Whenever anybody talks about Tom Petty, they always seem to think of "Free Fallin'," but for some reason my mind goes right to "American Girl." He's one of those artists who has so many great songs that even some of the better ones get lost in the shuffle. This seems to be the case even though this song really does stand out, cutting a faster pace than most of his later stuff, and just being so balls-to-the-wall awesome.
There's a lot to talk about with this song. There's the way the intro riff just rings out while the bass drops in delicately. There's the lyrics, which don't go into much detail at all but seem to come together to paint a full picture. There's Petty's ultimate rock and roll delivery, especially "God it's so painful / How somethin' can be so close / And still so far out of reeeeeeeeeee-eeeeach!" And that grunting, "Oh yeah, all right / Take it easy baby, make it last all night." And that funky middle section that leads into the climactic outro. It's all fairly unconventional, but not too showy about it, and it comes together so wonderfully. And it was, like, his first go.
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