Song Lyric Sunday

Here is my contribution to Jim Adams’ weekly feature, Song Lyric Sunday. His instructions were to pick a song with a message of empowerment. So I had to ask, “What exactly is empowerment?”

Empowerment is the process of granting individuals or communities the authority, confidence, and resources to take control of their lives, make informed decisions, and claim their rights. It shifts power dynamics by fostering self-determination and autonomy, enabling people to act on their own terms.

I suppose there is a fine line between empowerment and inspiration. I found that many inspirational songs often have a sense of empowerment.

I had a list of possible songs like Man in the Mirror and I Will Survive, but I opted for one that hit me differently when I was going through some rough patches in my life – Tom Petty’s I Won’t Back Down. Apparently, I am not alone in the way it impacted me.

Songfacts.com says, “This is perhaps Tom Petty’s most personal song. In a 2006 interview with Harp, he said, “That song frightened me when I wrote it. I didn’t embrace it at all. It’s so obvious. I thought it wasn’t that good because it was so naked. So I had a lot of second thoughts about recording that song. But everyone around me liked the song and said it was really good and it turns out everyone was right – more people connect to that song than anything I ever wrote. I’ve had so many people tell me that it helped them through this or it helped them through that. I’m still continually amazed about the power a little 3-minute song has.”

Petty was friends with George Harrison (and was a part of the Traveling Wilbury supergroup). Tom told Mojo magazine in 2010: “At the session George Harrison sang and played the guitar. I had a terrible cold that day, and George sent to the store and bought a ginger root, boiled it and had me stick my head in the pot to get the ginger steam to open up my sinuses, and then I ran in and did the take.”

The song was written by Petty and ELO’s Jeff Lynne. The song was from his Full Moon Fever. Before the album was recorded after someone tried to burn Petty’s house down while he and his family were still in it. They escaped, but were obviously traumatized by the whole incident.

Songfacts says that “I Won’t Back Down” was his way of reclaiming his life and getting past the torment – he said that writing and recording the song had a calming effect on him.

Well, I won’t back down
No, I won’t back down
You could stand me up at the gates of Hell
But I won’t back down

No, I’ll stand my ground
Won’t be turned around
And I’ll keep this world from draggin’ me down
Gonna stand my ground
And I won’t back down

hey, baby
There ain’t no easy way out (I won’t back down)
Hey, I will stand my ground
And I won’t back down

Well, I know what’s right
I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin’ me around
But I’ll stand my ground
And I won’t back down

(I won’t back hey, baby
There ain’t no easy way out (I won’t back down)
Hey, I will stand my ground (I won’t back down)
And I won’t back down

(I won’t back hey, baby
There ain’t no easy way out (I won’t back down)
Hey, I won’t back down

Hey, baby
There ain’t no easy way out (I won’t back down)
Hey, I will stand my ground (I won’t back down)
And I won’t back down (I won’t back down)
No, I won’t back down

Thank for hosting, Jim!