A Thousand Miles
Encyclopedia
"A Thousand Miles", originally titled "Interlude", is a pop
song written by American singer Vanessa Carlton
and recorded for her 2002 debut album Be Not Nobody
. It was co-produced and co-arranged by Carlton and Ron Fair
, and was released as the album's first single
in 2002. Her signature song, it became Carlton's breakthrough hit and one of the most popular songs of the year. It remains Carlton's biggest hit in the US to date, and her only single to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100
.
The song had widespread success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia
, where it was most successful, the top five in the United States
and Ireland
, and the top ten in the United Kingdom
, France
, Italy
, and the Netherlands.
It has been covered by numerous artists including Victoria Justice
, Never See Tomorrow
, David Archuleta
, as well as being sampled by T.I.
and Cheryl Cole
.
l arrangement, in which its protagonist (Carlton) pines for her lover, from whom she has been separated. Carlton said that she wrote the song about her grandfather who passed away a while ago. She has also called the song "a combination of reality and fantasy. It's about a love that so consumes you that you do anything for it. That's how I felt at that time".
. Carlton wrote the song's piano riff
in the summer of 1998 at her parents' house in Philadelphia; her mother, who had been listening to her, said, "Vanessa, that's a hit song." Carlton was unable to finish the song because of a case of writer's block
, and did not return to it for several months. While looking for a record label that would sign her, Carlton played the beginning of the song for a record producer, who said, "You have to finish that." She returned to her parents' home and finished it in an hour one evening, naming it "Interlude."
Some years later, Carlton recorded a demo tape (which featured several tracks, including "Interlude") and sent it to various producers and labels in the hopes that one would sign her. Some expressed interest, but Carlton did not agree with their suggestions for alternative titles for the song. One of the tapes found its way to Ron Fair, head of A&M Records
, who recalled that "It was extraordinary, but also in some respects kind of screwed up as a record. It didn't press the emotional buttons the way I envisioned it." Carlton met with Fair for a piano session to alter the arrangement of the song, "so the heartbeat came in a different way", Fair said.
During the session, more time signature
s and transitions were inserted into the song, and the timing of the repetition of the chorus was changed. Additionally, the instrumental opening was shortened and an orchestra section was added by Fair; the lyrics, however, remained the same. He explained: "It has a lot of starts and stops to it, which makes it hard to achieve a flow, but I wanted to make a really dramatic record. The song is like a mini musical of its own." "A Thousand Miles" took fourteen sessions to record, and was the first song recorded for Be Not Nobody. As well as conducting the orchestra, Fair also organized a small band for its recording: John Goux played guitar on the track, Lee Sklar played bass guitar
, and Abe Laboriel Jr. played drums. Carlton later said, "after listening to it I realized I was going to make an album that I was very proud of."
The selection of the song's title was accompanied by a minor disagreement between Carlton and Fair, who was reportedly "adamant" about changing it. Fair said, "Vanessa Carlton is an incredible talent, but she's also very stubborn... I had to say, 'Look, I'm the president of the label, we're not calling it "Interlude". ' When you're trying to launch a career, people need a handle to pick things up from, and the word 'Interlude' is never in the song". In its finished form, the song was first heard during a scene in the Reese Witherspoon
film Legally Blonde
(2001), and was featured on the film's soundtrack under the title "A Thousand Miles (Interlude)". The final title of the song, "A Thousand Miles", was based on a suggestion by Fair's nephew. After the song's completion, Fair said that he listened to it repeatedly and "it made me weep. That's usually my litmus test. If I cry, I know it's a hit".
