Learning to Fly

from the LP Into the Great Wide Open, MCA Records, 1991



Fuckin-aa man, went to see Petty & the Heartbreakers up at Red Rocks last night---WOW, those cats know how to deliver a startlingly awesome show, not a single dull moment to be had, and that even includes the portion when they played like 5 tracks off of their upcoming album Mojo (which were total blues rock pandemonium)! Mad props to Joe Cocker for a stellar opening set also, still belting out that amazing, feral blue-eyed soul while flopping around, although nothing compared to the near-seizures of his younger days; Petty shared with the audience that when Cocker came off stage, he said to him, “...I don’t smoke the stuff the anymore, but I think I’m stoned from all your toking fans…”, and Red Rocks is outside man! Way to Colorado, we sure know how to smoke a place out right!! Among the several highlights found within the Hertbreakers’ set was an exceedingly mellow take on this timeless classic, the inspiration for which was taken from a conversation that Tom once had with a pilot who informed him that flying was easy, but coming down was the toughest thing to learn---and therein lies the genius which is Tom Petty, seeing the universally existential reality of a seemingly random comment, and turning it into a song that’s touched the hearts of millions of people. “…so I started out, for god knows where; I guess I’ll know, when I get there…learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings; coming down, is the hardest thing…”