Free Fallin'

For other uses, see Free-fall (disambiguation).

"Free Fallin'"
Single by Tom Petty
from the album Full Moon Fever
B-side	"Down the Line" "Love Is a Long Road" "Free Fallin'" (live)
Released	October 1989
Genre	Heartland rock [1] [2] folk rock [2] pop rock [3]
Length	4:14
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Tom Petty Jeff Lynne
Producer(s)	Jeff Lynne Tom Petty Mike Campbell
Tom Petty singles chronology
"Runnin' Down a Dream" (1989) "Free Fallin'" (1989) "A Face in the Crowd" (1990)
Music video
"Free Fallin'" on YouTube

"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.

"Free Fallin'" is one of Petty's most famous tracks as well as his highest- and longest-charting song. ^[4] It peaked at No. 7 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in January 1990, becoming his third and final top-10 hit. It also charted in several other countries, peaking at No. 5 in Canada and No. 4 in New Zealand. Petty and The Heartbreakers performed the song at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1989, with Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin, and at the February 2008 Super Bowl XLII Halftime Show. ^[5]

The song is ranked No. 219 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was featured in the film Jerry Maguire (1996) and The Sopranos episode 2.13, "Funhouse" (2000). Lou Reed selected the song as one of his "picks of 1989". ^[6] The song reached No. 2 on the Spotify Global Viral 50 following Petty's death in 2017. ^[7]

Development and meaning

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]

Reception

"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]

Personnel

• Tom Petty – lead & backing vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar
• Mike Campbell – 12-string electric guitar
• Jeff Lynne – acoustic guitar, bass, synthesizer, backing vocals
• Phil Jones – drums and tambourine

Music video

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]

Track listings

US 7-inch and cassette

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Free Fallin'"	Tom Petty Jeff Lynne	4:14
2.	"Down the Line"	Petty Lynne Mike Campbell	2:54
Total length:			7:08

UK 7-inch

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Free Fallin'"	Petty Lynne	4:14
2.	"Love Is a Long Road"	Petty Campbell	4:06
Total length:			8:20

UK 12-inch and CD

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Free Fallin'"	Petty Lynne	4:14
2.	"Love Is a Long Road"	Petty Campbell	4:06
3.	"Free Fallin'" (live)	Petty Lynne

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1989–2017) Peak position Australia (ARIA) [14] 59 Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [15] 5 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade) [16] 11 Netherlands (Single Top 100) [17] 61 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [18] 4 Sweden Heatseeker (Sverigetopplistan) [19] 3 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [20] 86 UK Singles (OCC) [21] 59 US Billboard Hot 100 [22] 7 US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) [23] 17 US Alternative Airplay ( Billboard ) [24] 29 US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [25] 1 US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs ( Billboard ) [26] 4 US Cash Box Top 100 [27] 6

Year-end charts Chart (1990) Position Canada Top Singles (RPM) [28] 39 US Billboard Hot 100 [29] 64 Chart (2017) Position US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard) [30] 47

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [31]	Gold	45,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI) [32]	Platinum	600,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
United States	October 1989	7-inch vinyl cassette	MCA	[ citation needed ]
United Kingdom	November 6, 1989	7-inch vinyl 12-inch vinyl CD		[33]

Cover versions

• In 1993, De La Soul and Teenage Fanclub sampled the song for "Fallin'", which appeared on the Judgment Night soundtrack.
• 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.
• In 2007, John Mayer played an acoustic cover of the song in a performance at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, as a part of his 2008 live album Where the Light Is. The single was certified double platinum in Australia in 2021 ^[34] and Gold in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in 2022. ^[35]
• In 2013, American actress & singer Katey Sagal used the song as the opening track for her studio album of cover songs titled Covered. ^{[36] [37]}
• In 2017, Coldplay covered the song with Peter Buck of R.E.M. in Portland, Oregon as a tribute to Petty following his death. ^[38] Coldplay performed the song again in Pasadena, California with James Corden. ^[39]
• In 2025, John Mayer performed a cover of the song on January 30, 2025 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, California for FireAid to help with relief efforts for the January 2025 Southern California wildfires. ^{[40] [41]}

