If one thing’s for certain, it sucks to wait. And wait and wait and wait. We are always waiting for someone, something, or to get somewhere. We wait for things to happen, even though we wish it could with just a snap of a finger. Life’s not so easy. Tonight’s song talks about the waiting is the hardest part.
The Waiting was released as a single in April of 1981 from the band’s fourth album, Hard Promises. According to songfacts, Petty said, “That was a song that took a long time to write. Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) swears he told me the line – about the waiting being the hardest part – but I think I got the idea from something Janis Joplin said on television. I had the chorus very quickly, but I had a very difficult time piecing together the rest of the song. It’s about waiting for your dreams and not knowing if they will come true. I’ve always felt it was an optimistic song.”
The single went to #19 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and to #1 on their Rock Tracks chart, where it stayed for six consecutive weeks. It also went to #6 on Canada’s music charts. Linda Ronstadt covered the song in 1995, listen to her version HERE.
Above is the official video. A brief ad may play before it begins.
