I Won't Back Down

"I Won't Back Down" is the first single from Tom Petty's first solo album, Full Moon Fever released in 1989. The song was written by Petty and his writing partner for the album, Jeff Lynne. It reached number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for five weeks, starting the album's road to multi-platinum status. Petty recalled the recording of this song to Mojo magazine: “At the session George Harrison sang and played the guitar. I had a terrible cold that day, and George sent to the store and bought a ginger root, boiled it and had me stick my head in the pot to get the ginger steam to open up my sinuses, and then I ran in and did the take.” George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Ringo Starr are featured in the music video along with George's famous painted stratocaster "Rocky". George W. Bush used "I Won't Back Down" at campaign events during the 2000 presidential race but was compelled to stop using the song after receiving a cease and desist letter from Petty's publisher. Petty did not want the use of his song to be construed as an endorsement of candidate Bush. Jim Webb used the song for his successful bid for one of Virginia's U.S. Senate seats in 2006, as did Hillary Clinton during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign. The song was also used at campaign events for Congressman Ron Paul of Texas during the 2008 Republican presidential primary campaign, as well as for events for his Campaign for Liberty.

I Won’t Back Down Lyrics Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Well, I won't back down No, I won't back down You can stand me up at the gates of hell But I won't back down No, I'll stand my ground Won't be turned around And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down Gonna stand my ground And I won't back down Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out Hey, I will stand my ground And I won't back down Well, I know what's right I got just one life In a world that keeps on pushin' me around But I'll stand my ground And I won't back down Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out Hey, I will stand my ground And I won't back down Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out Hey, I won't back down Hey, baby, there ain't no easy way out Hey, I will stand my ground And I won't back down No, I won't back down