Friday Song: "Finding Out"
Sometimes, you just need to strap into a song and let it take you for a ride
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ 1982 album Long After Dark generated hits like “You Got Lucky,” “Change of Heart,” and “Straight Into Darkness.” One of the songs off this well-regarded album never released as a single is “Finding Out,” which has a memorable organ riff courtesy of Benmont Tench and a relentless pace (it has a bpm of 159, so it’s really fast).
An interesting musical detail is that while played in A, the first chord might be called “an inferred Am,” with the middle note of the triad dropped for guitarists and a sus2 added. This makes it so that the keyboards may play a straight A, guitars an Am, giving an overall effect of an Asus2. This detail adds to the complex, swampy feel of the tune.
The film of the session below is low-quality, as it’s also from 1982, but the sound is good, and the music and energy undeniable. The section playing beneath the end credits from the French television show on which this was broadcast is amazing.
Enjoy this lost gem!
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