Thomas Earl Petty (20 October 1950 - 2 October 2017) was an American musici… Read Full Bio ↴Thomas Earl Petty (20 October 1950 - 2 October 2017) was an American musician, singer, composer and songwriter best known for fronting Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Apart from the band, he released three solo albums: "Full Moon Fever" (1989), "Wildflowers" (1994) and "Highway Companion" (2006).

After working with his early bands The Sundowners, The Epics, and Mudcrutch (which also included future Heartbreakers members Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) he began his recording career with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers when the band broke onto the national music scene with their 1976 self-titled debut album. Still, it took America a full year to catch up to the album. "Breakdown" was re-released to radio and became a Top 40 hit in 1977 after word filtered back the band was creating a firestorm in England.
He was also a member of The Traveling Wilburys, along with George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison. Petty and the Heartbreakers also toured as a backing band for Bob Dylan.

Petty is a vocal critic of the modern recording industry, including the disintegration of independent radio stations.

Petty has been supported by his band, The Heartbreakers, for the majority of his career. He has occasionally released solo work, as is the case with his 2006 effort, Highway Companion, on which he performed most of the backing instrumentation himself. Examples of other solo albums include Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers

Petty died on 2 October 2017 following a cardiac episode earlier that day at his home in Malibu, California. Although some media outlets incorrectly reported his death following an erroneous police report, his death was confirmed later that day by his publicist and manager.

Billy The Kid
Tom Petty Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Well I heard you in the back room
Your friends had a laugh on me
Passed my name through the cantina
Yeah your face was hard to read
Something in your demeanor
Should of given you away
But I was desperate for a friend
I was getting used to making mistakes

Well I went down hard
Like Billy the Kid
Yeah, I went down hard
Yeah, but I got up again

I remember you my baby
I remember you so well
And your house out in the suburbs
You had your wishing well
They say be careful who you believe
Be careful who you trust
Did you smile when you pulled the trigger
That dropped me in the dust

Well, I went down hard
Like Billy the Kid
Yeah, I went down hard
Yeah, but I got up again

Well, you caught me in the bedroom
Cotton fever in a sweat
I was fighting for recovery
But I wasn't giving up yet
You offered no assistance
Yeah, you looked at me and you lied
Oh it really stunned me
When you went to the other side

I went down hard
Like Billy the Kid

Yeah, I went down hard
Oh, but I got up again

Overall Meaning

In the song Billy the Kid by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, the singer is reflecting on a relationship that ended badly. He remembers meeting this person in the back room at a cantina where his friends were making fun of him. Despite his better judgement, he was desperate for a friend, so he ignored the signs that something was off about this person. Their relationship began to deteriorate quickly, and the singer fell hard (like Billy the Kid). However, he was able to get back up and move past it. He remembers the person's house in the suburbs and their wishing well. The lyrics suggest that this person may have caused the singer harm intentionally, saying "did you smile when you pulled the trigger that dropped me in the dust?"

The song speaks to the idea that people should be careful who they trust, and that sometimes we ignore red flags because we are desperate for connections. The repeated motif of falling hard but getting back up again is emblematic of the resilience needed to move on from difficult situations.

Line by Line Meaning

Well I heard you in the back room
I overheard you talking about me behind my back

Your friends had a laugh on me
Your buddies found my expense amusing

Passed my name through the cantina
You gossiped about me at the bar

Yeah your face was hard to read
I couldn't tell what you were really thinking

Something in your demeanor
There was a certain attitude about you

Should of given you away
It should have been a red flag

But I was desperate for a friend
I was lonely and needed companionship

I was getting used to making mistakes
I was accustomed to messing things up

Well I went down hard
I hit rock bottom

Like Billy the Kid
Just like the notorious outlaw

Yeah, I went down hard
It was a rough fall