Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - The Last DJ Lyrics

Still love this song

Yesterday, I walked out of my radio DJ job in solidarity for reasons pertaining to this song, right behind my dad and a close friend who were both fired for no fault of their own. They didn't deserve to be let go, they were really important to the station in too many ways to name. I loved the work and my colleagues, but things upstairs got bad.

Tom Petty knew what was up. Will forever miss him.

Супер, жаль, что раньше его не слушал !!!

I want to play Elvis Costello's Radio Radio after hearing this. Costello was saying the same thing in the seventies about English radio. Just like Tom he knew he had shot himself in the foot but it was something that needed to be said. Radio cannot survive unless it is unique.

And it's only getting worse and worse. Well, at least Tom had his say ~ always did. He fought the big guns and won more than once ~ kept things a bit more more human for a while. Shame there weren't a lot more like him. "As we celebrate mediocrity all the boys upstairs wanna see
How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free."

Steve Capen would have played this on K-Rock (WXRK: Howard Stern in the morning, followed by Meg Griffin, The Stephen Capen Afternoon Episode, and Jimmy Fink) and Capen woulda been suspended for doing it, by Mel Karmazin (Mel went on to run Sirius. We called him "Mel Caramel"). Capen got suspended so many times; for instance, he played "Bus Load of Faith" off Lou Reed's New York lp, instead of the only cut we were allowed: the hit (of course) "Dirty Boulevard" Love ya always Cape!

Un des rockeurs les plus sous-estimés notamment en France alors que c'était une star aux USA. Superbe chanson. Repose en paix Tom.

listening for the 2 year anniversary of his passing

Love you brother. Never forget you Tom

They're all gone. Almost.

This whole album is it!!!

Shared to Facebook. The first time I heard this was on the NPR program '1A', where they play a snippet of it for their 'DJ Sessions' segment. I knew it was Tom but wanted to hear more. I think I heard the entire song on Little Steven's Underground Garage next.

WLS in the 70s...
John 'Records' Landecker
Yvonne Daniels, aka 'The Queen of Rock'
Steve King
Larry Lujack 'Super Jock'

R.I.P. 103.9 The Fox. Greatest radio station ever.

I was a radio DJ... AM and FM. I was there when you'd go into an actual record library and pull your show.... I was there when the format began to overtake the creativity and originality... and I was there when the suits won out over the dungarees. I was out and gone before I ever had to voice-track a shift or deal with automation. WKRP was very prescient when the writers envisioned the future... Thank you Tom - RIP

How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free

Well, you cain't turn him into a company man.
You cain't turn him into a whore.
And, the boys upstairs just don't understand, anymore.


Well, the top brass don't like him talkin’ so much.
And, he won't play what they say to play.
And, he don't want to change what don't need to change.


And, there goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play.
And, says what he wants to say. Hey, hey, hey!


And, there goes your freedom of choice.
There goes the last human voice.
And, there goes the last DJ.


Well, some folks say they're gonna hang him so high,
'Cause you just can't do what he did.
There’s some things you just can't put in the minds of those kids.


As we celebrate mediocrity, all the boys upstairs want to see
How much you'll pay for what you used to get for free.


And, there goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play.
And, says what he wants to say. Hey, hey, hey!


And, there goes your freedom of choice.
And, there goes the last human voice.
And, there goes the last DJ.


Well, he got him a station down in Mexico.
And, sometimes, it'll kind of come in.
And, I'll bust a move, and remember how it was back then.


And, there goes the last DJ
Who plays what he wants to play.
And, says what he wants to say. Hey, hey, hey!


And, there goes your freedom of choice.
There goes the last human voice.
And, there goes the last DJ.

What’s the piano at the end?

Leads into the next song, "Money Becomes King"

Tom made a great D.J. on his show!! love to hear him on repeats.

Everything corporations touch turns to shit,, eventually.

2018 in the house. RIP Tom Petty!

These days this applies to so much more than just music. Cars, video games, the works.

"You can't turn him into a whore"...

Last performance 1 year ago today

How does this video only have 68,684 views...this must be changed through more sharing!!!

DOPE website with WIX? You all getting the poisons clear now? Dope and pagans? Yep they're high and in jobs to rule over you.

i cant remember the last time i listened to terrestrial radio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jack FM plays what they want. But there are no DJs at all.

i remember back before the album was released, they played this song on the radio as a teaser. i was amazed by it, and still am. an epic album.

As a former radio station employee, and also a former employee of Clear Channel (now rebranded as "iHeart Media"), I am here to say Tom Petty's criticism is DEAD ON. There is a reason Clear Channel, Cox and others censored this album in 2004 when it came out. They couldn't handle the truth! I remember the demise of my favorite rock station in Milwaukee in 1996 due to Clear Channel changing it to a shitty Smooth Jazz station. The local radio dial as it exists today in my town has ZERO stations I remember as a kid, with one exception, and they changed the format of that station from an "80s, 90s and today" to a country station. My friend has XM radio- and Petty's comment of "the boys upstairs want to see how much you'll pay for what you used to get for free" is totally true- you have to get XM Satelite to hear all the good music, all the 80s, Classic Rock, and so forth. On the radio is all the grunge, nu-rock, nu-country, etc. and it's all mediocre crap. The so-called rock bands are all one-chord wonders, it's a joke. At least the 80s rockers could play their damn guitars, didn't sound like they were tuning them.

iHeart Media is the fucking devil so is KLOVE

I still have a local classic rock station. Still going strong.

