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Adria Petty
- December 2002
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SOUTHERN ACCENTS
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Find great deals on
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
at the GoneGator.Com Store
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| Release Date |
April 11, 1985 |
| Label |
MCA Records |
| Certified Gold |
May 24, 1985 |
| Certified Platinum |
September 20, 1985 |
| Chart Info |
Album spent 32 weeks
on the Billboard 200
Hit #7 - May, 11 1985
#38 Top Pop Albums 1985 |
Producer(s) |
Tom Petty, Jimmy Iovine, Mike Campbell, David Stewart, Robbie Robertson |
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The Billboard Review
Originally reviewed for week ending 3/30/85
While both Randy Newman and the Band have articulated Southern archetypes
with greater passion and eloquence on "Good Ol' Boys" and "The Band" respectively,
Tom Petty makes a convincing and moving stab at doing the same on this nine-song
package. Displaying a wide range of styles heightened by the large production team
(which includes work from Robbie Robertson and Eurhythmics' Dave Stewart in addition
to Petty, Mike Campbell and Jimmy Iovine), Petty moves easily from quirky character
sketches ("Spike") to tributes to the Stax sound ("Make It Better") to sweeping narrative
ballads and chicken-pickin' Dixie-tinged funk. A certain amount of stylistic and sonic
continuity seems to have been sacrificed through an excess of chefs in the kitchen,
but the choice of producers is inspired in at least one case; Robertson's masterful
work on "The Best Of Everything," with ex-Band members Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson, provides the perfect coda.
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Additional Information:
- Album was released in U.S. on vinyl and cassette.
- May, 1981 Album was released in the U.K.
- 1985 Album was released in U.S. on CD on MCA Records label.
- 1990 Album was released on 24 kt Gold Plated CD (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab).
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1985 - SOUTHERN ACCENTS
Lyrics from Southern Accents album inner sleeve
© 1985 MCA Records
"Rebels"
By Tom Petty
Copyright © 1984 Gone Gator Music ASCAP
All rights reserved.
Honey don't walk out, I'm too drunk to follow
You know you won't feel this way tomorrow
Well, maybe a little rough around the edges
Or inside a little hollow,
I get faced with some things, sometimes
That are so hard to swallow, hey!
Chorus
I was born a rebel, down in Dixie
On a Sunday mornin'
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal, I was born a rebel
She picked me up in the mornin', and she paid all my tickets
Then she screamed in the car
Left me out in the thicket
Well I never woulda dreamed
That her heart was so wicked
Yeah but I keep comin' back
'Cause it's so hard to kick it, hey, hey, hey
(Repeat Chorus)
Even before my father's father
They called us all rebels
While they burned our cornfields
And left our cities leveled
I can still feel the eyes of those blue-bellied devils
Yeah, when I'm walking round at night
Through the concrete and metal, hey, hey, hey
(Repeat Chorus)
Back to Top
"It Ain't Nothin' To Me"
By Tom Petty and David A. Stewart
Copyright © 1984 Gone Gator Music (ASCAP)/Blue Network Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
All rights reserved.
We got a man on the moon (It ain't nothin' to me)
We got more comin' soon (It ain't nothin' to me)
Got natives in New Guinea with gold in their teeth
Might mean somethin' to you
It ain't nothin' to me
Chorus
But when you dance I can go right with you
Yeah when you dance I just go right with you
We got smilin' politicians
Got songs from rich musicians
Called Tokyo long distance and the queen came for tea
Might mean somethin' to you
It ain't nothin' to me
(Repeat Chorus)
I got a dog on my leg
I'm walking on eggs
Missionaries walking backwards
Touch 'em and they bleed
Might mean somethin' to you
It ain't nothin' to me
(Repeat Chorus)
Back to Top
"Don't Come Around Here No More"
By Tom Petty and David A. Stewart
Copyright © 1984 Gone Gator Music (ASCAP)/Blue Network Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
All rights reserved.
Chorus
Don't come around here no more
Don't come around here no more
Whatever you're looking for
Hey, don't come around here no more
I've given up, I've given up --
I've given up on waiting any longer
I've given up, on this love getting stronger
I don't feel you anymore
You darken my door
Whatever you're looking for
Hey, don't come around here no more
I've given up, I've given up
I've given up, you tangle my emotions
I've given up, honey please admit it's over
(Repeat Chorus)
Stop walking down my street
Who do you expect to meet?
