The estate of Tom Petty has released a new video to accompany a little-heard alternate version of “You Saw Me Coming.”
It arrives in anticipation of more Wildflowers-era material due this spring. Finding Wildflowers, arriving on April 16, will include songs that were previously available only on the limited-edition Super Deluxe nine-LP version of 2020’s Wildflowers & All The Rest.
The 16 recordings include alternate takes, jam versions and other outtakes from the Wildflowers sessions. They’ll be released on limited-edition gold vinyl, CD and digital streaming platforms. A black-vinyl release will follow on May 7.
The new video, directed by Joel Kazuo Knoernschild and Katie Malia, combines images of vast desert highways, rocky ocean coastlines and boundless, snow-filled forests, reflective of the song’s message. You can watch it below.
“There’s this kind of longing in the song, in the way that he wrote the chord structure, the melody and the lyrics,” said Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench in a statement. The song was recorded in 1992, but ultimately did not make the track listing for 1994’s Wildflowers. “It’s wistful, and it would have been the perfect way to end the disc.”
“We wanted it to be great,” Petty told Paul Zollo about the album in the 2005 book, Conversations With Tom Petty. ”I think we succeeded on that level, because it’s a piece of music I think will be around. I think that people will continue to buy it and listen to it. And that’s a really good feeling. That’s the best feeling that I can get. That I made something that has a timeless quality to it.”