After the explosion of Fleetwood Mac‘s Rumours in 1977, Stevie Nicks wanted to break from the chaos within the band and release venture out as a solo artist. By ’78, she began hounding Tom Petty to produce her 1981 solo debut, Bella Donna. At first, Petty was a bit suspect of Nicks.
“She was this absolutely stoned-gone, huge fan,” said Petty in the 2005 book Conversations with Tom Petty. “And it was her mission in life that I should write her a song. And we were a little wary of Stevie. We didn’t quite know whether to like Stevie or not, because we kind of saw this big corporate rock band, Fleetwood Mac, which was wrong. They were actually artistic people. But in those days, nobody trusted that sort of thing and we just kept thinking, ‘What does she want from us?’”
After meeting, Petty connected with Nicks and started to work with her on a track before passing the project on to Jimmy Iovine, who co-produced Bella Donna. “After a track, I went, ‘Look I can’t do this. I don’t have the time,’” recalled Petty. He added to Nicks, “‘I’m too busy and I don’t think that I’m going to be a big help to you. But I know a guy who might be good for you named Jimmy Iovine.’”
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“Insider”
At that time, Nicks also wanted Petty to write her a song; Iovine was on the same page. Petty obliged and wrote “Insider” for Nicks within about 10 or 15 minutes. “The [title] came as I was writing, if I remember correctly,” recalled Petty. “It just came out of the verse. I wrote that on my own at home. I remember spending a good day on it. And I was just knocked out with it when I got done. I was really proud of it. I loved it. I thought it was one of my best songs to that point.”
Petty said that Iovine “flipped over” the track and said “‘God, when I asked for a song, I didn’t expect this.’”
The lyrics move around an unsettling phase, looking from the inside out and feeling trapped, in a relationship or situation.
You’ve got a dangerous background
And everything you’ve dreamed of
Yeah you’re the Dark Angel
It don’t show when you break up
And I’m the one who oughta’ know
I’m the one left in the dust
Yeah I’m the broken-hearted fool
Who was never quite enough
I’m an insider, I been burned by the fire
And I’ve had to live with some hard promises
I’ve crawled through the briars
I’m an insider
It’s a circle of deception
It’s a hall of strangers
It’s a cage without a key
You can feel the danger
[RELATED: The Ballad Stevie Nicks Wrote for Joe Walsh After an Unforgettable Car Ride]
“I Can’t Give You This”
After doing a trial run of the song with the Heartbreakers, Petty realized he didn’t want to give the song up and had to tell Nicks. “Then Stevie sang it with me, and then we put the band on after,” said Petty. “But by the time the track was coming to fruition with the band and everything, I was getting a little depressed about giving away this song. I was really attached to it. And it really hurt me when I did the track and the vocals.”
He continued, “I said, [softly] “Stevie, I can’t give you this.” And she said, “Well, I can relate to that. I completely understand. I’ll take something else.”
The song ended up on the Heartbreakers 1981 album Hard Promises with Nicks vocals, and Petty penned “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” for Bella Donna instead. Nicks is also featured on the Hard Promises track “You Can Still Change Your Mind.”
Co-written with Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, who would continue collaborating with Nicks on her solo albums, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” went to No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. When Nicks began working on her second solo album, The Wild Heart, Petty presented her with another song, “I Will Run to You.”
Photo: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
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