"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" is a song by Stevie Nicks, the first single from her debut solo album Bella Donna. The track is the album's only song that was neither written nor co-written by Nicks. Written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell as a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song, Jimmy Iovine, who was also working for Stevie Nicks at the time, arranged for her to sing on it. Petty sang with Nicks in the chorus and bridge, while his entire band played on the song. A performance of the song in the studio was used as the promotional video. The video was the 25th video to be played on MTV's launch date on August 1, 1981. Petty and Nicks also sang together on the songs "Insider" and "I Will Run to You", and frequently performed impromptu live versions of these and 1960s classic "Needles and Pins" in many shows through the 1980s. As of 2017, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" remains a mainstay of Stevie Nicks's solo performances, and on July 9, 2017, Nicks performed the song together with Petty and the Heartbreakers at the British Summer Time festival at Hyde Park in London, in what turned out to be their final performance of the song together before Petty's death in October 2017. The song peaked at No. 3 on the AmericanBillboardHot 100 for six consecutive weeks. However, in the United Kingdom, the song only managed to peak at No. 50. The song also appeared in the drama film Taps.
Content
In a November 2003 interview with Songfacts, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist and primary songwriter Mike Campbell explained the song's origins: The lyrics are about a woman who feels weighed down by relationships and wants to part despite a strong sentimental attachment to her lover. The melody is described by All Music as "dark and sinister", probably because of the dense drumming of Stan Lynch which is the most prominent feature of the song's rhythm. Apart from the intro before the first verse and a solo following the second verse, however, the guitar sound is laid-back in typical Heartbreakers style. The song was originally recorded for Petty's album Hard Promises, but the producers felt the song came from a female point of view and it was left unreleased until it was agreed to be put on the Bella Donna album instead. A demo version of the song, recorded without Nicks, was eventually released on Petty's boxed set Playback.
Single release formats
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was released as a 7" vinyl single in the picture sleeve featured above in many territories. Promo 7" singles were also released in some territories, including the United States, in the same picture sleeve, but the disc featured the title track on both sides. A highly collectable 12" promo single in a unique glossy sleeve was released in the United States.
The song was parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic as "Stop Draggin' My Car Around" on his debut album "Weird Al" Yankovic. Jimmy Fallon and Stevie Nicks performed the song in a humorous recreation of the 1981 music video on The Tonight Show on April 9, 2014. Devon Allman covered the song in his debut album Turquoise.
''Rock Band 3''
It was made available to download on February 11, 2011, for use in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic rhythm, and PRO mode which utilizes real guitar/bass guitar, and MIDI compatible electronic drum kits/keyboards in addition to vocals.
