This Poignant Tom Petty Lyric From 1999 Depicts Love as a Crime

Tom Petty found himself in a funky headspace when making his 1999 album Echo. On the one hand, he had found a new love that elated him. But he was still dealing with the hangover from the end of his first marriage.

“Accused Of Love” captures that dichotomy quite nicely. The music comes on all bouncy and sprightly. But lyrically, the song despairs about how love gone wrong can turn into something from which you need to defend yourself.

Petty Stands “Accused”

When Tom Petty wrote “Accused Of Love”, he was already dating Dana York, who’d become his second wife. In fact, as he told Paul Zollo in the book Conversations With Tom Petty, York was there when he came up with the breakthrough for the song:

“And I was actually with Dana. This was before we were married. (Laughs) About five in the morning I kept playing her this song. On guitar. And I’d just put in anything where the title goes. ‘Can of beans,’ or whatever. And then suddenly, poof, ‘Accused Of Love’ fell down, and I just fell around the room laughing. I got so elated.”

Up to that point, Petty knew the basic theme for the song but didn’t know how to tie it all together. That title phrase is a fascinating one. On the surface, it suggests divorce proceedings. References to attorneys and witnesses strengthen that interpretation.

But it also implies that when love goes south, the two people who were involved can suddenly start to feel guilty for the failure. Echo, as a whole, is a dark album. “Accused Of Love”, with its nimble melody and chirpy arrangement, tries to hide that darkness in plain sight.

Exploring the Lyrics of “Accused Of Love”

The first verse of “Accused Of Love” hints at a relationship that begins with a lot of promise. “You speak to me in natural harmony,” Petty sings. “Like we both grew up with nothing.” It suggests that there’s an innate bond that connects these two, one that they likely both believe is strong enough to sustain them.

In a song with British Invasion undertones hanging about the music, it’s fitting that Petty references “Mayfair” and “London Town” in the second verse. But the narrator can’t enjoy his surroundings, instead complaining about being “burnt, stood up.” He tries to take a train out of town to escape “the trust that hung betrayed there.”

When he gets to the final verse, court proceedings are already underway. His attempt to extricate himself fails miserably. “Sworn to God and state, the truth arrives too late,” he laments. “And defense goes out the window.”

In the final refrain, Petty changes the perspective from “I” to “we.” That subtle change indicates that both parties will have to deal with the scrutiny and anguish. “And we don’t even know the wrong we’ve done,” he moans. “All I know is I believe that you and me/Forever will stand accused of love.”

Another reading of the song is that Petty is singing about his new love and that the complaint is about those who might judge him for moving on. In any case, “Accused Of Love”, thanks to that memorable title, might make anyone entering upon a promising relationship think twice about the eventual consequences.

(Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)

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