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Song

"A Thousand Miles" is a pop song written by American singer Vanessa Carlton for her debut album Be Not Nobody. It was co-produced and co-arranged by Carlton and Ron Fair. It was released as the album's first single in 2002 (see 2002 in music) and became Carlton's breakthrough hit and one of the most popular songs of the year. Reviews of the song were generally positive, and it is well known for its recurring piano melody.

About the record

The song is a piano-driven pop ballad supported by a full orchestral arrangement, in which its protagonist (Carlton) pines for her lover, from whom she has separated. Carlton admits "I need you and I miss you", and goes on to ponder "If I could fall into the sky, do you think time would pass me by?" She then tells her lost love: "you know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just see you". Carlton said that she wrote the song about somebody that she had a crush on, but admitted that he was unaware of her unreciprocated feelings for him.

Billboard magazine opined "it's the song's classical-tied piano hook that endures with urgency throughout the song that lends it spectacular charm, along with the artist's vulnerable vocal style...A truly auspicious opening". [1] A critic for All Music Guide wrote of the song: "as it moves from its solo piano opening to bombastic orchestral-backed choruses, the result isn't overwhelming, it's sweet, multi-layered, and appealing". [2] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters magazine characterised the song as "the sort of girly-voiced, introspective pop that is made to please people who are looking for singer/songwriters who look and sound profound, but actually have nothing to say. However, it's catchy and hard to dislike, as Carlton pounds away at her piano (you show-off, you!) and sings wantonly about the guy she's hot for". [3]. Sean Richardson of the Boston Phoenix, who made favourable comparisons between "A Thousand Miles" and Michelle Branch's debut single "Everywhere", said "it's a good-natured reverie, with none of the troubled soul searching that characterizes the work of Tori and Fiona. She occasionally evokes her piano-playing predecessors by raising her girlish voice to a howl, but she’s better off being herself". [4] LAUNCHcast wrote: "Remarkably reminiscent of classic Lisa Loeb, 'A Thousand Miles' might not be the most original single you'll hear all year but the gentle tinkling of ivories and Carlton's strong ear for melody makes her one to keep an eye on". [5] Rolling Stone commended Carlton's tendency to keep the song "busy with classical flourishes, rich voicings and harmonies reminiscent of Tori Amos", and included her on their "Top 10 Artists To Watch in 2002" list.

Promotion and chart performance

Both the album and single were given substantial promotion on AOL Music. [6]

In the U.S., "A Thousand Miles" was released as a CD single – with a live version of "Twilight", another track from Be Not Nobody – on February 12, and had entered the fop forty of the Billboard Hot 100 chart by late March. It peaked at number five for three weeks during late May and early June, and remained within the top forty until the following October. The Be Not Nobody album was released on April 30 and – partly due to the popularity of "A Thousand Miles" – debuted within the U.S. top five with first week sales of over 100,000 copies. [7] [8] The single was successful on several other Billboard formats and topped the ARC Weekly Top 40 for four weeks in June, becoming the biggest hit of the year on that chart. It was 2002's sixth most-played single on U.S. radio, and sold well in other countries (where it was promoted and released over the summer months). It was a top five hit in France, and managed to reach the top ten in other parts of Europe such as the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands. It was most popular in Australia, where it held the number one position on the ARIA Singles Chart for two weeks and became the sixth most successful single of the year. [9] It also reached the top twenty in Japan and Germany. E! Online said the song was "a bona fide hit for good reason. Catchy pop on the surface, it has melodic complexity beneath that bodes well for repeated listening". [10]

Carlton told ContactMusic.com of the first time she watched the single's music video, in which she is seen playing the piano whilst travelling through a variety of settings:

"I was in the studio and had just taken a break, when someone ran in the room and said, 'you're on MTV!' We put it on and I just stared at the screen. After a few minutes, I just covered my eyes and started to laugh. It seemed so surreal. The night after that, I heard the song on the radio for the first time. It was all so unbelievable". [11]

It received heavy airplay on the channel following its premiere on the top ten video show Total Request Live in early January, and was popular enough to be retired from the show's countdown on June 5, when the song was still high on the charts. There was speculation that bluescreen techniques had been utilised during its creation, but it was "100 percent real", according to Carlton. Carlton also felt that Marc Klasfeld (the video's director) "captured who I was in that video", and he was selected to directed the videos for the album's follow-up singles.

Legacy

"A Thousand Miles" was nominated for two Grammy Awards: Record of the Year and Song of the Year, losing both to Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why". It appears on the soundtrack to the film Legally Blonde (2001).

"A Thousand Miles" became popular amongst U.S. troops serving in Iraq (see 2003 Invasion of Iraq), and in April 2003 the Chicago Sun-Times reported that it had become the most requested song on the radio station BFBS Middle East. Carlton responded by saying: "Perhaps, 'A Thousand Miles' conveys the feelings and longing and desperation that the U.S. soldiers feel for their loved ones. I don't know. But whatever peace I am able to bring to the hearts of the people at war is a contribution that I am proud of". [12] [13]

A November 2004 review in the Village Voice compared the song's enduring popularity to the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus" (1967), describing it as "a ditty whose 'If I could fall into the sky/Do you think time would pass me by?' might be her generation's 'Sitting on a cornflake/Waiting for the van to come'". Hip hop musician Kanye West said of "A Thousand Miles", which he included on his iTunes celebrity playlist, that "this must be the white song that all black people like". The song was given a similar description by an African-American character in the comedy film White Chicks (2004): posing as a white teenage heiress, he refers to it as "like, the whitest song ever", while the girls who are listening to it with him declare it their "jam".

A writer for the Boston Phoenix said that with the song, Carlton "won favor with smart but awkward teenage girls who didn’t see themselves in more evidently constructed teen-pop personalities like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera". [14]

Track listings

• U.S. CD single

1. "A Thousand Miles" – 3:59
2. "Twilight" (live) – 4:07

Charts

Chart (2002)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	5
U.S. Adult Contemporary	1 (7 weeks)
U.S. Adult Top 40	2
U.S. Top 40 Mainstream	1
U.S. Top 40 Tracks	2
U.S. ARC Weekly Top 40	1 (4 weeks)
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	1 (2 weeks)
Brazil Singles Chart	8
France Singles Chart	5
Germany Singles Chart	14
Netherlands Singles Chart	6
Japan Singles Chart	15
Italy Singles Chart	6
UK Singles Chart	6
Europe Official Top 100	9
Chart (2003)	Peak position
U.S. Adult Contemporary	1
U.S. Adult Top 40	2
Chart (2004)	Peak position
U.S. Top 40 Adult Recurrents	1

Credits

• Vocals and piano – Vanessa Carlton
• Drums – Abe Laboriel Jr.
• Guitar – John Goux
• Bass – Leland Sklar
• Vibes, organ and harmonica – Ron Fair
• Luis Conte – percussion

References

• [15]
• [16]
• [17]
• [18]
• [19]
• [20]
• [21]

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