In a November 2003 interview with Songfacts, guitarist Mike Campbell explained the story behind "Here Comes My Girl":
It's very similar to "Refugee" - those two were written the same week. I made some demos and Tom liked those two. "Here Comes My Girl" was interesting because we had the chorus and Tom wasn't sure how to do the verse, he kept trying to sing it different ways and he finally came across sort of half-talking it, and that's when the song seemed to come to life.[5]
Petty remembers Campbell's chords and tune on a cassette tape, and struggling with the lyrics. Bassist Ron Blair told Petty that what he had was a "really good piece of music." Petty learned to use narration in the verses, similar to Blondie or The Shangri-Las. Petty said the chorus was inspired by The Byrds.
Reception
Cash Box called it a "truly excellent single" with a "convincingly honest narrative intro" and a "Byrds-like hook."[6]Record World called it a "raging ballad" and said that Petty's "tough talk/sing vocal swells into a pretty hook."[7]
Music video
The music video was directed by John Goodhue and was released in April 1980.
^Oshinsky, Matthew (February 13, 2019). "The 30 Best Albums of 1979". Paste. Retrieved July 15, 2025. Album openers "Refugee," "Here Comes My Girl" and "Even the Losers" are stone-cold garage-rock classics...
^Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles: 1955-2010, Record Research, 2011.