Whatever you're looking for
Hey, don't come around here no more
Back to Top
"Southern Accents"
By Tom Petty
Copyright © 1984 Gone Gator Music ASCAP
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
There's a southern accent, where I come from
The young 'uns call it country
The yankees call it dumb
I got my own way of talkin'
But everything gets done, with a southern accent
Where I come from
Now that drunk tank in Atlanta's
Just a motel room to me
Think I might go work Orlando
If them orange groves don't freeze
I got my own way of workin'
But everything is run, with a southern accent
Where I come from --
For just a minute there I was dreaming
For just a minute it was all so real
For just a minute she was standing there, with me
There's a dream I keep having
Where my mama comes to me
And kneels down over by the window
And says a prayer for me
Got my own way of prayin'
But everyone's begun
With a southern accent
Where I come from --
I got my own way of livin'
But everything gets done
With a southern accent
Where I come from
Back to Top
"Make It Better (Forget About Me)"
By Tom Petty and David A. Stewart
Copyright © 1984 Gone Gator Music (ASCAP)/Blue Network Music, Inc. (ASCAP)
All rights reserved.
Chorus
I -- wanna make it better baby
Listen, I -- want to make it good again
Yes I -- want to make it better girl
Yeah better for you, and me
Baby wait and see
I know it's been a long, long time
But it's gonna be alright
No you mustn't let it drag you down
Honey, there's a lot a fools around
But anything I can do, honey
I'm gonna do it for you
(Repeat Chorus)
Yeah good for you and me
Baby please believe
That anything I can do, baby I'm gonna do it for you
(Forget about me, forget about these eyes)
(Forget about me, say goodbye)
There was too much rain, too much humility
Do you know why you did what you did to me?
Honey you're the judge, there ain't no jury
And I'm just an innocent boy, used to bein' guilty
Back to Top
"Spike"
By Tom Petty
Copyright © 1984 Gone Gator Music ASCAP
All rights reserved.
Oh, we got another one, just like the other ones
Another bad ass, another trouble-maker
I'm scared, ain't you boys scared?
I wonder if he's gonna show us what bad is?
Boys, we got a man with a dog collar on
You think we oughta throw ol' Spike a bone?
Hey Spike what do you like?
Hey Spike what do you like?
Here's another misfit, another Jimmy Dean
Bet he's got a motorbike,
What'a y'all think?
Bet if we be good we'll get a ride on it
If he ain't too mad about the future --
Maybe we oughta help him see
The future ain't what it used to be
Hey Spike, you're scarin' my wife
Hey Spike what do you like?
Please Spike, tell us 'bout life?
Back to Top
"Dogs On The Run"
By Tom Petty and Mike Campbell
Copyright © 1984 Gone Gator Music (ASCAP)/Wild Gator Music (ASCAP)
All rights reserved.
Well we come with what was on our backs
Yeah, when the leaves had died and all turned black
Back when the wind was cold and blew them 'round
When we laid our blankets on the ground
Yeah and I woke up feelin' hungry
Lookin' straight into the sun, and left a cold night on the ground
Like a dog on the run --
I fell overboard and washed up on the beach
Yes, let the waves and sand roll over me
I was helped to the home of a young bleached blonde
Who said, "honey I discovered early in life there's ways of getting
Anything I want, some of us are different
It's just something in our blood, there's no need for explanations
We're just dogs on the run"
The room was painted blue and grey
All my meals were served on a silver tray
Oh she would laugh, and light my cigarettes
She said, "honey, ain't it funny how a crowd gathers around
Anyone living life without a net?
And how they'll beg you for the answers
But it won't ever be enough, there's no way you could ever tell 'em
It's just dogs on the run --
Back to Top
"Mary's New Car"
By Tom Petty
Copyright © 1984 Gone Gator Music ASCAP
All rights reserved.
Mary got a brand new car
Mary got a brand new set of wheels
Now everyone is so charged
Man you don't know how good it feels
And we wanna go where she goes
We wanna listen to her radio --
Mary got a brand new car
Mary got the one she was savin' for
Now everyone here is so charged
Many never looked so good before
And we wanna go where she goes
We wanna listen to her radio --
Can we ride? Mary can we ride?
Can we ride? Mary can we ride?
Back to Top
"The Best Of Everything"
By Tom Petty
Copyright © 1984 Gone Gator Music ASCAP
All rights reserved.
She prob'ly works in a restaurant
That's what her mama did
But I don't know if she ever really coulda put up with that
Or maybe she sings in a nightclub
'Cause sometimes she used to sing
But I don't know if it ever amounted to anything
Chorus
But listen honey, wherever you are tonight
I wish you the best of everything in the world
And I hope you found, whatever you were looking for
Yeah and it's over before you know it
It all goes by so fast
Yeah the bad nights take forever
And the good nights don't ever seem to last
And man, we never had the real thing
But sometimes we used to kiss
Back when we didn't understand
What we were caught up in
(Repeat Chorus)
Back to Top
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