Despite this, he was concerned that the song's piano basis would put it at a disadvantage in the marketplace if it were to be released as a single. Fair played "A Thousand Miles" in front of his superior Jimmy Iovine
, the co-chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M
. Iovine was very impressed with the song, and requested that a music video
be filmed immediately for it. After the video had been completed it was presented to Tom Calderone, the Vice President of Programming for MTV
, in early 2002. Calderone expressed a desire to begin broadcasting the video at once and Fair agreed to his request, even though the album was still in production at the time and Carlton's marketing "image" had not yet been developed.
on February 12 and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
later that month; it peaked at number five for three weeks in May and remained on the chart for 41 weeks. The album Be Not Nobody was released on April 30 and, partly because of the popularity of "A Thousand Miles", debuted in the U.S. top five with first-week sales of over 101,000 copies. The single was successful on several other Billboard formats and topped the 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 (ranking sixth on the Hot 100 2002 year-end chart), and sold well in other countries (where it was promoted and released over the summer months). It was a top five hit in Ireland
and 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 became the sixth most successful single of the year and held the number-one position on the ARIA
Singles Chart for two weeks, from August 11 to August 24. It replaced a Junkie XL
remix of "A Little Less Conversation
" by Elvis Presley
, and was itself replaced by Avril Lavigne
's "Complicated". It also reached the top 20 in 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". It failed to chart in Japan
.
Carlton told the website Contactmusic.com
of the first time she watched the single's music video, in which she is seen playing the piano while traveling through a variety of settings:
It received heavy airplay on the channel following its premiere on the top-ten video program Total Request Live
in early January, and was popular enough to be retired from the show's countdown. There was speculation that bluescreen techniques had been utilized during its creation, but according to Carlton it was "100 percent real"; she also said she felt that Marc Klasfeld
(the video's director) "captured who I was in that video", and he was selected to direct the video for the album's follow-up single, "Ordinary Day
".
Both the album and single were given substantial promotion on the Internet. AOL
Music reported that a 20-minute selection of video content involving Carlton that the website had hosted, including the "A Thousand Miles" video and Carlton's performance of the song for Sessions@AOL
, drew over one million requested downloads and stream
s prior to the release of Be Not Nobody. The Sessions recording of "A Thousand Miles" was later included on the album Sessions @ AOL, released in October 2003. The single version of the song is featured on the hits compilation Now That's What I Call Music!
Vol. 10 in the U.S., and the 53rd volume of the NOW! series in the UK.
The video is filmed near Los Angeles, California.
"Big in 2002" Awards, and it was nominated for three Grammy Award
s: "Record of the Year
", "Song of the Year
" and "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
". It lost "Song of the Year" and "Record of the Year" to Norah Jones
' "Don't Know Why
", while the "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)" award went to "Mean Old Man" performed by James Taylor
. The song became popular amongst U.S. troops serving in Iraq
, and in April 2003 the Chicago Sun-Times
reported that it had become the most requested song on the radio station British Forces Broadcasting Service
Middle East. Carlton responded, "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". By May 2003 the website Musicnotes had sold a record 10,000 pieces of digital sheet music
for "A Thousand Miles", and it won the website's "Song of the Year" award. The song's production team was nominated for a 2003 Technical Excellence & Creativity Award in the category of "Outstanding Creative Achievement in Record Production — Single or Track".
The song won critical acclaim from music critics. 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." Most other critics gave Be Not Nobody mixed reviews, but generally praised the song. Allmusic wrote: "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". Sean Richardson of the Boston Phoenix made favourable comparisons between "A Thousand Miles" and Michelle Branch
's debut single "Everywhere", saying, "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". Adrien Begrand of PopMatters
magazine said the song was "catchy and hard to dislike", but characterized it 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".
"A Thousand Miles" continued to receive regular rotation on Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 radio stations two years after its original release, and Billboard magazine has named it "one of the most enduring songs of the millennium". Carlton has said that other rappers such as Fabolous
and Ja Rule
"really like this song." An African-American posing as a white teenage heiress in the comedy film White Chicks
(2004) refers to it as "like, the whitest song ever", while the girls who are listening to it with him declare it their "jam", it's played again two more times in the film when Terry Crews
' character sings this song to Marlon Wayans
' character, and when Terry Crews' character sings it to the Wilson twins. Terry Crews' character in the film sings along with it and shakes his head hard when he hears the orchestrated hook.
