10 Greatest Feel Good Rock Songs
3. Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
Tom Petty tends to be one of the unsung heroes from the golden age of rock and roll. Though he managed to rub elbows with everyone from Bob Dylan to George Harrison, it's almost impossible to describe the impact that this man's music had on the lives of millions of rock fans. His hard rockers like "Refugee" and "Runnin Down a Dream" may be fun on any day of the week, but "Free Fallin" taps into something a bit more innocent.
Painting a picture of a young American girl's life as she gets her heart broken by her boyfriend, the entire track feels like a nostalgic look back to the days before adulthood, when the only thing that mattered was music, partying, and having fun. The lyrics do a good enough job at setting the scene, but the actual sound of this record is what really seals the deal.
Rather than just fill the soundstage, the open space between each of Petty's chords gives the listener the impression of flying above the clouds without a care in the world for the hassles back on Earth. Tom Petty had already become a legend at this point, but once "Free Fallin'" graced our speakers, the man had given us one of the sunniest tracks of his career.