Into the Great Wide Open (song)
Encyclopedia
"Into the Great Wide Open" is the third song on the 1991
album Into the Great Wide Open
by the group Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
.
for the single, directed by Julien Temple
, starred Johnny Depp
as the protagonist named Eddie Rebel, Gabrielle Anwar
as Eddie's girlfriend, Faye Dunaway
as Eddie's manager and featured cameos by Tom Petty
as the Roadie named Bart (as well as the tattoo artist and reporter), Terence Trent D'Arby, Petty's manager Tony Dimitriades, Chynna Phillips
of Wilson Phillips
and Matt LeBlanc
, later of Friends
. The video was shot while the filming of Arizona Dream
, in which both Depp and Dunaway starred, was on hiatus as its director Emir Kusturica
had suffered a nervous breakdown. The song was extended in order to include more of the 18 minutes of footage Temple had created.
The video starts like a storybook narration, as Eddie's story unfolds. Eddie arrives in Hollywood after graduating high school and joins the local scene. He finds a girl (Anwar) who has the same tattoo as he does; a heart impaled with a stiletto knife. As Eddie works as a doorman, his girlfriend teaches him to play guitar. Their landlady (Dunaway) turns out to be a cross between a fairy godmother
and a svengali
, managing his increasing success as a rock star.
Unfortunately the success goes to Eddie's head, as he becomes more indulgent (getting drunk and rude at an award ceremony and losing his temper in a music video shoot). Things come to a head when he excludes his manager from a red carpet event. Infuriated, his manager (Dunaway) waves her wand and breaks the spell, with disastrous results. Eddie's career quickly fizzles, his girlfriend/wife leaves him, and the heart in his tattoo fades away. The story closes with Eddie returning to the tattoo parlor, where he finds a newcomer (LeBlanc) getting the same tattoo from a new tattoo artist (Depp). Tom Petty
then closes the video with the classic fairy tale ending that "they all lived happily ever after".
Tom Petty took the line "a rebel without a clue" from the 1989 single "I'll Be You
" by Minneapolis rock band The Replacements with whom he toured.
The person presenting the award to Johnny toward the end of the vid appears to be Mike Campbell, the guitarist on the track.
1991 in music
See also:* 1991 in music Record labels established in 1991-Summary:The year 1991 is the year that grunge music made its popular breakthrough. Nirvana's Nevermind, led by the surprise hit single "Smells Like Teen Spirit", becomes the most popular U.S. album of the year...
album Into the Great Wide Open
Into the Great Wide Open
Into the Great Wide Open is the eighth studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, first released in July 1991 . The album was the band's last with MCA Records...
by the group Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers are an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. They were formed in 1976 by Tom Petty , Mike Campbell , Benmont Tench , , Ron Blair and Stan Lynch...
.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the single, directed by Julien Temple
Julien Temple
Julien Temple is an English film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including The Great Rock And Roll Swindle, Absolute Beginners and a documentary film about Glastonbury.-Temple...
, starred Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
as the protagonist named Eddie Rebel, Gabrielle Anwar
Gabrielle Anwar
Gabrielle Anwar is an English actress. She is known for her role as Margaret Tudor on The Tudors, for dancing the tango with Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman and for her current role as Fiona Glenanne on USA's Burn Notice.- Early life :...
as Eddie's girlfriend, Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...
as Eddie's manager and featured cameos by Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
as the Roadie named Bart (as well as the tattoo artist and reporter), Terence Trent D'Arby, Petty's manager Tony Dimitriades, Chynna Phillips
Chynna Phillips
Chynna Phillips is an American singer and actress, known for being a member of Wilson Phillips. She is also known for being the daughter of The Mamas & the Papas band members John and Michelle Phillips and the half-sister of Mackenzie Phillips, Bijou Phillips, Jeffrey Phillips , Tamerlane...
of Wilson Phillips
Wilson Phillips
-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Other charted songs:-Awards and nominations:...
and Matt LeBlanc
Matt LeBlanc
Matthew Steven "Matt" LeBlanc is an American actor, best known for his role as Joey Tribbiani on the NBC sitcoms Friends and its spin-off Joey....
, later of Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. The video was shot while the filming of Arizona Dream
Arizona Dream
Arizona Dream is a 1993 film directed by Emir Kusturica and starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway.-Plot:Axel has a dream about an Eskimo who catches a rare halibut and brings it back to his family in an igloo...
, in which both Depp and Dunaway starred, was on hiatus as its director Emir Kusturica
Emir Kusturica
Emir Nemanja Kusturica , is a Serbian filmmaker, actor and musician, recognized for several internationally acclaimed feature films...
had suffered a nervous breakdown. The song was extended in order to include more of the 18 minutes of footage Temple had created.
The video starts like a storybook narration, as Eddie's story unfolds. Eddie arrives in Hollywood after graduating high school and joins the local scene. He finds a girl (Anwar) who has the same tattoo as he does; a heart impaled with a stiletto knife. As Eddie works as a doorman, his girlfriend teaches him to play guitar. Their landlady (Dunaway) turns out to be a cross between a fairy godmother
Fairy godmother
In fairy tales, a fairy godmother is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies...
and a svengali
Svengali
Svengali is a fictional character of George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby. Svengali "would either fawn or bully and could be grossly impertinent. He had a kind of cynical humour that was more offensive than amusing and always laughed at the wrong thing, at the wrong time, in the wrong place...
, managing his increasing success as a rock star.
Unfortunately the success goes to Eddie's head, as he becomes more indulgent (getting drunk and rude at an award ceremony and losing his temper in a music video shoot). Things come to a head when he excludes his manager from a red carpet event. Infuriated, his manager (Dunaway) waves her wand and breaks the spell, with disastrous results. Eddie's career quickly fizzles, his girlfriend/wife leaves him, and the heart in his tattoo fades away. The story closes with Eddie returning to the tattoo parlor, where he finds a newcomer (LeBlanc) getting the same tattoo from a new tattoo artist (Depp). Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
then closes the video with the classic fairy tale ending that "they all lived happily ever after".
Tom Petty took the line "a rebel without a clue" from the 1989 single "I'll Be You
I'll Be You
"I'll Be You" was the lead single from The Replacements' seventh studio album Don't Tell a Soul in 1989 and was written by lead singer Paul Westerberg. It became the band's first and only Billboard Hot 100 appearance, peaking at #51 and reaching the top of both the album rock and modern rock...
" by Minneapolis rock band The Replacements with whom he toured.
The person presenting the award to Johnny toward the end of the vid appears to be Mike Campbell, the guitarist on the track.
Chart performance
| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 23 |
| German Singles Chart | 58 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
92 |
| U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks | 4 |