References

1. Smith, Troy L. (February 27, 2018). "250 greatest Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Songs: Part 2 (#200-151)". cleveland.com . Retrieved October 5, 2019.
2. Goldsmith, Melissa Ursula Dawn (2019). Listen to Classic Rock! Exploring a Musical Genre. ABC-CLIO. p. 180. ISBN   978-1-4408-6579-4.
3. Harrington, Jim (2015). "Tom Petty - "Free Fallin'". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. New York: Universe. p. 633.
4. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 188.
5. "Topic Galleries". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 8, 2008.
6. Rolling Stone , March 8, 1990
7. "Global Viral 50". Spotify Charts. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
8. Cathy Applefeld Olson (June 7, 2017). "Tom Petty Originally Wrote 'Free Fallin'' Just to Make Jeff Lynne Laugh". Billboard . Retrieved June 7, 2017.
9. Golsen, Tyler (May 4, 2023). "Jeff Lynne on how he helped Tom Petty make 'Free Fallin"". Far Out. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
10. Unterberger, Andrew (October 3, 2017). "The 20 Best Tom Petty Songs". Billboard . Retrieved May 3, 2022.
11. "Tom Petty: 50 Greatest Songs". Rolling Stone . November 28, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
12. "Top 10 Tom Petty Songs".
13. Tom Petty: Free Fallin' (Video 1989) - IMDb , retrieved August 28, 2021
14. "ARIA Chart Watch #441". auspOp. October 7, 2017. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved October 7, 2017.
15. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6644." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
16. "Tipparade-lijst van week 6, 1990" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 . Retrieved March 25, 2023.
17. "Tom Petty – Free Fallin'" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
18. "Tom Petty – Free Fallin'". Top 40 Singles.
19. "Veckolista Heatseeker, vecka 40, 2017" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan . Retrieved May 8, 2021.
20. "Tom Petty – Free Fallin'". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
21. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
22. "Tom Petty Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
23. "Tom Petty Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
24. "Tom Petty Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard.
25. "Tom Petty Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved December 26, 2020.
26. "Tom Petty Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
27. "U.S. Cash Box Charts" (PDF). popmusichistory. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
28. "Top 100 Hit Tracks of 1990". RPM . Library and Archives Canada . Retrieved November 26, 2017.
29. "1990 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard . Vol. 102, no. 51. December 22, 1990. p. YE-14.
30. "Hot Rock & Alternative Songs – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
31. "Danish single certifications – Tom Petty – Free Fallin'". IFPI Danmark . Retrieved April 26, 2023.
32. "British single certifications – Tom Petty – Free Fallin'". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved December 10, 2021.
33. "New Singles". Music Week . November 4, 1989. p. 45.
34. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2021 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association . Retrieved July 7, 2021.
35. "British single certifications – John Mayer – Free Fallin'". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved November 19, 2022.
36. "Covered - Katey Sagal | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic .
37. "'Sons of Anarchy' Star Katey Sagal Talks First Album in Nine Years". Billboard .
38. Needham, Lucy; Newman, Vicki; Shenton, Zoe (October 3, 2017). "Emotional moment Coldplay audience stand in absolute silence to remember victims of Las Vegas shooting - before launching into Tom Petty tribute song". Daily Mirror. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
39. Kreps, Daniel (October 7, 2017). "See Coldplay, James Corden Sing Tom Petty's 'Free Fallin' at Rose Bowl". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
40. Stevens, Matt; Sisario, Ben (January 30, 2025). "At FireAid Benefit, Stars Sing a Love Song to Los Angeles". The New York Times.
41. "FireAid: Inside the Star-Studded Benefit Show for Los Angeles". Rolling Stone . January 31, 2025.

External links

• SongFacts information page on "Free Fallin'"
• John Mayer - Free Fallin' (Live at the Nokia Theatre) on YouTube