As journalist Jaan Uhelski writes in the Wildflowers and All the Rest liner notes, “If Wildflowers is an album about taking stock of one’s life, “Only a Broken Heart” is a watershed moment on that excavation of self.” Everything about the way the final album version of this song is arranged and produced caters toward that excavation. The busyness of the piano and bass in the alternative version is stripped out and the harmonica lead from the demo is also abandoned in favour of allowing those double-tracked vocals take the weight of the lyrics and drop them in your lap. Coming between the titanic It’s Good to Be King and Honey Bee, this song could easily have become a little lost or overwhelmed but I think that, outro aside, the production choices on this song ensure that it holds its place as a sonic rest period and an eerie, forlorn interlude that acts as that “watershed” moment that Jaan Uhelski talks about

This episode includes a conversation with my very good friend and musical mentor, Randy Woods!

To listen to the song, check out the official lyric video here: https://youtu.be/9-9k5hELSlw

To listen to the home demo version, go here: https://youtu.be/t1Tk12Pz9PA

And to listen to the alternate version on the Finding Wildflowers release, go here: https://youtu.be/DTrLCZStfA8

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Follow: https://linktr.ee/tompettyproject

Listen: https://pod.link/1580769475

All music, including the theme song, provided by my very best friend Randy Woods. Check him out at https://www.randywoodsband.com

A special thanks to Paul Zollo. Without his book, "Conversations with Tom Petty", this podcast wouldn't be nearly as much fun to research.

The Tom Petty Project is not affiliated with the Tom Petty estate in any way.

Producer: Kevin Brown

Executive Producers: Paul Roberts, Steve Ursell

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