B-side "Kind of Woman" Format 7" Length 4:03 | Released July 8, 1981 Recorded 1981 | |
Genre Blues rock, heartland rock | ||
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was the first single from Stevie Nicks' debut solo album, Bella Donna (1981). The track is the album's only song that was neither written nor co-written by Nicks. Written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell as a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song, Jimmy Iovine, who was also working for Stevie Nicks at the time, arranged for her to sing on it. Petty sang with Nicks in the chorus and bridge, while his entire band (save Ron Blair, whose bass track was played by Donald "Duck" Dunn instead) played on the song.
Contents
A performance of the song in the studio was used as the promotional video. The video was the 25th video to be played on MTV's launch date on August 1, 1981.
The song peaked at No. 3 on the American Billboard Hot 100 for six consecutive weeks. However, in the UK, the song only managed to peak at No. 50.
The two singers also sang together on the songs "Insider" (from Petty's 1981 album, Hard Promises) and "I Will Run to You" (from Nicks' 1983 album, The Wild Heart), and frequently performed impromptu live versions of these and 1960s classic "Needles and Pins" in many shows throughout the 1980s.
The song also appeared in the 1981 film, Taps.
Content
The lyrics are about a woman who feels weighed down by relationships and wants to part despite a strong sentimental attachment to her lover. The melody is described by All Music as "dark and sinister", probably because of the dense drumming of Stan Lynch which is the most prominent feature of the song's rhythm. Apart from the intro before the first verse and a solo following the second verse (where there is some fairly heavy riffing), however, the guitar sound is laid-back in typical Heartbreakers style. The song was originally recorded for Petty's album Hard Promises, but the producers felt the song came from a female point of view and it was left unreleased until it was agreed to be put on the Bella Donna album instead. A demo version of the song, recorded without Nicks, was eventually released on Petty's boxed set Playback in 1995.
Single release formats
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was released as a 7" vinyl single in the picture sleeve featured above in many territories. Promo 7" singles were also released in some territories, including the US, in the same picture sleeve, but the disc featured the title track on both sides.
A highly collectable 12" promo single in a unique glossy sleeve was released in the US.
Cover versions
The song was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Stop Draggin My Car Around" on his debut album, "Weird Al" Yankovic (1983).
My Morning Jacket and Neko Case covered the song during My Morning Jacket's Circuital tour in 2011.
The song was also covered by the post-grunge band Puddle of Mudd for their 2011 cover album, Re:(disc)overed.
American singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten and American indie rock band Shearwater performed a version of the song in March 2012 for The A.V. Club's "A.V. Undercover" series.
J Mascis and Adalita Srsen performed the song in 2013 on RocKwiz's "Episode 146".
Phillip Phillips and Elise Testone performed the song on the 11th season of American Idol. Caleb Johnson and Jessica Meuse performed the song on the 13th season. Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban performed the song on the series finale.
Jimmy Fallon and Stevie Nicks performed the song in a humorous recreation of the 1981 music video on The Tonight Show on April 9, 2014.
Rock Band
It was made available to download on February 11, 2011, for use in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode which utilizes real guitar/bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits/keyboards in addition to vocals.