I draw this thing everytime I eat at Sonic. Where's my paycheck?
I don't draw interpretations where there are none. Except right here and right now. I will interpret this song. OR DIE TRYING!
First verse:
She's a good girl, loves her mama
Loves Jesus and America too
She's a good girl, crazy 'bout Elvis
Loves horses and her boyfriend too, yeah yeah
So yeah, this girl loves Jesus, her parents, Elvis, equines, and is faithful to her significant other. She's like the female Captain America.
"Buy you a drink, sailor?"
She probably bleeds stars and stripes. So we learn later in this song that she is the singer's girlfriend. (We will refer to our musical narrator as T. Petty to protect his Tom Pettyish identity) So what happens next?
Second Verse: (Same as the first?)
And it's a long day livin' in Reseda
There's a freeway runnin' through the yard
I'm a bad boy 'cause I don't even miss her
I'm a bad boy for breakin' her heart
Whoa, whoa whoa, T. Petty was dating superperfectleaveittobeavermomlady and then just totally out and breaks her heart? That's cold T. Petty. Mega cold. Like, only having your music play on classic rock stations once a week cold. But maybe he has a reason for this? Let us move on to the chorus first:
And I'm free, free fallin', fallin
And I'm free, free fallin', fallin
So like everyone, T. Petty immediately goes cliff diving after breaking up with his girlfriend. No problem with this line. Rock on, Petty.
Third Verse:
All the vampires walkin' through the valley
They move west down Ventura Boulevard
And all the bad boys are standing in the shadows
And the good girls are home with broken hearts
Okay, so California refrences, break ups, America, woah, wait vampires?! Vampires! Suddenly the lyrics make a very dark turn! T. Petty HAD to break up with his girlfriend because he had been bitten by one of California's many undead drug cartels. He couldn't risk turning and harming her. She is one of the few last remaining paragons of Americana after all. So T. Petty hitches a ride via biplane, Indiana Jones style, and flies to the very heart of California to confront the man behind all of this madness: Dracula.
Suddenly, the original 1989 Single cover art makes a lot more sense.
Chorus:
And I'm free, free fallin', fallin
Now I'm free, free fallin', fallin
Free fallin', now I'm free fallin
Now I'm free fallin, now I'm free fallin
Now I'm free fallin, now I'm free fallin
Now I'm free fallin, now I'm free fallin
These lines now make sense. T. Petty is diving out of the plane to parachute down and take Dracula's castle by storm! We can only assume he succeeds and kills the Lord of Darkness, but unfortunately this does not end his curse. Behold the sad conclusion:
Third Verse:
I wanna glide down over Mulholland
I wanna write her, her name in the sky
I'm wanna free fall out into nothin'
Oh, I'm gonna leave this, this world for a while
T. Petty wants to skywrite his beloved's name in the sky before he succumbs to his damned existence. Kinda touching really. But wait! T. Petty will not succumb to this vile corruption. He tearfully waves goodbye to his beloved, then commits suicide by jumping out of his plane:
Chorus:
Now I'm free, free fallin', fallin
Now I'm free, free fallin', fallin
Now I'm free, free fallin', fallin
Now I'm free, free fallin', fallin
Free fallin, fallin
Free fallin, fallin
Free fallin, fallin
What a guy!
And that's what the song is really about: an epic tale of a man battling the forces of undeath himself to protect his AMERICAN girlfriend, only to make the ultimate sacrifice. Granted there are interpretations that paint the song as the tale of a Californian man, who used and broke up with his girlfriend and is surprised at how much he doesn't care. Mullohand, Reseda. and Ventura Blvd. are all places in Cali, and the vampires are metaphors for the bloodsucking people that live there, using others for their own personal gain. This is bullcrap. The song is an epic about murdering Dracula. And them's the facts.
