"Leave Virginia Alone" is a song written by American musician

Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the la ...

and performed by British rock and pop singer and songwriter Rod Stewart on Stewart's seventeenth album, ''

A Spanner in the Works '' A Spanner in the Works '' is the seventeenth studio album released by Rod Stewart on 29 May 1995. It ended a four-year gap since his previous studio album. At that time, it was Stewart's longest break between albums. It was released on Warne ...

'' (1995). The song reached number one on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles and Adult Contemporary charts in 1995. It also reached number 52 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 53 in Australia. It was later included on Petty's album '' Wildflowers and All the Rest'' (2020).

Background

"Leave Virginia Alone" was originally meant to be on Tom Petty's studio album '' Wildflowers'', but the track did not make the album. In a ''Billboard'' interview with Rod Stewart, Stewart revealed that Petty's manager gave him the song when Petty believed the track was too similar to a previous hit of his. "Leave Virginia Alone" was added to Stewart's album ''

'' after the

audio mastering Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via me ...

was finished and was the first single for the album.

Release

On 13 May 1995, Stewart debuted "Leave Virginia Alone" on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

''s twentieth-season finale.

Reception

"Leave Virginia Alone" received positive reviews from critics. Steve Baltin from '' Cash Box'' declared it as "a can’t miss" and "a guaranteed smash". He added, "In addition, though, it’s a wonderfully catchy tune that features Stewart’s trademark vocals sounding as strong as they have in years." Matthew Bolin of Popdose said it was a "solid song with a fitting vocal performance". Larry Flick from '' Billboard'' complimented the connection between Rod Stewart's voice with the beats and acoustic guitars of the track. All the same, Stewart admitted to ''Billboard'' that at first, he did not like the song and had to be convinced to record the track.

Music video

In the accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "Leave Virginia Alone", a woman runs away from people wearing costumes after holding a press conference. In an article in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', Susan Alexander said "Leave Virginia Alone" fit the music video format of having a "bad girl" who uses emotional manipulation. A few years later in ''Michigan Sociological Review'', Alexander said she believed the woman in the video committed a sinful act, and the lyrics of "Leave Virginia Alone" point towards drug abuse and promiscuity.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year end charts

Tom Petty version

"Leave Virginia Alone", this time sung by the writer Tom Petty, would later appear on the track list for the posthumous album released by his estate, '' Wildflowers & All the Rest''. The song was released as a single from the album on October 1, 2020.

References

{{authority control 1995 singles 1995 songs Rod Stewart songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Songs written by Tom Petty Tom Petty songs