October 1, 2020—“Leave Virginia Alone,” the lead single and another previously unreleased song from Tom Petty’s long-awaited second half of Wildflowers—a collection he named All The Rest—is out today. Tom wrote “Leave Virginia Alone” in January 1993—very early in the evolution of Wildflowers.
The song debuts alongside a video co-directed by Mark Seliger and Tom’s daughter Adria Petty. The video stars emerging actress/dancer Casimere Jollette (Netflix’s forthcoming “Tiny Pretty Things”) and was shot around Connecticut as well as in and around Seliger’s studio in New York City. In speaking with David Fricke yesterday on SiriusXM’s Tom Petty Radio, Adria notes, “We were very resourceful about trying to create a character that could be assigned to anyone. That’s why Virginia in this video is very mysterious but she has her little glimpses of characters. We really worked to cast someone authentic—that felt like they were really feeling their feelings and someone that you could believe. We really wanted the song to do the heavy lifting in this video, and sort of step out of the way and just give it something to breathe with.” Seliger furthers, “The one idea that kept coming back to both of us is that we really want Tom to be narrating the story. We really want to hear his voice as he runs you through this journey that this woman is having.” Watch/share the video HERE.
