About The Song
“Refugee” is a rock song written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell, recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for their third album, Damn the Torpedoes, released on October 19, 1979, by Backstreet/MCA Records. Released as the album’s second single in January 1980, with “It’s Rainin’ Again” as the B-side, it peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 29, 1980, spending 14 weeks on the chart, and reached No. 2 on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart and No. 3 in New Zealand. The album hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200, blocked by Pink Floyd’s The Wall, and was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for three million US sales.
Recorded in mid-1979 at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California, the track was produced by Jimmy Iovine and Tom Petty. It features Tom Petty on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Mike Campbell on lead guitar, Benmont Tench on organ and piano, Ron Blair on bass, and Stan Lynch on drums. The song’s urgent, anthemic sound, driven by Campbell’s searing guitar riff and Tench’s swirling organ, blends new wave and classic rock, per American Songwriter. The lyrics, about standing up to adversity in a relationship, were written by Petty in 1979, reflecting his defiance during a legal battle with Shelter Records, per Petty: The Biography. The track took weeks to record, with Iovine pushing for perfection, resulting in 60 takes, per Rhino’s session logs.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1976, were breaking through with Damn the Torpedoes after “Don’t Do Me Like That” (No. 10, 1980). Campbell wrote the music in a rented house, inspired by a chord progression from The Animals’ “I’m Crying,” and Petty added lyrics after a studio jam, aiming for a universal message, as he told Billboard in 1999. The band performed it live on their 1979–1980 tour, including a February 1980 LA Forum show, and it remained a staple, played at their 2017 Hollywood Bowl concert, Petty’s last before his death on October 2, 2017, per Rolling Stone. A 1980 Fridays TV performance showcased its intensity.
Covers include Melissa Etheridge’s 1994 live version, The Gaslight Anthem’s 2018 take, and a 2020 rendition by The Dirty Knobs, Campbell’s band. The song appeared in films like Varsity Blues (1999) and TV shows like Cold Case (2004). Its D-G-A chord progression, analyzed on Medium, and defiant “everybody’s had to fight to be free” hook fueled its radio success, per Genius. The music video, a performance clip, aired on early MTV. Petty called it a “battle cry” in a 2002 Mojo interview, denying a specific romantic inspiration. The track’s recording, per Stereogum, was a turning point, with Iovine’s rigorous approach shaping the band’s polished sound.
Video
Lyric
We got somethin’, we both know it, we don’t talk too much about it
Ain’t no real big secret, all the same, somehow we get around it
Listen, it don’t really matter to me, baby
You believe what you want to believeYou see, you don’t have to live like a refugee
(Don’t have to live like a refugee)Somewhere, somehow, somebody must’ve kicked you around some
Tell me why you wanna lay there, revel in your abandon
Honey, it don’t make no difference to me, baby
Everybody’s had to fight to be freeYou see, you don’t have to live like a refugee
(Don’t have to live like a refugee)
No, you don’t have to live like a refugee
(Don’t have to live like a refugee)Baby, we ain’t the first
I’m sure a lot of other lovers been cursed
Right now it seems real to you, but it’s one of those things
You gotta feel to be trueYou see, you don’t have to live like a refugee
(Don’t have to live like a refugee)
No, you don’t have to live like a refugee
(Don’t have to live like a refugee)