Tom Petty – American Girl

General CommentGod it's so painful when something that's so close
Is still so far out of reach

Best line. I love it.

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  @allenegirl
  +1

  @allenegirl Yes, it is the best line. I like to think Tom Petty has a deeper meaning for the lyrics to this short song. His metaphor "American Girl" is one's "American Dream" who strives and dedicate his/her early life to a fantasized dream reality, like being a star or famous or achieving a very competitive goal, like getting the Olympic Gold. The "one little promise she was going to keep" if she "had to die Tryin'" shows one's life dedication and commitment to the goal in discrete. The chorus is an inspiration one gives themselves to keep the "Dream" alive by making it their life long goal (Making it last all night). The second verse reveals as time goes by and the strive gets tough and when the "Dream" lost its initial luster "Well it was kind of cold that night" and reality sets in diminishing the dream, being around cars on the freeway instead of being near waves on the beach. However, Petty tells us one should never give up the "Dream" since the thought of success "And for one desperate moment there He crept back in her memory" the "He" is a metaphor for success or goal not reached. One's dedication and commitment is not lost if we keep reaching for that goal and it could be so close but still seems so far away when we're disappointed by distractions. I thought it is an inspirational song instead of the other way. I guess my glass us usually half full.

  Flag Nodoz123on October 20, 2018  

General CommentI don't know if I think that this is absolutely about suicide... The first verse you have the words "if she had to die trying she had one little promise she was going to keep". I do think it's about the feeling of revenge that comes from being broken-up with by your first love, or revenge from not being loved by a significant male figure in your life, and how a first love relates a lot to all the other dreams and empty promises American girls are force-fed about how grand life can be if we only try hard enough and work fast enough...

It's funny because in L.A. the ocean isn't that far away, but no one can see or hear or smell the ocean from their apartment unless they're part of the uber-rich. I like how Petty paints a picture of this, comparing the ocean of L.A. being so close but so far and replaced by concrete and cars as a reminder to anyone who's "trying to make it in this town" just how far they still have to go to acheive their dreams and have that ocean view. Just like this girl's dreams of making a name for herself, of finding a man who really loves her, and she's just sick of working at it, sick of all the empty promises.

Death was close...she could end it all by jumping into that ocean that wasn't really an ocean at all but just a mindless line of cars...but then for a second the man who broke her heart popped back into her mind and she remembered that she made a promise to herself to get revenge, follow her dreams, make something of herself even if it killed her...so she'll go on racing through life forcing herself to make promises about all that life has in store for her, and hopefully run across someone who will teach her what it means to relax and not fight so hard...

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  @temsabi
  0

  @temsabi
  Everyone— this song was written about a girl who committed suicide at the University of Florida in the 80’s. I went to school there. Tom Petty grew up in Gainesville, Florida. He played concerts at UF 6-7 days in a row and this song always struck us as students. The school is very challenging and stressful for young students. Many can’t make it. Couple that with new and lost love.
  The girl jumped off the building. The building was right off US441 which is the street that runs right along the university and where she committed suicide.
  The song is about a young promising soul who couldn’t handle the stresses of life.

  Flag Ericnon April 27, 2019  

General CommentSuicide? Are you people nuts? No way. It's about a girl that recognizes there's more to life out there than the small place she lives, and she wants to go out into the great big world to find it! And the difficulties in leaving her old life behind, because of old commitments and such.

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  @dylanite
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  @dylanite Indeed, it's a bit to read all the pseudo-intellectual pontification in the other ill-informed guesses (about "typical" men, etc.). +1 to you.

  Flag authunon November 25, 2019  

General Commenti think tom wrote this song for me. thanks tom.

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  @jedibiatch

General CommentYeah, I think it's just a song about a young girl's take on being frustrated in pursuit of her so-called American dreams, filled with awesome imagery from TP's own life experience, as usual.

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  @PaleolithNick

General CommentThis is one of my theme songs; I adore it. I always thought of it as about a typical bored, jaded American girl who goes and has one amazing experience that changes her life. The second verse is her looking back on that time, knowing that the past is forever out of reach.

And now I read that it's supposed to be about suicide. Oh, well. I'll try not to let that ruin it for me.

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  @blackat16

General CommentI think the meaning is a little different than most of ones I have read. First Tom Petty said it was not about a suicide. That is an urban legend. What I think it is about is the disillusionment that can come from loving. She was an American girl raised on Promises- She put her trust in to someone and he broke his promises. It was a great big world with lots of places to run to- Lots of men to run to also. She is using promiscuity to get rid of her pain. And if she had to die tryin' She had one little promise she was gonna keep-That is to herself, not to put her heart out there to get hurt again. Oh yeah, all right, take it easy baby, make it last all night-There is the promiscuity. Well it was kind of cold that night she stood alone on her balcony-He is asleep after sex (typical guy) she decides to get some fresh air. Out on 441 like the waves crashin’ on the beach- the drone of a highway can sound like the ocean. For one desperate moment there he crept back in her memory- She is trying to forget him but, it’s hard when you are alone with your thoughts. God it’s so painful that something so close could still be so far out of reach-She knows what she really wants she will never find through going to bed with a lot of guys but, she can’t put her heart out there yet, her body but not her heart.

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  @Justguessing
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  @Justguessing I think you are right, sure hits home.

  Flag MCNLUon November 02, 2016  

General CommentI was reading a tom petty guitar tab book and it explains some of his lyrics...

"Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by
Out on 441 like waves crashin' on the beach"

"I remember writing the song about hearing the cars roll by because I was living in an apartment in Encino, CA by the freeway. The sound was really annoying and we used to jokingly pretend it was the ocean."

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  @shed27

General CommentThis song is so good.
"It's so painful, something that's so close, and still so far out of reach" (my favorite line:) is something everyone feels about something, or a certain someone. Tom is wonderful.

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  @wannabe

General CommentHow about...this is a song about a typical American girl from Anywhere, America, who grows up without a consistent, loving father-figure, either due to divorce, abandonment, death, whatever. After being let down by the absence of a father, she goes off into the world to chase her dreams but it all feels so empty because she is still longing for the love she never had.

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  @jlilly49