10 Perfect Rock Songs Cut From Classic Albums

When Tom Petty was working on his second solo album Wildflowers, he had mentioned that the quality of every single song almost scared him. Even though he had been working in rock and roll for over two decades, these songs were some of the most genuine pieces of music that he ever committed to tape, whether it was drawing from Tom’s experience with his rocky marriage or just the joy of hanging out with his friends whenever he came into the studio. The idea may have been to make a double album, but once Tom got talked down, he still had enough in the tank for another project.

While the Heartbreakers’ soundtrack to the movie She’s the One doesn’t have nearly the same staying power as Petty’s previous album, you can tell that Walls is a leftover from the sessions from the minute it comes on, having that same rustic feel and Tom writing some of the more heartfelt lyrics that he would pen during this period. With the opening line being taken from a conversation Petty had with Johnny Cash at the time, Walls picks up right where the song Wildflowers left off, wishing your significant other well even when you know things look bleak in the distance.

Compared to the raw beauty that was on the proper album though, this may have been a nice bridge between both sides of Petty’s writing, combining the earnest romantic of his lyrics with the cold reality that most people have to deal with every single day. Considering the next album Echo was nothing but Petty struggling with his separation from his wife, Walls is the perfect in-between song for these two eras, from the artistic highs right down to the emotional lows.