I WON'T BACK DOWN
Jeff Lynne - Tom Petty
The lead single from the album FULL MOON FEVER. Chart: #12. Time - 2:56.
Flip Side: "Apartment Song". Released in U.S.A. early 1989.
Recorded at Sunset Sound Studio, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Produced by Mike Campbell, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty.
The first single released by Petty without the backing of the Heartreakers. A temporary break from the band. It has two ex-Beatle's in the video....George, who played on the track and Ringo, who did not. This track has been taken up by many causes, by people under attack. The most notable was in the aftermath of 9/11. Recently, a Trump event playing this song brought together Petty's family including his wife and ex-wife, to come out against the use of the song at his rally's. They ordered a cease and desist. - Larry -
Tom Petty - lead vocals, guitar, keyboards, tamborine |
TOM PETTY - 1999 - AllMusic
"That song frightened me when I wrote it. I didn't embrace it when I wrote it. I thought it was too much like me. It's so obvious. God, there's not a hint of metaphor in this thing. It's just blatantly straightforward. Everyone else around liked it. And I said, "God, there's nothing to hide behind." Now I see that it was a good thing, because it meant so much to so many people. I get so many letters about it. I was so moved when a pro-choice doctor down in Pensacola, Florida, used this song. And they shot him. And then Eddie Vedder called me one day. I guess Pearl Jam were down in Pensacola and going to do that song. They had the doctor's son on the phone and we talked for awhile. Pearl Jam did it. They opened up with it that night, and they had the same response I do -- with everyone singing it. That was great. That's how I got my idea to do it the way I do it in the show. Because Eddie did it himself with just a guitar and let the room sing the song. So it was beautiful. But when I first did it, it frightened me. "
MIKE CAMPBELL - 1995 - Playback liner notes
"'I remember that being written in the studio. Tom and Jeff had started it, but they didn't have all the words. We were mixing Freefallin' which we had just done, and they went into the next room and finished it on piano. Things were moving fast around that time.' "
HOWIE EPSTEIN - 1995 - Playback liner notes
"I remember coming down to Michael's garage to do background vocals. It was the first time I worked with Jeff Lynne. George Harrison was there. I did vocals with Tom, George and Jeff. We got the parts pretty quickly. It was all done in maybe 40 minutes."
YOU TUBE STUDIO TRACK OFFICIAL VIDEO YOU TUBE LYRIC VIDEO YOU TUBE LIVE 2016 Well I won't back down, no I won't back down You could stand me up at the gates of hell But I won't back down Gonna 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 Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out 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 Hey baby there ain't no easy way out Hey I will stand my ground And I won't back down No, I won't back down