SONG INFO

American Girl

• Thieves Lead Vocals: Brandon Pfeiffer
• Release Date: Tuesday, February 1, 1977 (49 years ago)
• Original Key: B major
• Trivia:
  • It is ranked number 169 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
  • “American Girl” was the last song performed in concert by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. They played it to close out the encore of their performance on September 25, 2017, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California, the final concert of their 40th Anniversary Tour.
  • did not chart in the United States, but peaked at No. 40 in the UK for the week ending August 27, 1977
  • It was re-released in 1994 as the second single from Petty’s Greatest Hits album and peaked at No. 68 in the U.S. Cash Box Top 100.
  • It was recorded on the 4th of July in 1976, the Bicentennial of the United States.
  • The tempo is fast and “urgent,”[15] and is built on a repeated jangling guitar riff based on a “Bo Diddley beat.”[16]
  • Covered by Taylor Swift (2009), Everclear (1995), Goo Goo Dolls (2008), Elle King (2015), Jason Isbell, Green Day, Gin Blossoms, Pearl Jam, Petty Thieves
• Performers: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
• Writers:
  • Tom Petty
• Producers:
  • Denny Cordell
• Record Label:
  • Shelter Records
• Recording Studio:
  • Shelter Studios (Hollywood, CA)

ALBUM INFO

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LYRICS

CHORDS

Intro

Intro - Guitar 1:  18 bars  D
Intro - Guitar 2:  E7 E7 G G A A D D E7 E7 G G A7 A7

Verse 1

D                E7
Well, she was an American girl
G         A
Raised on promises
D                 E7
She couldn't help thinkin' that there was a 
G                   A
little more to life somewhere else

A                  D
After all it was a great big world
G                      Em
With lots of places to run to
A
And if she had to die tryin' she had one little promise she was gonna keep

Chorus

G       A          D                   Bm 
O yeah, all right, take it easy, baby, make it last all night
G       A           D
She was an American girl

Verse 2

D                  E7
Well, it was kinda cold that night
G                      A
She stood alone on the balcony
D                        E7
Yeah, she could hear the cars roll by
       G              A
Out on 441 like waves crashin' on the beach

A                     D
And for one desperate moment there
G                    Em
He crept back in her memory
A
God it's so painful when something that's so close is still so far out of reach

Chorus

G       A          D                   Bm 
O yeah, all right, take it easy, baby, make it last all night
G       A           D
She was an American girl

Outro:

G G G G G# A D 
G G G G G# A D 
G G G G G# A D 
G G G A A A

Repeat to end
D E7 G A

LINKS

SETLIST

1. 1 American Girl 🔺 bp 🔁
2. 2 The Waiting 🔺 bp 🔁
3. 3 Refugee 🔺 bp 🔁
4. 4 You Don’t Know How It Feels la 🔁
5. 5 Listen to Her Heart bp 🔁
6. 6 Love Is a Long Road 📚 🔺 bp
7. 7 I Won’t Back Down jw 🔁
8. 8 Free Fallin’ 📚 🔺 bp 🔁
9. 9 You Wreck Me jw 🔁
10. 10 Yer So Bad bp 🔁
11. 11 Into the Great Wide Open bp 🔁
12. 12 Here Comes My Girl 📚 🔺 bp
13. 13 Something In the Air 📚 🔺 jw
14. 14 Runnin’ Down a Dream bp 🔁
15. 15 I Should Have Known It 📚 bp
16. 16 Breakdown bp 🔁
17. * straight into… 17 You Got Lucky bp
18. * straight into… 18 Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around 📚 bp
19. 19 The Last DJ 📚 bp
20. 20 Change of Heart 🔺 bp
21. 21 It’s Good to Be King la
22. * straight into… 22 Saving Grace bp
23. 23 Makin’ Some Noise 📚 jw
24. 24 Don’t Come Around Here 📚 bp 🔁
25. 25 Walls bp
26. 26 Don’t Do Me Like That la 🔁
27. 27 Honey Bee jw
28. 28 Learning to Fly bp 🔁
29. 29 Handle With Care 📚 bp jw la 🔁
30. 30 Mary Jane’s Last Dance bp 🔁
31. 31 Built to Last 🔺 bp
32. 32 Have Love Will Travel 📚 bp jw
33. 33 Even the Losers 📚 🔺 bp
34. 34 A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me) 📚 🔺 bp
35. 35 Two Gunslingers bp
36. 36 Crawling Back to You bp
37. 37 Wildflowers 📚 la 🔁
38. 38 Room at the Top la
39. 39 Cabin Down Below 📚 bp
40. 40 Something Big 📚 bp
41. 41 Trailer 📚 jw
42. 42 End of the Line 📚 bp jw la