During the recording of the classic 1994 Tom Petty solo album Wildflowers, the late singer-songwriter recorded more material than he could fit on the record. Today, the estate of Tom Petty has released the unheard song “There Goes Angela (Dream Away)” which was cut from the record.
According to Stereogum, the Petty estate will release an expanded version of Wildflowers later this year, though an exact date has not yet been specified. Back in June, audiences got the first taste of some unreleased material with an early demo version of the classic “You Don’t Know How It Feels”.
Related: This 1977 Interview Proves That Tom Petty Was Coolness Personified [Watch]
In “There Goes Angela (Dream Away)” we find a solitary Petty armed with an acoustic guitar and harmonica. The song’s simple chord progression and structure, punctuated by harp phrasings, and lyrics that ring of Petty’s timeless quality gives the impression that, if released on Wildflowers 26 years ago, “There Goes Angela (Dream Away)” would already be an FM rock radio favorite by now. It is unclear if this is simply an early demo, as the beginning of the song features Petty counting off the rhythm, or a finished product as the crisp audio may indicate.
The song was initially released on Petty’s website in a rather unconventional way. In order to gain access to “There Goes Angela (Dream Away)”, users had to answer a five-question quiz about Wildflowers, featuring trivia about the album’s production, personnel, accompanying tour, and more. That or you can just listen to the version somebody uploaded to YouTube, but where’s the fun in that?
Tom Petty — “There Goes Angela (Dream Away)”
[Video: zeozose]
[H/TÂ Stereogum]