Mary Jane’s Last Dance | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
||: Am G | (Dsus2) D Am |
| Am7 G | (Dsus2) D Am :||
Verse 1
||: Am G | (Dsus2) D Am :||
She grew up in an Indiana town,
had a good-lookin’ mama who never was around.
But she grew up tall and she grew up right,
with them Indiana boys on an Indiana night.
Instrumental 1
||: Am G | (Dsus2) D Am :||
Woo oh-oh-ooh.
Woo oh-oh-ooh.
Verse 2
Well, she moved down here at the age of eighteen,
she blew the boys away, it was more than they’d seen.
I was introduced and we both started groovin’,
she said, “I dig you, baby, but I got to keep movin’.
Instrumental 2
On, keep movin’ on.
Chorus 1
| Em | Em7 | A (A6) | A (A6) |
Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
| Em | Em7 | A (A6) | G |
I feel summer creepin’ in and I’m tired of this town again.
Instrumental 3
Woo oh-oh-ooh.
Woo oh-oh-ooh.
Verse 3
Well, I don’t know but I’ve been told,
you never slow down, you never grow old.
I’m tired of screwing up, tired of goin’ down,
tired of myself, tired of this town.
Oh, my, my, oh, hell yes,
honey, put on that party dress.
Buy me a drink, sing me a song,
take me as I come ’cause I can’t stay long.
Chorus 2
Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
I feel summer creepin’ in and I’m tired of this town again.
Solo
||: Am G | (Dsus2) D Am |
| Am7 G | (Dsus2) D Am :||
Verse 4
There’s pigeons down on Market Square,
she’s standin’ in her underwear.
Lookin’ down from a hotel room,
the nightfall will be comin’ soon.
Oh, my, my, oh, hell yes,
you’ve got to put on that party dress.
It was too cold to cry when I woke up alone,
I hit the last number, I walked to the road.
Chorus 3
Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
I feel summer creepin’ in and I’m tired of this town again.
Outro
||: Am G | (Dsus2) D Am |
| Am7 G | (Dsus2) D Am :|| to fade
Mary Jane’s Last Dance Chords: Crafting Perfect Guitar Parts Like Tom and Mike
To play along with the original recording, you’ll need to tune your guitar up 10 Hz from 440. Use my online tuner to set it to 450 Hz.
The chords are simple open-position chords, so get started with the verse progression, which follows a II – I – V pattern in the key of G:
||: Am (II) G (I) | Dsus2 D (V) Am :||
The chorus shifts to the key of D, moving from II – V, and then resolving on IV:
| Em (II) | Em7 | A (V) A6 | A A6 |
| Em | Em7 | A A6 | G (IV) |
Using two neighbouring keys like G and D (with only one note change, C to C#) creates a natural tension.
After playing Mary Jane’s Last Dance for a while, you’ll realise there are two guitars involved. Tom Petty and Mike Campbell are masters at crafting seemingly simple, yet effective, guitar parts.
If you want to improve your skills in writing guitar parts for hits, I recommend studying Tom and Mike’s approach. Angus and Malcolm Young would also be solid references, but they’re perhaps the only other duo in that league.
However, if you’re the only guitarist in your band, you’ll need to develop another skill—combining two great parts into one.
To help with this, I’ve provided a TAB lesson showing how I would suggest combining Tom and Mike’s parts into one cohesive guitar part for a full band. Here’s the link: Mary Jane’s Last Dance – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
After studying the TAB, try improvising small adjustments to make the part feel more alive and dynamic.
At this point, all you need is a chord chart. Here’s one I’ve made for you.
Mary Jane’s Last Dance Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Mary Jane’s Last Dance chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Mary Jane’s Last Dance chord chart iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Mary Jane’s Last Dance Was Tom Petty’s Last Big Hit!
When Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers released their Greatest Hits album in 1993, Mary Jane’s Last Dance was the only new track included. It marked a brief reunion for the band and, in many ways, became their last major hit.
This song remains one of my absolute favourites from Tom and the Heartbreakers. Following the success of Greatest Hits, Tom embarked on creating his second solo album, Wildflowers (1994), which many, myself included, consider his ultimate masterpiece.
However, Wildflowers didn’t yield any obvious radio hits like the ones we had grown accustomed to in the ’80s and early ’90s. Despite this, it remains a deeply influential album.
Although Tom continued to release more albums after Wildflowers, which are sonic masterpieces in their own right, Mary Jane’s Last Dance truly stands as his—and the band’s—final big hit.
Mary Jane’s Last Dance Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Mary Jane’s Last Dance (Tom Petty) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy:
- Come Together
- Dancing In The Moonlight (It’s Caught Me In Its Spotlight)
- The Joker
- Into The Great Wide Open
- Man On The Moon