"Runnin' Down a Dream" is a song co-written and recorded by

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 lat ...

. It was released in July 1989 as the second single from his first solo album ''

Full Moon Fever ''Full Moon Fever'' is the debut solo studio album by Tom Petty, released on April 24, 1989, by MCA Records. It features contributions from members of his band the Heartbreakers, notably Mike Campbell, as well as Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison (who di ...

''. "Runnin' Down a Dream" achieved reasonable chart success, reaching number 23 both in Canada and on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the top of the ''Billboard''

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart. It has since garnered significant airplay on

classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...

stations, and lent its name to the 2007 documentary on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Lyrics and music

The song was co-written by Mike Campbell, along with Petty and

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock music, rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, h ...

. It was a nod to Petty's musical roots, with the lyric "me and Del were singin' 'Little Runaway'" making reference to

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one '' Billboard'' hit " Runaway". In 1999, he was ind ...

and " Runaway". The song uses

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equivalent, ...

as a tonic, but makes ample use of chords outside that key, such as D, G, and C

major chord In music theory, a major chord is a chord that has a root, a major third, and a perfect fifth. When a chord comprises only these three notes, it is called a major triad. For example, the major triad built on C, called a C major triad, has pitch ...

s. Some passages (including the extended outro) use a

pedal point In music, a pedal point (also pedal note, organ point, pedal tone, or pedal) is a sustained tone, typically in the bass, during which at least one foreign (i.e. dissonant) harmony is sounded in the other parts. A pedal point sometimes function ...

of E in the bass, while changing chords from E major to C and D major chords above it. The repeating

fuzz guitar Distortion and overdrive are forms of audio signal processing used to alter the sound of amplified electric musical instruments, usually by increasing their gain, producing a "fuzzy", "growling", or "gritty" tone. Distortion is most commonly ...

riff, using the notes B, B♭, A, G, and E, lacks only a D to complete the hexatonic E

blues scale Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the African- ...

Music video

The

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 promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Runnin' Down a Dream", directed by Jim Lenahan and animated by Pittsburgh-based companies Allan & Wilson Animation Studio and Anivision Ltd., featured

animation Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

, based on several episodes of the classic comic strip ''

Little Nemo in Slumberland Little Nemo is a fictional character created by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. He originated in an early comic strip by McCay, ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend'', before receiving his own spin-off series, ''Little Nemo in Slumberland''. The f ...

'' by

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he worke ...

, featuring a drawing style reminiscent of McCay's and showing Petty and a character who resembles Flip travelling through Slumberland. The 1933 film ''

King Kong King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...

'' is also briefly referenced when Petty, atop the

Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...

, attempts to swat at attacking oversized mosquitoes, much like Kong swatting at the biplanes in the film.

Charts

In popular culture

It was the official theme song of the

2006 NBA Finals The 2006 NBA Finals was the championship series of the 2005–06 NBA season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The Dallas Mavericks were favored to win the championship over the Miami Heat. Despite these odds, the Heat won the title in ...

as well as the

2008 NBA Finals The 2008 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2007–08 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defea ...

. The song was also used by

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in the

2010 NBA Finals The 2010 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2009–10 season and conclusion of the season's playoffs. In this best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers ...

when the presentation of the game reached the end of the third quarter and was phased out into a commercial break. The song is featured in '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'' on the in-game classic rock station K-DST. The song is playable in ''

Guitar Hero 5 ''Guitar Hero 5'' (initially referred to as ''Guitar Hero V'') is a 2009 Music video game, music rhythm game, rhythm video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the fifth main installment in the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar He ...

'' and was released as downloadable content for '' Rock Band 2''; in ''Guitar Hero 5'' the master track is used. It closed Petty and the Heartbreakers' performance at the February 2008 Super Bowl XLII Halftime Show, encoda'ed with a long Mike Campbell guitar solo. The next morning, following the Patriots loss to the Giants, which ended their chance at perfection, the song was used during Super Bowl highlights on ESPN. It was also used in promotional segments of the 2008 MLB World Series. In 2011, the song was included in

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

's film ''

Larry Crowne ''Larry Crowne'' is a 2011 American romantic comedy film starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. The film was produced and directed by Hanks, who co-wrote its screenplay with Nia Vardalos. The story was inspired by Hanks' time studying at Chabot C ...

'' and on its soundtrack. In the animated television series ''King of the Hill'' episode "Arlen City Bomber", Lucky Kleinschmidt (voiced by Tom Petty) says "I'm gonna help you run down that dream, Bobby" of getting Bobby a freshly made corn chip off the production line. The song was used in the ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'' episode "

The Book of Joe "The Book of Joe" is the second episode of the thirteenth season of the animated sitcom '' Family Guy'', and the 233rd episode overall. It aired on Fox in the United States on October 5, 2014, and is written by Mike Desilets and directed by Mike ...

" when Brian achieves his "runner's high". In 2017 after Petty's death, NBC used the song for the promo for its telecast of the

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. NBC began using a version of this song as their theme for ''

NASCAR on NBC ''NASCAR on NBC'' (visually branded as ''NBC NASCAR'' in logos shown within on-air graphics and network promotions) is the branding used for broadcasts of NASCAR races that are produced by NBC Sports, and televised on several NBCUniversal-owned ...

'' in the summer of 2018, replacing "

Bringing Back the Sunshine ''Bringing Back the Sunshine'' is the ninth studio album by American country music singer Blake Shelton. The album was released on September 30, 2014, by Warner Bros. Nashville. The album was produced by Shelton's longtime producer Scott Hendrick ...

" by

Blake Shelton Blake Tollison Shelton (born June 18, 1976) is an American country music singer and television personality. In 2001, he made his debut with the single " Austin". The lead-off single from his self-titled debut album, "Austin" spent five weeks at ...

. This song is covered by

ZZ Ward Zsuzsanna Eva Ward (born June 2, 1986) known professionally as ZZ Ward, is an American singer-songwriter. Ward released her debut EP, ''Criminal'', on May 8, 2012. Her debut album, '' Til the Casket Drops'', was released on October 16, 2012. "P ...

. The song was also featured on the opening montage of ON Video Skateboarding Issue #1 Summer 2000.

References

{{Authority control 1989 singles Tom Petty songs Animated music videos Song recordings produced by Jeff Lynne Songs written by Jeff Lynne Songs written by Tom Petty Songs written by Mike Campbell (musician) MCA Records singles 1989 songs Songs about dreams