I got a local station that plays this openly, which is great

@Nathan V
A warning, NOT a threat, but you'd best be looking over your shoulder constantly on guard, guard everything you have, guard it well (yourself too).
We got many people in this so called UNITED STATES country these days, that would give the chills to the likes of Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Mao Zedong, etc. Yeah that bad.
It's all just about to go to total Hell!

Hadn't heard it in a while. Genuinely made me cry.

Rest in peace Tom Petty and 100.3 The Sound

This has a very Paul McCartney esk sound to it ..

This song is about so much more then the music industry. It's about our Human rights. You see music is like magic, it gives you feelings and emotions when you listen to it. The self proclaimed "elite" know this and abuse it. Why do you think main stream hip hop is all about glorifying drugs and making kids grow up to disrespect women and think it's cool to sell drugs. There are 3 ways to control the human mind, what you see, hear and eat. They control all 3... so when yhe last DJ left it was also the last human voice who said what he wanted to say. It's really sad when you think about it.

There goes one of the last true rockers and there’s only been a hand full ever. R.I.P. Tom Petty.

Hope 100.3 The Sound played this.

This whole album was fucking awesome

Tom petty was one of a kind, he truly believed in the words he wrote , they meant something. What he's saying is very true, hence the horrible computer digital age. Tom petty you gave us 40 years of amazing music, you will be greatly missed, but your words never forgotten, and I will still be spinning your albums on my turntable or cd player until the day I die. I know your in heaven jamming with Gregg and duanne, jimi , Morrison, janice, jones, orbison, harrison, lennon, all of the blues legends , and all the other greats. I know in my heart you have finally found peace.

I love this song so much, and I can't believe he's gone, I grew up with his music or was such a huge part of my childhood, rip tom petty

The songs about him lad. Great song

Actually it is about a real DJ...Jim Ladd

There he goes....

Considering how political this song is, I'm still surprised it got as much commercial exposure as it did. One of my faves, thank you Tom.

DTJBsd it didn't get near as much as it shoulda... Dirtbags at the radio stations decided to not have a song that targeted em....

Terrestrial radio will not touch this song they won't play it. There was only one station in Phoenix that I knew that would play this song. The song is 15 years old and still holds true today.

SleepyDave Davenport it's cause Phoenix is badass and recognizes the truth.

To be fair, no one plays anything from Tom Petty since the Wildflowers album, which is now 25 years old now (2019). But yes, the music industry freaked out over this album (never mind that the only harsh criticism came in the form of the song "Joe", and is the lone song that critics point to). To me, The Last DJ ranks up there with Damn the Torpedoes, Full Moon Fever & Wildflowers as Tom's best! This comes from a fan that owns every album, and I consider Tom Petty as one of my all-time artists!

RIP Tom

my name is Sean Miller and my birthday is on September 13th

And 24 company men... #RIPTomPetty

Can anyone guess who he wrote this for?

Howard Stern 😜

Yes that was funny. Thank you.

Jim Ladd...but applies to many; and I would go so far as to apply it to those who MAKE the music despite.

Wolf Man Jack.

Another original is gone,one of the last of his kind singing about the last of another kind. See you on the other side Uncle Tommy,you'll be missed

Rest In Peace Tom💔😰

My favorite song writer I was in 5th grade and I already had problems with bullying and I cried for about a week when I hear he died

Rest in peace tom

btw, STOP COMPRESSING YOUR CD'S! WE WANT DYNAMIC RANGE BEYOND 6&7 DAMN IT! LOUDNESS WARS DESTROYS THE Hi REZ FIDELITY. As if I don't have a freakin' volume knob.

Truly an under rated album that slipped between the cracks....or could it just be money whoring critics being paid to denounce it?
BUY IT! It's FKN TOM PETTY or continue to be led like dumb whining sheep.

I did! And I love it!

This song goes out to Rodney Bingenheimer today.

One of his best... because he says what wants to say...held nothing back on this album. At least he took a stand... he'll never back down!!!

Always positive energy from Tom Petty

Michiganrocker right on

Last DJ is a fantastic song from Tom Petty☆☆☆☆☆☆

Sadly this song is an anthem of the current age of voice overs and liners recorded in some corporate office miles from where the station is. And stations like these play the safest of the safe. They think we are too stupid to enjoy a good album cut or a lost classic. Or this song...

You can thank Clear Channel for the censorship of this song, they didn't like his criticism of their BS business practices I could write volumes! I used to work for those bastards. (now they're called iHeart Media)

Nyrvachan they're going bankrupt noe

The Real Music Observer couldn't agree more. Music on the radio is awful and the same shit over and over

Worry not in 2-5 years the BEAST enslavement system will fall hard. To bad so many everyday people have become polluted and act really bad towards others in the process. Strive to survive decent people.

The Real Music Observer the first 10 seconds of the beat reminds me of another song

"There goes the last DJ, who plays what he wants to play...."

I love this album. Had forgotten about it and heard the title track on XM this morning.

Nita Almand yes this to me my favorite album of his

On XM radio? The thing you used to get for free? That's some irony

my favorite Tom Petty song great song tom keep rockin it out