I Don't Wanna Fight

Album: Echo (1999)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is a rare Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers track on which Petty doesn't sing lead. His guitarist Mike Campbell handles the vocals, his first time doing so.

    Campbell writes the music for many of Petty's songs, and also co-wrote Don Henley's "The Heart Of The Matter" and "The Boys of Summer." In an interview with radio station WMMR, Campbell said: "For a long time I would just write music. And then I got so much of that and got so tired of writing music and waiting for someone to come up with something to sing on it that I just started doing it myself, just to amuse myself. And then I showed some stuff to Tom, he'd go, 'Wow, that sounds like me.' So I kept showing stuff to him. And then, when he heard that one, he thought, 'Well, you should just do that one, 'cause that'll fit on the record and you do it fine.' So that just sorta happened that way." >>>
    Suggestion credit:
    DeeTheWriter - Saint Petersburg, Russia Federation

Comments: 1

  • Evangeline from Monroe, LaWow, I never realized this was Mike Campbell! It really does sound like Tom.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

British Invasion

British InvasionFact or Fiction

Go beyond The Beatles to see what you know about the British Invasion.

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.

Tim McIlrath of Rise Against

Tim McIlrath of Rise AgainstSongwriter Interviews

Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath explains the meanings behind some of their biggest songs and names the sci-fi books that have influenced him.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Andy McClusky of OMD

Andy McClusky of OMDSongwriter Interviews

Known in America for the hit "If You Leave," OMD is a huge influence on modern electronic music.

Joe Elliott of Def Leppard

Joe Elliott of Def LeppardSongwriter Interviews

The Def Leppard frontman talks about their "lamentable" hit he never thought of as a single, and why he's juiced by his Mott The Hoople cover band.