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Tom Petty - Hard Promises Album Lyrics



Tom Petty - Hard Promises Lyrics






The Waiting

Oh baby, don't it feel like heaven right now?
Don't it feel like somethin' from a dream?
Yeah, I've never known nothing quite like this
Don't it feel like tonight might never be again?
Baby, we know better than to try and pretend
Honey, no one could have ever told me 'bout this
I said, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Well yeah, I might have chased a couple of women around
All it ever got me was down
Yeah, then there were those that made me feel good
But never as good as I feel right now
Baby, you're the only one that's ever known how
To make me wanna live like I wanna live now
I said, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you get one more yard
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Oh, don't let it kill you, baby, don't let it get to you
Don't let 'em kill you, baby, don't let 'em get to you
I'll be your bleedin' heart, I'll be your cryin' fool
Don't let this go too far, don't let it get to you

Yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you get one more yard
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part
Yeah, the waiting is the hardest part

Ooh
Is the hardest part
Ooh
Is the hardest part
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Tom Petty
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.




A Woman In Love Its Not Me

She laughed in my face, told me goodbye
Said "Don't think about it, you can go crazy
Anything can happen, anything can end
Don't try to fight it, don't try to save me"

She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to see
She's a woman in love, but it's not me

Well alright, do what you want
Don't try to talk, don't say nothin'

She used to be the kind of woman
You have and you hold
She could understand the problems
She let the little things go

She's a woman in love
She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to know
She's a woman in love, she can't let go

Time after time, night after night
She would look up at me and say she was lonely
I don't understand the world today
I don't understand what she needed
I gave her everything, she threw it all away on nothin'
She's a woman in love

She's a woman in love
And he's gonna break her heart to pieces
She don't want to see
She's a woman in love, but it's not me
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Thomas Earl Petty, Michael W Campbell
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.




Nightwatchman

I'm the nightwatchman
I make the rounds
I'm the nightwatchman
I gotta keep my nose to the ground

Honey this ain't no job for a man like me
I got potential, I can be just what you need
You got to think about the pros and cons
You could be right could be wrong

I'm the nightwatchman
I am security
I'm the nightwatchman
How safe do you want to be?

I sit around at night, listen to the radio
If I get bored I may have a little smoke
Yeah I got a permit to wear this .38
But listen, my life's worth more than the minimum wage

I'm the nightwatchman
I am security
I'm the nightwatchman
How safe do you want to be?
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: MICHAEL W. CAMPBELL, TOM PETTY
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.




Something Big

It didn't feel like Sunday
It didn't feel like June
When he met his silent partner
In that lonely corner room
That overlooked the marquee
Of the plaza all-adult
And he was not lookin' for romance
Just someone he could trust

And it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could up with it for a little while
He was workin' on something big

Speed ball rang the night desk
Said "send me up a drink"
The night clerk said "It's Sunday man...
Wait a minute, let me think
There' a little place outside of town
Might still have some wine"
Speed ball said "forget it man
Can I have an outside line?"

And it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could up with it for a little while
He was workin' on something big

It was Monday when the day maids
Found the still made bed
All except the pillows
That lay stacked up
At the head
And one said "I know
I've seen his face
I wonder who he is"
The other said "probably
Just another clown
Working on something big"

And it wasn't no way to carry on
It wasn't no way to live
But he could up with it for a little while
He was workin' on something big
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: TOM PETTY
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music




Kings Road

Well they took me out on the old Kings Road
I didn't know which way to go
There was people all around wearin' funny lookin' clothes
Some boys, some girls, some I don't know

I didn't know which way to go
I'm a new world boy on the old Kings Road

Rockabilly music was in the air
I looked through the door, they said "come over here"
They had socks and shirts and underwear
That I'd seen before, but I don't know where

I didn't know which way to go
I'm a new world boy on the old Kings Road

A Pakistani man said "listen here
Let me fix you up before you go back there
You can't get 'em in the USA
Not in New York City, not in West L.A."

I thought about it, said "I don't know"
I'm a new world boy on the old Kings Road
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Thomas Earl Petty
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music




Letting You Go

I used to think that when this was all over
Yo might feel different 'bout me
Yeah I always knew, one of these days you' d come around
Now I wonder if dreams are just dreams

Whoa oh, whoa oh oh
I'm having trouble
Letting you go
Whoa oh, whoa oh oh
I'm having trouble
Letting you go

Baby look out your window
It's raining on your summer home
You by the fire keeping warm and dry
There's no one as honest as those in pain
Oh honey can you see me?
Will you let me inside?

Whoa oh, whoa oh oh
I'm having trouble
Letting you go
Whoa oh, whoa oh oh
I 'm having trouble
Letting you go

It's a restless world, uncertain times
You said hope was getting hard to find
But time rolls on, days roll by
What about the broken ones?
What about the lonely ones?
Oh honey I'm having trouble letting you go
It's off in the distance somewhere up the road
There's some easy answer for the tears you've cried
And it makes me unhappy, makes me feel different
Do you get scared when you close your eyes?

Whoa oh, whoa oh oh
I'm having trouble
Letting you go
Whoa oh, whoa oh oh
I'm having trouble
Letting you go
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Thomas Earl Petty
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music




A Thing About You

I'm not much on mystery
Yeah you gotta be careful what you dream
I thought this might pass with time
Yeah I thought I was satisfied

But oh baby let me tell you, I got a thing about you
Baby let me tell you, I got a thing about you
It don't matter what you say
It don't matter what you do
I , I, I, got a thing about you

Somewhere deep in the middle of the night
Lovers hold each other tight
Whisper in their anxious ears
Words of love that disappear

But oh baby let me tell you, I got a thing about you
Baby let me tell you, I got a thing about you
It don't matter what you say
It don't matter what you do
I, I, I, got a thing about you

Baby you own some strange control over me
Yeah it's so wild it hypnotizes me

Raise both hands
But oh baby let me tell you, I got a thing about you
Baby let me tell you, I got a thing about you
It don't matter what you say
It don't matter what you do
I, I, I, got a thing about you
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Thomas Earl Petty
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.




