[7] The song was inspired by a night Petty had spent with a woman named Cindy and some friends in his hometown of Gainesville, Florida when he was young.
It was also during that night Petty had an epiphany and realized he needed to be in a rock and roll band.
"[8] During the recording session, guitarist Mike Campbell struggled to come up with a guitar solo.
[11] Writing for Uproxx, critic John Kurp wrote, "'Even The Losers' sums up Petty's career more than any other track in his hits-stuff discography" and the song "is the sound of pure pain.
It's an ode for anyone stuck in the 'glory days,' for the lovesick fools who can't separate the good times ('We smoked cigarettes and we stared at the moon') from the bad ('I shoulda known right then it was too good to last'), and how much that hurts.