“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” is one of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ biggest hits; however, the track was a bit of a sore subject for Petty when he recorded it.
The song is featured on Petty & the Heartbreakers’ 1993 greatest hits collection, which was a contractual obligation to the band’s former label MCA.
Petty said in a 2014 interview, “Part of the obligation was that I had to deliver a new song for this album. It irked me to no end that I had to do this. I didn’t want to turn around and give something away.”
“Mary Jane’s Last Dance” peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at no. 14.