(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
Tue 10 February 2026 23:30, UK
We hear a lot of words about how the power of music can sow unity amid the division of dark times. It took Tom Petty to step up and really put that to the test.
It wasn’t as if the man couldn’t take on the challenge. He had written a myriad of songs in his time, all of them just as poetic and evocative as the last in terms of conveying some of the most difficult themes you could ever encounter over the space of a lifetime. But as it turned out, none of that mattered in the end. When it came down to the moment where it was needed most, simplicity was key.
Petty, of course, could never quite have imagined the circumstances of the situation he would eventually find himself in when he first wrote ‘I Won’t Back Down’ in 1989. To his mind, it was a song about the basic principle of defiance, in relation to a burglary he had suffered at his home a few years prior.
But fast forward 12 years, and suddenly the singer’s simple lamentation had become the beacon of hope for an entire nation, after fear had rained down and terror had struck in its heart. In an instant, ‘I Won’t Back Down’ was not just a straightforward symbol, but a blazing message of hope.
It was something which America desperately needed in the bleak aftermath of 9/11. The darkest of all human tragedies had struck straight through the centre of the country, and in this sense, in times of the starkest difficulties, people do look to simple messages to guide the way. As it happened, Petty was just the right man for the job.
As such, something special began to happen. Despite the heaviness, the sadness, and the weight of the loss, one particular anthem started being played on the radio. People liked it; it resonated with the feeling of the moment. So they played it again. And then played it some more.
They played it until ‘I Won’t Back Down’ had become the anthem of a nation using rebellious hope as their only anchor through a time that had come so close to completely tearing them apart forever. Obviously, this marked uptick in its appeal was something that Petty realised quickly, and even more so felt he needed to respond to.
Only ten days after the attacks, Petty and the Heartbreakers found themselves on stage at the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert, singing that very same song they knew had become so sacred to people – so they had to get it right. Forlorn, deep, and not with the same upbeat twang as before, but the critical thing was that the performance still had hope.
It might be slightly overdoing it to suggest that Petty was the sole factor in getting the US population through the storm of such a traumatic event, but his resoluteness was certainly something that people clung to in the simple message of never backing down. Granted, he may not have thought it was his best work of lyrical genius, but sometimes you just have to write the words that the masses need to hear.