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My Gen X Playlist: Learning to Fly – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

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I’ve always been a late adopter with technology. Ask my nieces who teased me when I went from an iPhone 7 to a 14. Who makes the leap to double up on their iPhone but me? So when I recently started considering electric vehicles, I thought I was getting on board way ahead of my abnormal snail’s paced technology schedule. Not bad, I thought.

Then I saw the news last night about a flying car and the pat on my back was short lived. Although this emerging technology is still in its infancy phase, my early (for me) embrace of technology lasted all but two days. Technology is already passing me by. But that’s OK, really. I’ll gladly take the hit if they can make a George Jetson flying car in my lifetime.

Tom Petty released Learning to Fly 1991. As you may have guessed, it’s not about a flying car. That would have been wild. It turns out, it’s a song about redemption.

“Everyone has tragedy in their life,” Petty told ABC News in 1991. He was inspired by a pilot, who said the hardest part about flying a plane was coming down from the air. “You can lay down and let the tragedy overwhelm you, or you can fly above it, and I think that’s sort of what I’m trying to say in that song. I don’t say that I can fly – I’m learning.”

UltimateClassicRock

And who doesn’t like a good redemption song. I’ve never owned a Tom Petty CD, but I’m gradually hearing more of his music these days. He’s another artist that left us too early. RIP, Tom.

I’m learning to fly, but I ain’t got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

This song always reminds me of a horrible time in my life, where I ended up alone and financially struggling, I almost ended up homeless too. One day after finally getting out of that hole and I moved into my own place, this song started playing on the radio. It was a new beginning for me and the start of a new life.

YouTube comment by TheSnerggly

My Dad passed to this song two years to the day tomorrow. It was NOT on his playlist in his final moments. I just started laughing and crying and I was in awe of his sense of humor. What a song to ascend to heaven to. I now wake up to this song in the morning. We are all learning to fly in some parts of our lives. And it’s ok that we struggle and don’t have the answers. There is peace and gratitude in that thought for me.

YouTube comment by shawnbyerly7328

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Well I started out down a dirty road
Started out all alone
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill
And the town lit up, the world got still

I'm learning to fly, but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

Well, the good ol' days may not return
And the rocks might melt and the sea may burn

I'm learning to fly (learning to fly) but I ain't got wings (learning to fly)
Coming down (learning to fly) is the hardest thing (learning to fly)

Well, some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I've started out for God-knows-where
I guess I'll know when I get there

I'm learning to fly, around the clouds
But what goes up (learning to fly) must come down

I'm learning to fly (learning to fly), but I ain't got wings
Coming down is the hardest thing

I'm learning to fly (learning to fly), around the clouds
But what goes up (learning to fly) must come down

I'm learning to fly (learning to fly)
(Learning to fly) learning to fly
(Learning to fly)
(Learning to fly)
(Learning to fly)
(Learning to fly)

18 thoughts on “My Gen X Playlist: Learning to Fly – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers”

  2. I wouldn’t be tech savvy if it wasn’t for my husband, pulling me along as he embraces new tech fads. I’m apprehensive to own an electric car because of the fiery glitches and the cost of a new battery.

    Love the story behind the song! So inspirational. I especially liked the comment about the Dad passing away as the song played. Cool.

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  3. Love this song! Tom Petty was from Gainesville, FL, home to UF. That was way before my time, but he came back twice to sold-out audiences. Re: late adopter, I’m with you there. I got a little point-and-shoot digital camera one Christmas and it set it the box almost two years till my kids took it out and handed it to me with instruction booklet 😂

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  4. Tom Petty’s music was always part of the soundtrack to my life. I can’t boast of being a true/loyal fan, but I loved and appreciated his music. By accident, I got to see him in concert in West Palm Beach, FL 6 months before he passed in 2017. My friend’s husband was assigned overseas for his job, and she didn’t want to go alone. I am so glad she asked me. It was a spectacular show, even though it was obvious that Petty was in pain. Nevertheless, he poured his heart and soul into his performance, garnering many deserved standing ovations. “Learning to Fly” was one of many songs we sang along to. May he RIP, pain-free, and be singing his heart out for all the heavens to hear.

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  7. It’s ok, I still have an iPhone 12 Pro and an old car that I love so much! I like to keep things longer, I’m not really fascinated by all the new technology and fancy cars.
    Congrats on your new iPhone 14! 🎉

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  8. I always turned the dial on Tom Petty, which is hard to admit in this group of big fans. That is, until right before he died and I started giving his music more of a shot after hearing the Traveling Wilburries on a day that felt open and free. I heard him in a new way.

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  9. First present I ever got my wife was his box set Playback. She loves Tom Petty and still talks about how much that gift meant to her. As for me, I developed an appreciation for an artist I thought was overplayed and undertalented. Nothing could have been further from the truth. And we’ve been married for 18 years😜

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