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Tom Petty ranked it among his 10 best songs. He thought radio overlooked it for no good reason
Tom Petty considered ‘Angel Dream’ one of his ten best songs, but felt radio overlooked it because it lacked a guitar solo. The song’s quiet, personal style stood apart from the more familiar sound expected by FM stations, and its later release as the opening track of a reworked album gave it renewed prominence.
Petty wrote ‘Angel Dream’ while working on the 1996 film soundtrack *She’s the One*, alongside ‘Walls’ and ‘Grew Up Fast’, in roughly 48 hours. He said the song reflected meeting his second wife, Dana, during a period of emotional turmoil. In 2021, engineer Ryan Ulyate remixed and reordered the soundtrack as *Angel Dream*, with the song placed first.
In short
- Petty ranked ‘Angel Dream’ among his ten best songs.
- He blamed its lack of a guitar solo for radio overlooking it.
- A 2021 reworked album gave the song a new opening role.
Explained simply
Tom Petty was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In 1996, he wrote songs for the film She’s the One, including “Angel Dream”, “Walls” and “Grew Up Fast”; he later said the writing took about 48 hours.
“Angel Dream” drew on Petty’s personal life, including meeting his second wife, Dana, during a difficult period. Its restrained arrangement differed from the guitar-led sound often associated with rock radio, and Petty believed the lack of a guitar solo helped explain why stations gave it little attention.
In 2021, engineer Ryan Ulyate remixed and reordered the film’s soundtrack, releasing it as Angel Dream with the song as its opening track. This brought new attention to a song Petty had regarded as one of his ten best.