Meaning

Song Released: 1989

Free Fallin Lyrics

She’s a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
She’s a good girl, crazy ’bout elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too

It’s a long day living in Reseda
There’s a freeway runnin’ through the yard
And I’m a bad boy cause I don’t...

1. anonymous

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   Nov 23rd 2010 !⃝

   I like to think it s about a good, traditional, conservative and innocent girl who lives in a little boring town, there s a freeway running nearby but nobody stops. She has a boyfriend (i think not the man who writes the song) and her life would have been just like this but then this guy shows in town. He s the opposite, he comes from the city, maybe a musician touring or a stoner and he seduces her and she falls in love but after sharing a night with her the guy returns to his life, goes away. He doesn t miss her at all, she s just one among hundreds. He s aware of this and it makes him feel empty. Free falling. He s the vampire and the bad boy.
2. anonymous

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   Jun 30th 2010 !⃝

   I belive that Tom broke up with her and Tom is the "bad boy cause I don't even miss her" but he's missing her he is really felling bad for her. He is "gonna leave this world for a while" 'cuz he feels bad and just can't 'write her name in the sky"
3. marghetto94

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   May 24th 2009 !⃝

   Originally I thought this song was about a man who had a girlfriend, and then he broke her heart without a care in the world. I thought that he originally didn't care about her anymore, then he realized that he did truly love her and now he feels horrible. Then I saw a suggestion about a father and daughter, so I listened to the song again. I think that is another possible interpretation. Maybe a father who left the family, or divorced and wanted to come back. I'm not sure I'm still going with my original thought, but this one's good too.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
4. anonymous

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   May 8th 2009 !⃝

   I always thought it's about a father and his daughter.
5. judeprising

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   Apr 17th 2009 !⃝

   I have to second what the annonymous writer put in the bottom box, about jeff lynn and the song mullholand drive that necer made it. It's about the only accurate interp. I mean, I was searching on youtube and Petty even says practically word for word what that person said, IDK but it sounds like a pretty good hit and that the songs not really a love song at all. Just my thought. I thought that the song was about figuring out there are more important things in life than the little world you'd like to think revolvess around yourself. But I guess I was wrong in a sense too.
6. anonymous

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   Mar 1st 2009 !⃝

   'Kay, even Tom himself couldn't tell you what his songs are about because he's not even sure what they're about,just that he knows what was happening when he wrote them.
   The truth is, there's a highway called Mulholland (or Mulholland drive, I think), anyway, He used to travel down that road a lot and make up songs, some were good, and some went no where, like the attempt at one that had 'Mulholland drive. . . ' in it. He said he couldn't get further than that with that song. That might be why it's incorperated into Free Fallin'. Anyway, He sat down with Jeff Lynn (I hope I spelled Jeff's last name right) and they were messin' around on a keyboard. Tom hit a lick that Jeff liked so Tom started making words up to go with it, just to make Jeff laugh, as in a joke, until Jeff started approving the words as if he liked it. That's about all I know, (or rather would like to think that I know)! :)
7. sylvia

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   Dec 16th 2008 !⃝

   I believe that this song is about a boy who used a girl for his own personal gain, then dumped her, broke her heart, but he doesnt miss her,"And I'm a bad boy cause I
   don't even miss her. I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart".
   It's about bad boys breaking naive, innocent girls hearts in general. I think that he does feel ashamed for using her like he did and escapes from this harsh world through the use of drugs. Tom Petty said that it was really just a bunch of nonsense stuff they came up with in two days, but I think the inspiration for such a emotional song had to come from some where.
8. anonymous

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   Apr 1st 2008 !⃝

   I heard that this song was about a girl that jumped from her dorm room at Florida when petty was there and living in the same dorm. I might be wrong, but I have a few friends who go to school there and that is what they told me.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
9. anonymous

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   Dec 27th 2007 !⃝

   It's about falling in love!! He thinks he's not good enough for a girl!! If you don't get that out of this song you're crazy and listen harder.
10. anonymous

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    Jul 17th 2007 !⃝

    I think that whoever said about the grease thing was right. He broke her heart just to keep his image up, but he still loves her. He's going to get high to forget about it for a little bit...
    
    He says "I wanna glide down over mulholland/I wanna write her name in the sky/Gonna free fall out into nothin’/Gonna leave this world for a while" and that explains it a little. Just think about it...
11. anonymous

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    Jun 25th 2007 !⃝

    It's about coming off a trip, breaking a drug addiction, you're just free falling you have no control.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
12. anonymous

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    Mar 13th 2007 !⃝

    Petty for petty...poor girl. Boy needs to fess up to his emotions...

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
13. vundeis

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    Oct 17th 2005 !⃝

    This song was written for no reason, just read about it in the greatest hits booklet. Tom wrote it to make his friend laugh.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
14. anonymous

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    Sep 14th 2005 !⃝

    He's just happy to be single!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
15. username

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    Jul 9th 2005 !⃝

    Ever see that scene in "Grease" where John Travolta finds out that Sandy decided to stay in the states, but he acts like a dick in front of his friends? That's kinda what this song's about. A guy breaks his girlfriend's heart and plays it off like he doesn't care, but deep inside he misses her and still loves her. He's free fallin...

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