I feel this is one of those very simple songs with profound meaning. I'm not a diehard Petty fan. His songs were a bit too simple for my tastes; I believe this song has 3 chords, the pattern of which does not change from chorus to verse, and there is not really a bridge or middle 8. Petty pretty much has a minimalist approach to song writing, which I suppose had its own merits.
Anyway, "Free Fallin" is about two conflicting human desires: the desire for permanence and security (the desire for Love) and the desire for freedom and independence. This is explored in the verses, where symbols of freedom, our cars, drive down a 'freeway' which is built on top of our ultimate symbols of comfort and security: our homes. So, the clash plays out in front of our very eyes every day in real life.
The "vampires" are simply a description of those who use their freedom at the expense of others, literally sucking the life out of those in their path. The use of the words "shadow" and "valley" is biblical ("yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow if death") as is the battle of good and bad.
The setting: California. You have to look at this within the context of a lot of rock n roll songs (Hotel California, California Dreamin, Going to California, Californication). California is a symbol of dreams, ambitions, freedom.. but it always has a dark side.
The scientific concept of a body in 'free fall' is an object unencumbered by external forces, yet completely under control of gravity (think "falling in love"). In this sense it is the unification of the two, like yin and yang. A wonderfully poetic concept.
This is perhaps the crux of the song:
"I want to glide down over mullholand
I wanna write her name in the sky
Gonna free fall out into nothing
Gonna leave this world for a while"
Leaving the world is transcendent. It's transcending the freedom and love conflict. This verse reads like a dream.. gliding and writing words in the sky. You can imagine a spirit doing this. Nothing. ie the void, is a concept of eastern meditation.
I feel this is one of those very simple songs with profound meaning. I'm not a diehard Petty fan. His songs were a bit too simple for my tastes; I believe this song has 3 chords, the pattern of which does not change from chorus to verse, and there is not really a bridge or middle 8. Petty pretty much has a minimalist approach to song writing, which I suppose had its own merits.
Anyway, "Free Fallin" is about two conflicting human desires: the desire for permanence and security (the desire for Love) and the desire for freedom and independence. This is explored in the verses, where symbols of freedom, our cars, drive down a 'freeway' which is built on top of our ultimate symbols of comfort and security: our homes. So, the clash plays out in front of our very eyes every day in real life.
The "vampires" are simply a description of those who use their freedom at the expense of others, literally sucking the life out of those in their path. The use of the words "shadow" and "valley" is biblical ("yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow if death") as is the battle of good and bad.
The setting: California. You have to look at this within the context of a lot of rock n roll songs (Hotel California, California Dreamin, Going to California, Californication). California is a symbol of dreams, ambitions, freedom.. but it always has a dark side.
The scientific concept of a body in 'free fall' is an object unencumbered by external forces, yet completely under control of gravity (think "falling in love"). In this sense it is the unification of the two, like yin and yang. A wonderfully poetic concept.
This is perhaps the crux of the song:
"I want to glide down over mullholand I wanna write her name in the sky Gonna free fall out into nothing Gonna leave this world for a while"
Leaving the world is transcendent. It's transcending the freedom and love conflict. This verse reads like a dream.. gliding and writing words in the sky. You can imagine a spirit doing this. Nothing. ie the void, is a concept of eastern meditation.