10 Most Iconic Keyboard Songs In Rock Music

10. Southern Accents - Tom Petty

When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were first starting to get their huge hits, most of the power behind their sound wasn't actually coming from the guitars. Going through songs like Free Fallin and Runnin Down a Dream, Petty clearly loves his six string, only for Benmont Tench to take over most of the time and bringing bits and pieces of piano led boogie into the mix. Rock isn't always about boogie though, and Southern Accents gave us a piano track that could bring people to their knees.

Coming off of the concept record of the same name, having just the piano lead this one makes you feel like you're in the room with Tom as he's singing this song, looking back on his upbringing in the American South and trying to sort out all of the hang-ups that he still has at his own stomping grounds. Though Petty gives a powerhouse performance, Benmont gives just the right kind of pulse behind everything, never getting in the way of Tom and serving as the perfect bed to tell this story.

From the minute that those piano keys strike at the beginning of the song, it almost brings you back to when you were young, trying to piece together bits and pieces of those old memories from years gone by. The perfect touch comes at the end when Benmont moves to the melody to the higher keys, as if you're looking at this memory slowly fading away. Rock has never been known as a subtle genre, but this might be the ultimate example of how you're supposed to serve the song.