The song is Carlton's most successful single, and her only top twenty hit in the U.S.; her next highest peaking single, "Ordinary Day", went no higher than the top forty. Carlton told VH1 in 2004, "I just sit down and write my songs ... It just kind of happened and it will never happen again like that." 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
", and Slant magazine said it "helped pave the way for an industry beginning to take a turn away from bubblegum pop
". The opening piano melody to the song was used in U.S. jewellery retailer Zales
' holiday ad campaign in late 2006 and 2007.
UK enhanced CD single
Australian CD single
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song written by American singer Vanessa Carlton
Vanessa Carlton
Vanessa Lee Carlton is an American singer-songwriter and musician. Upon completion of her education at the School of American Ballet, Carlton chose to pursue singing instead, performing in New York bars and clubs while attending university. Three months after recording a demo with producer Peter...
and recorded for her 2002 debut album Be Not Nobody
Be Not Nobody
Be Not Nobody is the debut album by American singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton, released in 2002 on A&M Records."A Thousand Miles" was the first single from the album. It reached the top five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number one in Australia and the top ten in the United Kingdom...
. It was co-produced and co-arranged by Carlton and Ron Fair
Ron Fair
Ron Fair is a veteran A&R executive, record producer arranger, recording engineer and songwriter. In a career that has spanned over 30 years at major record labels he has produced and arranged hits for several artists, but he is best known as a "guru/mentor", guiding the careers of unknown artists...
, and was released as the album's first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
in 2002. Her signature song, it became Carlton's breakthrough hit and one of the most popular songs of the year. It remains Carlton's biggest hit in the US to date, and her only single to reach the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
.
The song had widespread success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where it was most successful, the top five in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, and the top ten in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and the Netherlands.
It has been covered by numerous artists including Victoria Justice
Victoria Justice
Victoria Justice is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious...
, Never See Tomorrow
Never See Tomorrow
Never See Tomorrow are an Australian metalcore band that formed in 2006. Their debut EP To The Depths was released in 2007 starting a run of shows that inevitably saw the group gain attention in the Australian Hardcore/Metal scene.-To The Depths EP:...
, David Archuleta
David Archuleta
David Archuleta, is a former United States Air Force Airman of Okinawan stationary troops and is currently an American male kickboxer.-Biography:...
, as well as being sampled by T.I.
T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
and Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Cole
Cheryl Ann Cole is an English pop and R&B recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls...
.
Song
"A Thousand Miles" is a piano-driven pop song supported by a string orchestraOrchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l arrangement, in which its protagonist (Carlton) pines for her lover, from whom she has been separated. Carlton said that she wrote the song about her grandfather who passed away a while ago. She has also called the song "a combination of reality and fantasy. It's about a love that so consumes you that you do anything for it. That's how I felt at that time".
Composition and recording
"A Thousand Miles" is written in the key of B majorB major
In music theory, B major is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps....
. Carlton wrote the song's piano riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
in the summer of 1998 at her parents' house in Philadelphia; her mother, who had been listening to her, said, "Vanessa, that's a hit song." Carlton was unable to finish the song because of a case of writer's block
Writer's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
, and did not return to it for several months. While looking for a record label that would sign her, Carlton played the beginning of the song for a record producer, who said, "You have to finish that." She returned to her parents' home and finished it in an hour one evening, naming it "Interlude."
Some years later, Carlton recorded a demo tape (which featured several tracks, including "Interlude") and sent it to various producers and labels in the hopes that one would sign her. Some expressed interest, but Carlton did not agree with their suggestions for alternative titles for the song. One of the tapes found its way to Ron Fair, head of A&M Records
A&M Records
A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:...
