"You Don't Know How It Feels" is a song and the lead single from

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 ...

's 1994 album, '' Wildflowers''. The track features candid lyrics describing the songwriter's desire for personal and professional autonomy.Greenwald, Matthew.

You Don't Know How It Feels "You Don't Know How It Feels" is a song and the lead single from Tom Petty's 1994 album, '' Wildflowers''. The track features candid lyrics describing the songwriter's desire for personal and professional autonomy.Greenwald, Matthew. You Don't K ...

Allmusic. Retrieved on April 9, 2009. The single reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' Album Rock Tracks chart, No. 3 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 chart, and No. 13 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, becoming Petty's last top-40 hit in the US. An alternate version was posthumously released on June 26, 2020. This version peaked at No. 54 on the

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

chart. MTV, VH1 and many radio stations aired a censored version of "You Don't Know How It Feels," taking the word "roll" out of "let's roll another joint", as well as a version that played the word "joint" backwards. A version replacing the word "roll" with "hit" was also made. The music video won the

MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video was one of four original general awards that have been handed out every year since the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, though, the award was briefly renamed Male Artist of the Year, and ...

in 1995. The girl in the video is Raven Snow; she also appeared in several episodes of

Zalman King Zalman King (born Zalman King Lefkowitz; May 23, 1941 – February 3, 2012) was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica. Early life Zalman Kin ...

's ''

Red Shoe Diaries ''Red Shoe Diaries'' is an American anthology erotic drama series that aired on Showtime cable network from 1992 to 1997 and distributed by Playboy Entertainment overseas. It is a spinoff of an earlier film by the same name, also directed by Zal ...

'' and the film ''

Delta of Venus ''Delta of Venus'' is a book of fifteen short stories by Anaïs Nin published posthumously in 1977—though largely written in the 1940s as erotica for a private collector. In 1994 a film inspired by the book was directed by Zalman King. Bac ...

'' as lounge singer Leila.

Track listing

* "You Don't Know How It Feels" * "House in the Woods" * "Girl on LSD" * "

Mary Jane's Last Dance "Mary Jane's Last Dance" is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was recorded while Petty was recording his '' Wildflowers'' album and was produced by Rick Rubin, guitarist Mike Camp ...

" * "

Something in the Air "Something in the Air" is a song by English rock band Thunderclap Newman, written by Speedy Keen who also sang the song. It was a No. 1 single for three weeks in the UK Singles Chart in July 1969. The song has been used for films, television ...

"Girl on LSD"

Petty originally intended the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the single, "Girl on LSD", to appear on ''Wildflowers'', but

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

refused because it was too controversial. In the song Petty sings about being in love with multiple girls on different drugs:

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly recreational drug use, used recreationally for its euphoria, euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from t ...

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...

crystal meth Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamphe ...

, china white (a slang term for

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

) and

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...

. In the chorus Petty states: "Through ecstasy, crystal meth and

glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

/I found no drug compares to you/all these pills, all this weed/I dunno just what I need."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1994 singles 1994 songs Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video Music videos directed by Phil Joanou Song recordings produced by Rick Rubin Songs about drugs Songs written by Tom Petty Tom Petty songs Warner Records singles