Tom Petty wrote “American Girl” in a small apartment in Encino, California, while the sound of cars racing along a nearby freeway reminded him of ocean waves.
Fifty years after Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers recorded the song in 1976, it remains one of the band’s most recognized rock songs and a lasting part of Petty’s musical legacy.
The song appeared on the band’s self-titled debut album, released in November 1976. Although “American Girl” did not become a hit in the United States when it was first released as a single in 1977, it found an early audience in the United Kingdom, where it reached No. 40.
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers posed for a portrait in 1977.Photo by Chris Walter/WireImage
Its chart performance was only the beginning. Over the decades, “American Girl” grew into a classic rock staple. It has been ranked No. 169 on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and has appeared in films, television shows, major live performances and tribute projects.
In June, the Tom Petty Estate marked 50 years since the formation of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers by releasing extended versions of “American Girl” and “Breakdown.”
The recordings were remixed from the original multitrack tapes in high-resolution audio and Dolby Atmos, giving fans another way to hear music first recorded half a century ago.
The story behind “American Girl” is different from the popular legend that followed it.
For years, a story circulated in Florida claiming that the song was inspired by a University of Florida student who died after jumping from Beaty Towers in Gainesville, according to Songfacts. The rumor became closely connected to the lyrics about a young woman, a balcony and cars traveling along Route 441.
Petty repeatedly rejected that story.
In Conversations with Tom Petty, he described the supposed Florida connection as an urban myth and explained that the song was written while he was living in California.
Petty said, “I was living in an apartment where I was right by the freeway. And the cars would go by. In Encino, near Leon Russell’s house. And I remember thinking that that sounded like the ocean to me. That was my ocean. My Malibu. Where I heard the waves crash, but it was just the cars going by. I think that must have inspired the lyric.”
He also explained that the words came quickly and marked the beginning of a songwriting theme that would appear throughout his career: people wanting something more from life.
Petty later said the character was not based on one specific person. Instead, she was a composite character who wanted more than life had given her. That idea helped give “American Girl” a meaning that reached beyond its title.
One unusual part of the recording came from Campbell’s guitar. The song was originally meant to have a 12-string guitar, but the band did not have one available, per Guitar World. Campbell instead used his 1951 Fender Broadcaster to create an octave effect that could imitate the sound they wanted.
“We didn’t have a 12-string, but we wanted one on the song,” Campbell says.
Campbell played octaves on the guitar to simulate the fuller sound of a 12-string. He did not initially like the result, but Petty wanted him to keep it. Campbell doubled the part, and the guitar became a key part of the finished recording.
Campbell described the relationship between the guitars as part of the sound that defined the Heartbreakers.
“It was the harmonics between the rhythm and the Broadcaster on top of it. That became the Heartbreakers’ sound.”
On Sept. 25, 2017, Petty and the Heartbreakers performed their final concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. “American Girl” closed the encore and became the final song Petty ever performed live.
Petty died on Oct.2, 2017, just over a week after that concert.
Fifty years after the Heartbreakers formed, “American Girl” continues to carry the sound of their earliest days.
Related: 1972 Hit, Ranked Among ‘Greatest Soft Rock Songs of All Time,’ Was Created in an Echo Park Basement
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