You Wreck Me

"You Wreck Me" is a song by American musician Tom Petty, the fourth track on his second solo studio album, Wildflowers (1994). The song was released as the second single from the album and became a concert staple. While the song did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, it did peak at number two on the Album Rock Tracks chart.

"You Wreck Me"
Single by Tom Petty
from the album Wildflowers
B-side	"Cabin Down Below" "Only a Broken Heart"
Released	February 6, 1995 (1995-02-06)[1]
Genre	Rock[2]
Length	3:22
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)	Tom Petty Mike Campbell
Producer(s)	Rick Rubin
Tom Petty singles chronology
"You Don't Know How It Feels" (1994) "You Wreck Me" (1995) "It's Good to Be King" (1995)

History

The music for this song was written by Petty's longtime partner and guitarist Mike Campbell. Petty originally wrote some words to the song and called it "You Rock Me". Campbell thought the title was a little ordinary and very cliché, but the song sounded fine and they recorded it. Eventually, Petty came back and decided to change the title to "You Wreck Me", and the new title changed the whole meaning of the song.^[3][4]

Live performances

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed the song on 494 different occasions, including their last show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in 2017. It was a regular song during every tour after 1995, as well as at the Fillmore residencies in 1997 and 1999. The song was first performed in concert in 1995 at the Louisville Gardens in Kentucky.^[5] It was commonly played as an encore.

Track listing

The song was released on a maxi CD single and a cassette single. The cassette and CD versions both include alternate versions of two other tracks from Wildflowers: "Only a Broken Heart" and "Cabin Down Below".

1. "You Wreck Me" – 3:22
2. "Cabin Down Below" – 2:45
3. "Only a Broken Heart" – 4:41

Personnel

• Tom Petty – vocals, electric guitar
• Mike Campbell – electric guitar
• Benmont Tench – piano, Hammond organ
• Howie Epstein – bass guitar, harmony vocals
• Steve Ferrone – drums

Charts

Weekly chart performance for "You Wreck Me"

Chart (1995)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[6]	72
UK Singles (OCC)[7]	88
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[8]	2

Covers

The War on Drugs covered the song in 2024 for the soundtrack of Bad Monkey.^[9]

References

1. "New Releases: Singles". Music Week. February 4, 1995. p. 35.
2. "Song Review by Matthew Greenwald". AllMusic. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
3. "You Wreck Me by Tom Petty". Songfacts. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
4. "Mike Campbell". Songfacts. Retrieved October 19, 2021.
5. "You Wreck Me by Tom Petty Song Statistics". Setlist.fm. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
6. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 217.
7. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
8. "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
9. Krueger, Jonah (September 4, 2024). "The War on Drugs Drop New Cover of Tom Petty's "You Wreck Me": Stream". Retrieved September 5, 2024.