, who recalled that "It was extraordinary, but also in some respects kind of screwed up as a record. It didn't press the emotional buttons the way I envisioned it." Carlton met with Fair for a piano session to alter the arrangement of the song, "so the heartbeat came in a different way", Fair said.
During the session, more time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....
s and transitions were inserted into the song, and the timing of the repetition of the chorus was changed. Additionally, the instrumental opening was shortened and an orchestra section was added by Fair; the lyrics, however, remained the same. He explained: "It has a lot of starts and stops to it, which makes it hard to achieve a flow, but I wanted to make a really dramatic record. The song is like a mini musical of its own." "A Thousand Miles" took fourteen sessions to record, and was the first song recorded for Be Not Nobody. As well as conducting the orchestra, Fair also organized a small band for its recording: John Goux played guitar on the track, Lee Sklar played bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, and Abe Laboriel Jr. played drums. Carlton later said, "after listening to it I realized I was going to make an album that I was very proud of."
The selection of the song's title was accompanied by a minor disagreement between Carlton and Fair, who was reportedly "adamant" about changing it. Fair said, "Vanessa Carlton is an incredible talent, but she's also very stubborn... I had to say, 'Look, I'm the president of the label, we're not calling it "Interlude". ' When you're trying to launch a career, people need a handle to pick things up from, and the word 'Interlude' is never in the song". In its finished form, the song was first heard during a scene in the Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon
Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon , better known as Reese Witherspoon, is an American actress and film producer. Witherspoon landed her first feature role as the female lead in the film The Man in the Moon in 1991; later that year she made her television acting debut, in the cable movie Wildflower...
film Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde
Legally Blonde is a 2001 American comedy film directed by Robert Luketic, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, and produced by Marc E. Platt...
(2001), and was featured on the film's soundtrack under the title "A Thousand Miles (Interlude)". The final title of the song, "A Thousand Miles", was based on a suggestion by Fair's nephew. After the song's completion, Fair said that he listened to it repeatedly and "it made me weep. That's usually my litmus test. If I cry, I know it's a hit".
Despite this, he was concerned that the song's piano basis would put it at a disadvantage in the marketplace if it were to be released as a single. Fair played "A Thousand Miles" in front of his superior Jimmy Iovine
Jimmy Iovine
James "Jimmy" Iovine is an American music producer, entrepreneur and chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M.-Biography:...
, the co-chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M
Interscope-Geffen-A&M
Interscope-Geffen-A&M is an umbrella label, owned by Universal Music Group. The company was formed in 1999, when Geffen Records and A&M Records were merged into Interscope Records—the flagship imprint of the operation....
. Iovine was very impressed with the song, and requested that a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
be filmed immediately for it. After the video had been completed it was presented to Tom Calderone, the Vice President of Programming for MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, in early 2002. Calderone expressed a desire to begin broadcasting the video at once and Fair agreed to his request, even though the album was still in production at the time and Carlton's marketing "image" had not yet been developed.
Promotion and chart performance
In the U.S. "A Thousand Miles" was released as a CD singleCD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
on February 12 and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
later that month; it peaked at number five for three weeks in May and remained on the chart for 41 weeks. The album Be Not Nobody was released on April 30 and, partly because of the popularity of "A Thousand Miles", debuted in the U.S. top five with first-week sales of over 101,000 copies. The single was successful on several other Billboard formats and topped the 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 (ranking sixth on the Hot 100 2002 year-end chart), and sold well in other countries (where it was promoted and released over the summer months). It was a top five hit in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and managed to reach the top ten in other parts of Europe such as the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. It was most popular in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where it became the sixth most successful single of the year and held the number-one position on the ARIA
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...
