 It peaked at number 15 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart in 1980.The song is in compound AABA form.The song's co-writer Mike Campbell said "Refugee" was one of the first songs he wrote, and recounted, "I just wrote the music and handed it to Tom [Petty] and he put the words over it, and when he did he found a way to make the chorus lift up without changing chords."