This song is written from a real life experience. In May 1987 someone set fire to Tom Petty's house in L.A, burning most of it to the ground. After the fire Tom's wife and daughter stayed with a friend in Beverly Hills and Tom got stuck into rebuilding the house on the same plot of land using the basement recording studio to form the foundations. The studio was one of the only rooms to escape the fire and he was going to use what he believed in and had given his life to to rebuild for the future. He was not going to back down to a fire-starter.
"I won't back down is a song that is directed at the person who set Tom Petty's home on fire. It a song of defiance "Gonna stand my ground/ won't be turned around" It's a song about standing up to the things that come along and throw us off the track. "Gonna Stand My Ground" is a line in the song that calls to mind the charred ground where his original home stood and where the new house now stands. Tom Petty turned this song into a rock anthem for anyone struggling against insurmountable odds. The song is not really about a house fire but about resilience, defiance, courage, obstinacy and an unshakable faith and confidence in what you believe in. Johnny Cash sung this as well. Cash's rendition is more melancholic and blues driven. Petty's is more upbeat so much so that you can hear the defiance.
No I won’t back down
You can 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 dragging me down
Gonna stand my ground
And I won’t back down
Hey baby, there ain’t no easy way out
Hey I, I’ll 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
Hey baby, there ain’t no easy way out
Hey I, I’ll stand my ground
And I won’t back down
Hey baby, there ain’t no easy way out
Hey I, I’ll stand my ground
And I won’t back down
No I won’t back down
This song is dedicated in general to all those people who are going through trying circumstances that are beyond their control. Job Loss, Health Issues, Relationship Breakups and a myriad of other issues that come our way and if we don't watch can have the knack of pulling us down or burning up what we prize the most. In particular this song is dedicated to a few people who are struggling at the moment with insurmountable odds and trying circumstance. These people are good friends and deserve a break. You know who you are and this is dedicated to you.
Hey I, I’ll stand my ground
And I won’t back down
And I won’t back down
The Bible is full of passages that encourage us to stand our ground and to not back down. These passages were written in real circumstances they come from passages about real life and involved real people who were being called and required to exercise real faith in a real God. They were people just like you and I. People in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. They were not people who had super powers, but people who knew weakness like all of us know from time to time.
Philippians 4:13
"I can do all things through him who strengthens me."
Galatians 6:9
"And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
Romans 8:28
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
Matthew 19:26
"But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope"
Trying circumstances, trouble and distress come to us all! One of the passages that I return to time and time again is a passage from Paul's letter to the church in Rome. In this passage Paul acknowledges that there are trials and disappointments in life and he should know as he faced trails and attacks on his own life. Paul also holds out to the church in Rome and to us all a reminder of a promise that is for those who trust in Jesus and stand their ground. The promise is that nothing ultimately will be able to separate or rob our relationship with God.
Romans 8:31-39 "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died more than that, who was raised to life is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long;we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I'm not going to lie down, bury my head in the sand. I'm not going to sit and except my lot. But with Tom Petty and with Paul the apostle I'm going to stand my ground.........Tom Petty used what he believed in to form the foundations of a new house. Paul the Apostle used what he believes in to sustain him in his troubles. You and I are encouraged and inspired to use what we believe in to form the foundations for the future and not back down but to stand our ground.
So will you stand with me......or more to the point can I come and stand with you?
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