![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Tom-Petty-and-the-Heartbreakers-1982-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Credit: Far Out \/ Tom Petty<\/p>\n
Back in 1981, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers<\/a> released \u2018A Woman in Love (It\u2019s Not Me)\u2019 to the world, a single that failed to set the charts alight but would stand as one of the Florida songwriter\u2019s most celebrated works.<\/p>\n Across three albums, Petty had been gaining momentum with his rootsy meld of a little new wave spike and power pop stir that made total sense in the late 1970s rock scene while also evoking music\u2019s yesteryear spirit. From 1977\u2019s eponymous debut, a blue-collar grab glowed from Petty\u2019s lyrical pen, bottling universal themes from the dirt road and explored in a conversational, narrative style that won him a dedicated fan base.<\/p>\n Their first album of the 1980s would attest to Petty\u2019s reverence for his fans. Hard Promises\u2019 release date was delayed due to Petty and the band arguing with MCA Records over their LP\u2019s \u201csuperstar pricing\u201d, adding an extra dollar as they\u2019d done for Steely Dan and the recent Xanadu soundtrack due to their supposed big-name value. In a dispute that would be remembered by fans<\/a>, Petty eventually won out against the industry bigwigs and finally let loose the much-awaited Hard Promises record in May 1981.<\/p>\n Lead single \u2018The Waiting\u2019 would score a top 20, but follow-up \u2018A Woman in Love (It\u2019s Not Me)\u2019 would flash Petty\u2019s emerging sophistication as a songwriter. Previously, cuts like \u2018Refugee\u2019 or \u2018I Need to Know\u2019 would burn with the old Petty defiance that turned British heads before America\u2019s chart catch-up, but Hard Promises\u2019 second single saw a chink in the lyrical armour, cutting a new dimension of vulnerability to The Heartbreakers\u2019 gusty songbook.<\/p>\n \u2018A Woman in Love (It\u2019s Not Me)\u2019 doesn\u2019t waste its time. From the first second, a dramatic whirlwind of Mike Campbell\u2019s soaring guitar howls and driving keys from Benmont Tench ensures total arrest of the senses.<\/p>\n Countering such passionate tundra is old Stax bassist Donald Dunn<\/a>. Handling the track\u2019s drops into terse, tense-ridden R&B, such veteran credentials imbue a soulful air to Petty\u2019s cinematic snapshot, as well as leaving the frontman starstruck due to the former\u2019s glittering session CV, boasting collaborations with Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, Muddy Waters, and his day job with Booker T & the MGs.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s the lyrics where \u2018A Woman in Love (It\u2019s Not Me)\u2019 shines the most. \u201cShe laughed in my face, told me good-bye \/ Said \u2018Don\u2019t think about it, you can go crazy \/ Anything can happen, anything can end \/ Don\u2019t try to fight it, don\u2019t try to save me\u2019,\u201d Petty croons in the opening verse.<\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/p>\n In four lines, he\u2019s already bottled heartbreak and all the devastation that comes with it, all pride and stoicism shifted aside to unveil relationship loss in all its painful and knotty upend. But the killer line swoops in just as Campbell and Tench weave their storm clouds: \u201cShe\u2019s a woman in love, but it\u2019s not me\u201d.<\/p>\n \u2018A Woman in Love (It\u2019s Not Me)\u2019 would see life as a single in June 1981, but only peaked at 79 on the Billboard Hot 100 due to the towering success of Stevie Nicks\u2019 \u2018Stop Draggin\u2019 My Heart Around\u2019<\/a>, a number-three hit written by Petty and featuring the Heartbreakers on the record. But time would reveal Hard Promises\u2019 second single\u2019s wounded power, a pained bellow of a heartland stomper that marked the arrival of an Americana songwriter.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/faroutmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/themes\/far-out-magazine\/img\/google-discover.svg\")
<\/a> The Far Out Classic Rock Newsletter<\/p>\n