Singles Chart for two weeks, from August 11 to August 24. It replaced a Junkie XL
Junkie XL
Tom Holkenborg , better known as Junkie XL or JXL, is a Dutch musician. He uses the name JXL in cases where the term "Junkie" might cause offense. XL is for "Xpanding Limits"....
remix of "A Little Less Conversation
A Little Less Conversation
"A Little Less Conversation" is a song written by Mac Davis and Billy Strange that was originally performed and written for American rock and roll icon Elvis Presley for the 1968 film Live a Little, Love a Little. When the song was released as a single with "Almost in Love" as the b-side, it became...
" by Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, and was itself replaced by Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
's "Complicated". It also reached the top 20 in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. 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". It failed to chart in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Carlton told the website Contactmusic.com
Contactmusic.com
Contactmusic.com is a Leeds UK based entertainment magazine/webzine. The site was launched in April 2000 by a small team and has now expanded to 12 fulltime staff and many freelance contributors from across the globe...
of the first time she watched the single's music video, in which she is seen playing the piano while traveling 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."
It received heavy airplay on the channel following its premiere on the top-ten video program Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
in early January, and was popular enough to be retired from the show's countdown. There was speculation that bluescreen techniques had been utilized during its creation, but according to Carlton it was "100 percent real"; she also said she felt that Marc Klasfeld
Marc Klasfeld
Marc Klasfeld is an American music video director. He has directed over two hundred music videos for artists such as Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Kid Rock, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nelly, Foo Fighters, Jewel, Sum 41, Avril Lavigne and many others with multiple MTV award wins and nominations...
(the video's director) "captured who I was in that video", and he was selected to direct the video for the album's follow-up single, "Ordinary Day
Ordinary Day (Vanessa Carlton song)
"Ordinary Day", originally called Ordinary Days, is a song written and performed by Vanessa Carlton from her album Be Not Nobody. The single peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Carlton wrote the song when she was 17...
".
Both the album and single were given substantial promotion on the Internet. AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
Music reported that a 20-minute selection of video content involving Carlton that the website had hosted, including the "A Thousand Miles" video and Carlton's performance of the song for Sessions@AOL
Sessions@AOL
Sessions@AOL is a special avenue of programming conducted by AOL Music. Originally an AOL exclusive, Sessions@AOL can now also be seen as an avenue for non-AOL users as well. Sessions@AOL consists of exclusive and intimate performances of songs by popular musicians, with likes of bands such as...
, drew over one million requested downloads and stream
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
s prior to the release of Be Not Nobody. The Sessions recording of "A Thousand Miles" was later included on the album Sessions @ AOL, released in October 2003. The single version of the song is featured on the hits compilation Now That's What I Call Music!
Now That's What I Call Music!
Now That's What I Call Music! is a series of various artists compilation albums released in the United Kingdom and Ireland by Polygram /EMI/Sony Music/Virgin Records ; spinoff series were later introduced in South Africa and many other countries worldwide, including the United States...
Vol. 10 in the U.S., and the 53rd volume of the NOW! series in the UK.
Music video
The video begins with Carlton going into her garage and throwing a sheet off her piano. She starts playing and the song begins, and while she's playing, the piano starts moving outside near parades downtown, joggers out on the road, through the beach, and other parts of the city. At the end of the video, she's back in her garage where the video began and she gets up and leaves the garage.The video is filmed near Los Angeles, California.
Reception, awards and legacy
"A Thousand Miles" won in the "Can't Get You out of My Head" category at the VH1VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
"Big in 2002" Awards, and it was nominated for three Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s: "Record of the Year
Grammy Award for Record of the Year
The Record of the Year is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards presented annually. It has been awarded since 1959.-History:The honorees through its history have been:*1959-1965: Artist only.*1966-1998: Artist and producer....
", "Song of the Year
Grammy Award for Song of the Year
The Song of the Year is one of the four most prestigious awards in the Grammy Awards ceremony, if not in all of the American music industry. It has been awarded since 1959 and unlike the Record of the Year award, which goes to the performer and production team of a single song, Song of the Year...
" and "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
The Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist has been awarded since 1963. The award is presented to the arranger of the music.There have been several minor changes to the name of the award:...
