Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Playing Dum
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Playing Dumb


Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Playing Dumb Youtube Music Videos and Lyrics

Album: Hypnotic Eye
Released: 2014

Playing Dumb Lyrics


Playing Dumb
  • Tom Petty takes aim here at the sex abuse scandal within the Catholic church and the controversial financial settlements they eventually made. "If I was in a club, and I found out that there had been generations of people abusing children, and then that club was covering that up, I would quit the club," he told Billboard magazine. "And I wouldn't give them any more money."

    "I just felt that I was being asked to play dumb," Petty added, describing how the song emerged. "That, 'OK, well, they paid some money, so it's all over.' I don't trust that."

    In case you're wondering about Petty's own religious background, he was raised as an unconvinced Southern Baptist.
  • The song was included as a bonus track on the vinyl release of Hypnotic Eye.
  • Other songs that reference child abuse within the Catholic church include:

    "Devil In A Midnight Mass" by Billy Talent.

    "Religion" by Public Image Ltd.

    "Take Off Your Shoes" by Sinead O'Connor.

    "Dear Father" by Black Sabbath.