Love Is a Long Road (song)

"Love Is a Long Road" is a song by Tom Petty from his 1989 first solo album Full Moon Fever. Although only released as the B-side to "Free Fallin'" in the UK, and not released as a stand-alone single, it received a fair amount of radio airplay. In the U.S., it peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart.^[4][5]

"Love Is a Long Road"
Song by Tom Petty
from the album Full Moon Fever
A-side	"Free Fallin'" (UK)
Released	1989 (1989)
Recorded	1987–1988
Genre	Rock[1][2] power pop[3]
Length	4:07
Label	MCA
Songwriter(s)	Tom Petty Mike Campbell
Producer(s)	Tom Petty Jeff Lynne Mike Campbell

Background

The rock song was co-written by guitarist Mike Campbell, who was inspired by a motorcycle he owned. The musician told "I was really into that frame of mind. This feels like a motorcycle shifting gears."^[2] "Love Is a Long Road" appears on the 2000 double-disc compilation album Anthology: Through the Years, as well as on the 1995 box set Playback.^[1]

Critical reception

Another one of Petty's late-1980s songs which looks back at a fractured romance, AllMusic describes the song as sounding like a stripped-down version of the Who's classics "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again", and one of the most powerful rockers on the album.^[1][2] Rolling Stone ranked the song at No. 38 in a list of Petty's 50 greatest songs.^[2]

Media usage

In 2023, the song was used in the first trailer for the video game Grand Theft Auto VI.^[6] It led to a 36,979% increase in streams on Spotify, skyrocketing from less than 5 million to nearly 40 million streams within a span of a few months.^[7][8]

Charts

1989 chart performance for "Love Is a Long Road"

Chart (1989)	Peak position
US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard)[9]	7

2023 chart performance for "Love Is a Long Road"

Chart (2023)	Peak position
US Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[10]	7