10 Rock Songs That Were Written For Somebody Else
5. Insider - Tom Petty
If there's anyone who could have been considered an honorary member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, it would have been Stevie Nicks. Outside of her star rising in the wake of Fleetwood Mac's album Rumours, she was always keeping tabs on what the heartland rocker was doing, even joking that she would have left Mac to go out on the road with Tom. Though she eventually got a hit from him with Stop Draggin My Heart Around, that wasn't how it was supposed to go.
After getting in touch through producer Jimmy Iovine, Stevie's request for Tom to write a song for her resulted in Insider, which fit a lot more comfortably in Stevie's usual style. When Tom gave it to her though, she ended up singing a harmony to his main melody line, only to have it take shape with Tom singing the lead vocal. Growing more attached to the song, Tom had to come clean and tell Stevie that he wanted to keep it for himself.
Looking for something with a little more tempo, Tom went through his own back pages and found Stop Draggin My Heart Around for Stevie, turning Insider into one of the great deep cuts on his album Hard Promises. It may not have been exactly what Stevie was looking for, but with Tom behind the mic, this might be the most vulnerable song that he has ever performed.