1979’s Damn the Torpedoes was Tom Petty’s first bona fide classic (but not his last).
Its nine songs show Petty at the top of his game — from the spoken-word verses of the pleading, Byrds-like ‘Here Comes My Girl’ to the Eagles-esque (but better!) balladry of ‘Lousiana Rain.’ The album doesn’t contain a weak moment and it’s hard to pick a favorite.
I love the blistering kiss-off ‘What Are You Doing In My Life?’ as much as the anthemic ‘Even the Losers,’ the jaunty ‘Don’t Do Me Like the That’ as much as the rave-up ‘Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid).’ This is a greatest hits record masquerading as a studio album.
Opening track ‘Refugee’ is the quintessential Tom Petty track on what I consider the quintessential Tom Petty album. Petty would release some of his best work in the 80s and 90s — albums I rank up there with the finest I own — but in a way Damn the Torpedoes remains his most enduring masterpiece.
We don’t talk too much about it
Ain’t no real big secret, all the same,
Somehow we get around it
Listen, it don’t really matter to me
Baby, you believe what you wanna believe
You see, you don’t have to live like a refugee
Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have
Kicked you around some
Tell me why you wanna lay there,
Revel in your abandon
Honey, it don’t make no difference to me
Baby, everybody’s had to fight to be free
You see, you don’t have to live like a refugee
No baby, you don’t have to live like a refugee
Baby, we ain’t the first
I’m sure a lot of other lovers been burned
Right now this ain’t real to you
Its one of those things you got to feel to be true
Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have
Kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped,
Tied-up, taken away, and held for ransom
Honey, it don’t really matter to me
Baby, everybody’s ha d to fight to be free
You see, you don’t have to live like a refugee
No, you don’t have to live like a refugee
Baby, you don’t have to live like a refugee
Meet Me In Montauk 
I confess that, when this song was in heavy rotation on the radio and in the early days of MTV, I wasn’t a big fan, mostly because I found the chorus slightly annoying and perhaps just a tad silly. But again, this was also during the time of wanting to reject Petty because he was all the rave with Rolling Stone. I have since softened considerably on this song and, of course, grown to love so much of what Petty does.
Although I am familiar with the singles from this album, I really need to go back and listen to the album in its entirely as I tend to reach for Southern Accents, Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers far more often.
While I agree with everything you say in your post, I confess that it’s the Petty of the 80’s and 90’s that I turn to when I’m in the mood to listen to Tom Petty. However, listening to this song right now, I think I’d share it with someone unfamiliar with his work as one of his more quintessential tracks.