About the Song

Track: The Waiting

Length: 3:58

Album: Hard Promises (1981)

Artist: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Songwriters: Tom Petty

Favorite part: 

“The waiting is the hardest part

Every day you see one more card

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

The waiting is the hardest part”

© Universal Music Publishing Group

Here’s Why I Love It

I could think of no better way to end 2020 than with a double dose of Tom Petty. So just like an old-school single record, you’re going to get a side A and B. (I might do more of this in 2021.)

“The Waiting” is one of his (many) big hits, but it also might have the best chorus I’ve ever heard. That sounds ludicrous, I know. But I don’t know how else to describe it while being totally honest at the same time. It’s so true in so many ways, and sometimes, when I listen to it, I can’t believe he actually wrote it. It’s catchy and specific, but also gives you enough room to wander but not get lost. (Ay, I love that.)

Look, everyone hates waiting. Everyone. We’re all chronically impatient. Worse, we’re all waiting on something. The girl we desire. The job we want. When will the house close? Will the boss just quit already? I don’t know, something. We’re all waiting, all the time. Each day we get a little more information, just a little bit, another piece of the puzzle to try to make sense of the world. Our situation. Our life. Right? But it’s the third line of the chorus that really puts me on the ground. Ties it all together. We take that random information life gives us with the hope it’s going to give us the answer. Most likely it won’t—it never does—but we take that “card” personally. We blame it, we worry about it, we forget that life is totally random, and that another card is coming tomorrow—good or bad. All the while, the waiting for that card (or anything) is the hardest part. Ahhh, why is this so true?

Petty said the seed of inspiration for this song was planted when he read Janis Joplin say waiting to go on stage is the hardest part. Then again, Roger McGuinn (of The Byrds) has famously said he is the inspiration for this Petty classic. Maybe nobody really cares, but I love reading little rock nuggets like this. For more, check out this three-minute video to hear Petty talk a little more about “The Waiting.” It always makes me wonder how much “the waiting” for the lyrics influenced the lyrics. Watch it. You’ll see what I mean.

Listen to the song and read the lyrics for full effect.

You can now listen to the Lyrics I Love playlist on Spotify. A new song is added with each edition!

*This article is part of the ongoing Lyrics I Love series: short interpretations of the meaning and story behind one song with lyrics that move me.