Make It Better (Forget About Me)

"Make It Better (Forget About Me)"
Single by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
from the album Southern Accents
B-side"Cracking Up"
ReleasedJune 3, 1985
Recorded1984
GenreRock
Length4:23[1]
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers singles chronology
"Rebels"
(1985) 		"Make It Better (Forget About Me)"
(1985) 		"Needles and Pins"
(1985)

"Make It Better (Forget About Me)" is a song written by Tom Petty of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and David A. Stewart of the Eurythmics. It was released in June 1985 as the third single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' 1985 album Southern Accents.

Musically, it is an uptempo number that pays tribute to the Memphis Soul style, with heavy emphasis on horns and funk-inspired rhythm guitar. The music video continues in the Alice in Wonderland motif of "Don't Come Around Here No More" and riffs on the "model annoyed by flying insect with the face of the singer superimposed" as in the then-recent "You Might Think" video by The Cars.

Cash Box said it is the Petty's and Stewart's "full-blown shot at R&B" and that it has "Memphis horns, soulful backing vocals and an irresistible dance beat."[2] Billboard called it "jittery, uptempo, horn-based Memphis soul."[3]

Chart performance

Chart (1985) Peak
position
Canadian RPM Top Singles 73
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[4] 54
U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks[4] 12

References

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Southern Accents". Allmusic. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
  2. ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. June 8, 1985. p. 11. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  3. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. June 8, 1985. p. 75. Retrieved 2022-07-29.
  4. ^ a b "Tom Petty: Billboard singles". Allmusic. Retrieved March 11, 2011.