Insider

You've got a dangerous background
And everything you've dreamed of
Yeah, you're the Dark Angel
It don't show when you break up
And I'm the one who oughta know
Yeah, I'm the one left in the dust
Yeah, I'm the brokenhearted fool
Who was never quite enough

Oh, I'm an insider
I've been burned by the fire
Yes, and I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briers
I'm an insider

It's a circle of deception
It's a hall of strangers
And it's a cage without a key
You can feel the danger
And I'm the one who oughta know
Yeah, I'm the one you couldn't trust
Yes, I'm the lonely silent one
I'm the one left in the dust

Oh, I'm an insider,
I've been burned by the fire
Yes, and I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briers
I'm an insider

I'll bet you're his masterpiece
I'll bet you're his self-control
Yeah you'll become his legacy
His quiet world of white and gold
And I'm the one who ought to know
Yeah, I'm the one you left to rust
And not one of your twisted friends
I'm the one you couldn't love

Oh, I'm an insider
I've been burned by the fire
Yes, and I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briers
I'm an insider

I'm an insider
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Tom Petty
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music




The Criminal Kind

You got a criminal mind, you got criminal looks
Boy you better look out, you're gonna get hooked
Don't you ever feel guilty when you come up short
Man you better be careful, you're gonna get caught

Cause you're the criminal kind, you're the criminal kind
Man what you gonna do? Where you gonna hide?
They're callin' you a sickness, disease of the mind
Man what you gonna do? You're the criminal kind

Don't you ever get tired? Don't you ever want to quit?
Yeah it's been a long time, and you still don't fit
Dog tags on the mirror, hangin' down from a chain
Give up little sister, this ain't gonna change

Cause you're the criminal kind, you're the criminal kind
Man what you gonna do? Where you gonna hide?
They're callin' you a sickness, disease of the mind
Man what you gonna do? You're the criminal kind

Yeah, and that little girl you used to know
Just don't come around no more
Now she ain't there to watch the door
She don't want to die in no liquor store
I hope they all made money, I hope they all get rich
Yeah, I hope they give hell, to every son of a bitch
That put a man on the carpet
Or struck him out on the line
Whoever let him get a taste of the criminal life

Cause you're the criminal kind, you're the criminal kind
Man what you gonna do? Where you gonna hide?
They're callin' you a sickness, disease of the mind
Man what you gonna do? You're the criminal kind
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: TOM PETTY
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music




You Can Still Change Your Mind

It's gonna be another hard night
You want to take it all alone
You wanna face up to the trouble
You want to face up to your soul
And baby you can have it any way you want it
You just get a little lost from time to time
Sometimes it gets a little crazy somewhere down inside

But you can still change your mind
You can change your feelings
You can still change your mind

Everybody wants all the world can give 'em
Everybody wants to get all they can get
Everybody's waiting on somethin' that hasn't come yet

And you can hide it for a little while honey
You can try and just lose it for a while
Then it's gonna do somethin' to ya, somewhere down inside

But you can still change your mind
You can change your feelings
You can change your mind

Yeah and it gets harder by the minute, girl
Oh it gets harder every day
Listen to me darlin', oh, you don't have to wait

It's alright
You can still change your mind
You can change your feelings
Just hold tight, everything's gonna be alright
If you change your mind
You change your feeling
[ Correct these Lyrics ]

Writer: Michael Campbell, Tom Petty
Copyright: Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Gone Gator Music, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.




Back to: Tom Petty


Hard Promises is the fourth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released on May 5, 1981, on Backstreet Records.

Its working title was Benmont's Revenge, referring to keyboard player Benmont Tench. The album features guest vocals from Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac on the duet "Insider". The Heartbreakers also recorded the hit "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" for Nicks' album Bella Donna around the time Hard Promises was recorded.

This was the second Tom Petty album on the Backstreet Records label. The album's release was delayed while Petty and his distributor MCA Records argued about the list price. The album was slated to be the next MCA release with the new list price of $9.98, following Steely Dan's Gaucho and the Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu soundtrack.

This so-called "superstar pricing" was $1.00 more than the usual list price of $8.98. Petty voiced his objections to the price hike in the press and the issue became a popular cause among music fans. Non-delivery of the album or naming it Eight Ninety-Eight were considered, but eventually MCA decided against the price increase.

The final title comes from a line in the chorus of "Insider".

During the recording of the album, John Lennon was scheduled to be in the same studio at the same time. Petty was looking forward to meeting him when he came in. The meeting never occurred, as Lennon was murdered before the date of his planned visit to the studio. Petty and the band paid tribute to the slain former Beatle by etching "WE LOVE YOU J.L." in the runout deadwax on early U.S. and Canadian pressings of Hard Promises.

Hard Promises is the last full album to feature the original Heartbreakers lineup, as bassist Ron Blair left after the album's release. He returned on Mojo, and he would make guest appearances on Long After Dark and Southern Accents and, after rejoining the band in 2002, played on select tracks on The Last DJ. He was replaced by Howie Epstein, who continued to play until his removal in 2002 due to deteriorating health.

In 2000 it was voted number 968 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.
Performed By: Tom Petty
Genre(s): Rock
Producer(s): Jimmy Iovine, Tom Petty
Length: 39:33
Released: May 5th, 1981
Year: 1981

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