Song tip

"For Real" by Tom Petty

This previously unreleased track is from "The Best of Everything," the just-out Tom Petty career retrospective boxed set. Boy, is this is a great tune, and it's almost as though Tom held it back intentionally for a posthumous release to gently remind us there are "artists" and there are "entertainers" and he was one of the latter. In these times? That's more important than ever. "For Real" is a plaintive acoustic ballad and, in the sweetly lullabaic chorus, Petty sings from the heart and soul about purity and the love of rock 'n' roll: "I did it for real / Woulda done it for free / I did it for me ... and I did it for you."