All You Can Carry

Album: Hypnotic Eye (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Tom Petty's home in Encino, California was badly damaged on May 17, 1987, after an arsonist set fire to it. Firefighters were able to salvage the basement recording studio and the original tapes stored there, but the property had to be rebuilt. It was the second house fire Petty had survived.

    Petty recalls in this song grabbing a Hohner bass from his house right before it burned down. "I grabbed that and went, 'Hell, is this going to happen to me twice in my life where everything I own is just wiped out?,'" he told Billboard magazine. "And then I thought, 'Well, I'm OK with that.' Because things come back, but people don't."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Second Wind Songs

Second Wind SongsSong Writing

Some songs get a second life when they find a new audience through a movie, commercial, TV show, or even the Internet.

Joe Jackson

Joe JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Joe talks about the challenges of of making a Duke Ellington tribute album, and tells the stories behind some of his hits.

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"

Matthew Wilder - "Break My Stride"They're Playing My Song

Wilder's hit "Break My Stride" had an unlikely inspiration: a famous record mogul who rejected it.

Queen

QueenFact or Fiction

Scaramouch, a hoople and a superhero soundtrack - see if you can spot the real Queen stories.