Her “silent partner” is presumably the narrator of the song. The lyrics describe a woman on a beach leaving her husband to run off with another man. Around 1:27 Campbell plays some extra acoustic lines, and organist Tench plays a final chord, but otherwise it’s just vocals.

(I think he may be finger-picking, and allowing low notes to ring while he plucks higher strings?) Not much else happens musically. The arrangement is sparse, with Petty and Campbell strumming acoustic guitars, Lynch banging on bongoes, and bassist Ron Blair playing an odd, but really cool, bass line that sometimes sounds like two instruments. It starts with the tape machine turning on, giving the song the feeling of an afterthought, as if the recording engineer decided to capture an off-the-cuff performance. But what if you strip away all those sounds? What if it’s only some acoustic guitar and Tom’s voice on cleverly sparse lyrics? Throw in some bongoes and weird bass guitar sounds and you’ll have “No Second Thoughts.” I think it’s as good as anything the band’s ever done. So, take all those great sounds and put them together with Petty lyrics delivered in that distinctive voice, and you’ve got yourself a thrilling, boisterous, helluva good time. “… I showed you stars you never could see,” from “ Even the Losers.” “… I can tell the whole wide world to shove it!” from “ Here Comes My Girl.” (However, I am still a bit salty that he ripped off The Replacements‘ Paul Westerberg’s “ Rebel Without a Clue” line, from “ I’ll Be You.”) He’s also adept at story songs, with a knack for letting the listener fill in the details. He can put together a line or two that will break your heart, or make it soar.

He’s one of those “turn-of-a-phrase” guys, like Elvis Costello, but not so flashy.

Tom petty lyrics shadow of a doubt