Ep. 22 S5 Even the Losers and Walk with Patrick O'Donnell

Patrick O'Donnell didn’t pick Tom Petty’s Even the Losers or Foo Fighters’ Walk because they were life-altering or part of a specific event. They’re songs that lived with him in different chapters of life—casual, meaningful, and personal in their own way.

In college, Patrick was a DJ at a radio station. During that time, Even the Losers became one of those songs that stuck. He wasn’t someone who always stopped to analyze lyrics, but Tom Petty’s line—“Even the losers get lucky sometimes”—landed with him. It wasn’t a message of deep inspiration, just a reminder that things can turn around, even when it doesn’t feel that way. That lyric stayed in his rotation, a reliable reminder that not everything had to be perfect to be good.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who formed in 1976, had a knack for writing songs that were easy to relate to. Even the Losers came from their 1979 album Damn the Torpedoes, a release that solidified their place in American rock. Petty’s voice—plainspoken and direct—cut through with sincerity. His songs didn’t demand attention; they just quietly earned it.

Years later, after going through a divorce, Patrick cued Walk by the Foo Fighters—one of his favorite redemption songs. He was alone in his car, driving home from the courthouse. He cranked the volume and drove off into the sunset...till he made a quick U-Turn to ammend his beneficiaries of his benefits now that he was divorced! LOL

Foo Fighters released Walk in 2011 as the closing track on their album Wasting Light. Recorded in Dave Grohl’s garage using analog tape, the album leaned into rawness and simplicity, and Walk in particular had a kind of controlled urgency to it. For Patrick, it wasn’t an anthem—it was just a song that happened to meet him at the exact right time.

When these songs come on, they feel like an old favorite sweatshirt or a go-to comfort meal—reliable, familiar, and comforting.

Even the Losers and Walk (the songs)

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