Refugee is a song by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was released in January 1980 as the second single from their album Damn the Torpedoes.
Writer/s: Michael W. Campbell, Tom Petty
Publisher: Gone Gator Music, Universal Music Publishing Group
SOME INTERESTING FACTS
Tom Petty once explained the influence for Refugee, when he said "This was a reaction to the pressures of the music business. I wound up in a huge row with the record company when ABC Records tried to sell our contract to MCA Records without us knowing about it, despite a clause in our contract that said they didn't have the right to do that. I was so angry with the whole system that I think that had a lot to do with the tone of the Damn the Torpedoes album. I was in this defiant mood. I wasn't so conscious of it then, but I can look back and see what was happening. I find that's true a lot. It takes some time usually before you fully understand what's going on in a song - or maybe what led up to it."
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers sang Refugee in 1979 on their first ever appearance on Saturday Night Live. They also played "Don't Do Me Like That" on the same show.
Refugee was the final song of their Live Aid set at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]
We got somethin', we both know it
We don't talk too much about it
Ain't no real big secret all the same
Somehow we get around it
[Pre-Chorus]
Listen, it don't really matter to me, baby
You believe what you want to believe
[Chorus]
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
[Verse 2]
Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Tell me why you wanna lay there
And revel in your abandon
[Pre-Chorus]
Honey, it don't make no difference to me, baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free
[Chorus]
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
No baby, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
[Bridge]
Baby, we ain't the first
I'm sure a lot of other lovers been burned
Right now this seems real to you
But it's one of those things
You got to feel to be true
[Verse 3]
Somewhere, somehow, somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
Tied up, taken away, and held for ransom
[Pre-Chorus]
Honey, it don't really matter to me, baby
Everybody's had to fight to be free
[Chorus]
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
No, you don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
You don't have to live like a refugee
(Don't have to live like a refugee)
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