Song spotlight: “End Of The Line” —
“I loved End Of The Line. I remember the day [George] wrote it. He had started it off on the piano. And we all kind of sat in a group. His enthusiasm was very contagious.” - Tom Petty, Rolling Stone, January 17, 2002
“[Roy’s] funeral was only about a day before the [‘End Of The Line’] video. But we just tried to go on and hope that we did him justice. And it turned out to be a curious song for the next single, you know, ‘the end of the line.’ But I think it — you write these songs and then it’s funny how events come down, and later on when you hear the song it can mean so much more than when you were writing it.” - Tom Petty, BBC Radio 2
“Sort of like Carl Perkins says on a lot of his songs, ‘Well, it’s alright.’ If you’re gonna be an optimist then it’s gotta be alright. If you happen to be a peg-legged old pirate who’s trying to make a Wilbury album, it’s still alright.” - George Harrison, Genesis Publications
“I’m seven years younger than them. They’re like my older brothers. I was telling a friend of mine the other day how odd it is that I never sought out any of those people, any of my heroes. Somehow the ones that really matter to me, I got to become really good friends with. It’s embarrassing. I never mention my friends to people because they think I’m bragging, but it is kind of cool. And I’ve always been upfront with them about how cool I think it is.
They’ve been a big help to me in many ways. Especially George because he’s been through all this. I don’t have an older brother, and he’s always been there to advise me” - Tom Petty, Mojo, May 1999
“George was the kind of guy who wasn't going to leave until he hugged you for five minutes and told you how much he loved you. We knew where we stood with each other.” - Tom Petty, Rolling Stone, January 17, 2002 (x)