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Mary Jane's Last Dance
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Wikipedia article
"'Mary Jane's Last Dance'" is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was recorded on July 22, 1993, while Petty was recording his 'Wildflowers' album, and was produced by Rick Rubin, guitarist Mike Campbell, and Petty.'Greatest Hits' 2008 Reissue Liner Notes Pg. 12 The sessions would prove to be the last to include drummer Stan Lynch before his eventual departure in 1994. This song was first released as part of the 'Greatest Hits' album in 1993.[ Allmusic:Mary Jane's Last Dance] It rose to No. 14 on the 'Billboard' Hot 100, becoming his first 'Billboard' Top 20 hit of the 1990s,[ Billboard.com Artist Chart History] and also topped the 'Billboard' Album Rock Tracks chart for two weeks.Whitburn, Joel (2004). 'The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 490.
Content
Asked if the song was about drugs, Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell said, "In the verse there is still the thing about an Indiana girl on an Indiana night, just when it gets to the chorus he had the presence of mind to give it a deeper meaning. My take on it is it can be whatever you want it to be. A lot of people think it's a drug reference, and if that's what you want to think, it very well could be, but it could also just be a goodbye love song." In the rest of the interview, Campbell said that the song was originally titled "Indiana Girl" and the first chorus "Hey, Indiana Girl, go out and find the world." He added that Petty "just couldn't get behind singing about 'hey, Indiana Girl,'" so he changed the chorus a week later.
Band Members
'Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers'
* Tom Petty vocals, guitars, harmonica
* Mike Campbell electric guitar
* Howie Epstein bass guitar, backing vocals
* Stan Lynch drums
* Benmont Tench keyboards
Music video
The music video, which won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video in 1994, features Petty as a morgue assistant who takes home a beautiful dead woman (played by Kim Basinger). He then acts as if she were alive, putting her in front of a television set and then dressing her as a bride, sitting her at the dinner table and dancing with her. A scene in the video featuring the dead woman wearing a wedding dress in a room full of wax candles is loosely based on a passage from the Charles Dickens novel 'Great Expectations'. The plot also has similarities with the French movie 'Cold Moon', itself inspired by a Charles Bukowski short story ("The Copulating Mermaid of Venice"). Later, Petty is shown carrying her to a rocky shore and gently releasing her into the sea. At the end of the video, Basinger, who is seen floating in the water, opens her eyes.
During the final scenes of the video, Petty is seen carrying Basinger through a cave before placing her in the water. The cave is located at Leo Carrillo State Park, California, where many movies and television shows were filmed.
Besides 'Cold Moon' and 'Great Expectations', the plot of the video also bears some semblance to the final segment of the 1987 Belgian film 'Crazy Love' (which in itself, is like 'Cold Moon', also inspired by the writings of Charles Bukowski, in particular "The Copulating Mermaid of Venice, California"). Also unlike in the later music video, there was no "gotcha ending" in 'Crazy Love'.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Plagiarism allegations
In 2006, a US radio station claimed that Red Hot Chili Peppers hit single, "Dani California" had plagiarized "Mary Jane's Last Dance", even calling for Petty to sue the band. Longtime Petty and Chili Peppers producer Rick Rubin produced both songs. Petty responded by saying that he was not going to sue the Chili Peppers and felt that there was no negative intent and that a lot of rock and roll songs sound alike. The main riff in Petty's song, however, resembles the main riff in another song called "Waiting for the Sun" which was released in 1992 by The Jayhawks. The Jayhawks were the opening act for Petty's tour in 1992 and keyboardist Benmont Tench played on both "Waiting for the Sun" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance".
References
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