Grand Theft Auto 6 dusts off a 1980s Tom Petty song «Love Is a Long Road,» the B-side for «Free Fallin’,» which is widely considered Petty’s best (and most famous) song.
Grand Theft Auto 6 just got its trailer released a bit early, and that’s not the only surprise here. There’s a bit of an unexpected music choice accompanying our first look at Rockstar Games’ upcoming open world game, and that’s Tom Petty.
I’m writing about Grand Theft Auto here, so pop culture references and whether or not we all understand them is a key piece of the overall pie. I’m a millennial, so I’m very familiar with Tom Petty, not necessarily because he’s my favorite but because he’s a favorite of my guitarist father (alongside other rock n’ roll mainstays of the ‘60s and ‘70s). Hearing Petty’s characteristic moan in this trailer filled me with the same sense of nostalgia that I get when I swing by my parents’ house and hear my dad strumming his guitar in the basement.