". It lost "Song of the Year" and "Record of the Year" to Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
' "Don't Know Why
Don't Know Why
"Don't Know Why" is a jazz song written by Jesse Harris which originally appeared on his 1999 album, Jesse Harris & the Ferdinandos. It was the second single by Norah Jones from her breakthrough 2002 album Come Away with Me. Although Jones's version only peaked at number thirty on the U.S...
", while the "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)" award went to "Mean Old Man" performed by James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
. The song became popular amongst U.S. troops serving in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, and in April 2003 the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
reported that it had become the most requested song on the radio station British Forces Broadcasting Service
British Forces Broadcasting Service
The British Forces Broadcasting Service provides radio and television programmes for HM Forces, and their dependents, in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Brunei, Canada, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Kosovo, the Middle East, Northern Ireland and Tristan da Cunha as well as a live satellite...
Middle East. Carlton responded, "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". By May 2003 the website Musicnotes had sold a record 10,000 pieces of digital sheet music
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
for "A Thousand Miles", and it won the website's "Song of the Year" award. The song's production team was nominated for a 2003 Technical Excellence & Creativity Award in the category of "Outstanding Creative Achievement in Record Production — Single or Track".
The song won critical acclaim from music critics. 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." Most other critics gave Be Not Nobody mixed reviews, but generally praised the song. Allmusic wrote: "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". Sean Richardson of the Boston Phoenix made favourable comparisons between "A Thousand Miles" and Michelle Branch
Michelle Branch
Michelle Jacquet DeSevren Branch is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and actress. During the early 2000s, she released two top-selling albums, The Spirit Room and Hotel Paper, and was subsequently nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2003...
's debut single "Everywhere", saying, "it's a good-natured reverie, with none of the troubled soul searching that characterizes the work of Tori
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
and Fiona
Fiona Apple
Fiona Apple McAfee Maggart is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Apple met international acclaim for her 1996 debut album, Tidal, which was a critical and commercial success...
. She occasionally evokes her piano-playing predecessors by raising her girlish voice to a howl, but she's better off being herself". Adrien Begrand of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
magazine said the song was "catchy and hard to dislike", but characterized it 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".
"A Thousand Miles" continued to receive regular rotation on Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 radio stations two years after its original release, and Billboard magazine has named it "one of the most enduring songs of the millennium". Carlton has said that other rappers such as Fabolous
Fabolous
John David Jackson , better known by his stage name Fabolous, is an American rapper of African American and Dominican descent. He grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Part of his early popularity arose from his hit single "Can't Deny It" in 2001, from his debut...
and Ja Rule
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Atkins , better known by his stage name Ja Rule, is an American rapper, singer, and actor.Born in Hollis, Queens, he began his career in the group Cash Money Click and debuted in 1999 with Venni Vetti Vecci and its single "Holla Holla"...
"really like this song." An African-American posing as a white teenage heiress in the comedy film White Chicks
White Chicks
White Chicks is a 2004 American film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans and written and produced by Keenen Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans. The film was produced by Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios...
(2004) refers to it as "like, the whitest song ever", while the girls who are listening to it with him declare it their "jam", it's played again two more times in the film when Terry Crews
Terry Crews
Terrence Alan "Terry" Crews is an American actor, comedian, voice artist and a former player in the National Football League....
' character sings this song to Marlon Wayans
Marlon Wayans
Marlon L. Wayans is an American actor, model producer, comedian, writer, and director of movies, beginning with his role as a pedestrian in I'm Gonna Git You Sucka in 1988...
' character, and when Terry Crews' character sings it to the Wilson twins. Terry Crews' character in the film sings along with it and shakes his head hard when he hears the orchestrated hook.
The song is Carlton's most successful single, and her only top twenty hit in the U.S.; her next highest peaking single, "Ordinary Day", went no higher than the top forty. Carlton told VH1 in 2004, "I just sit down and write my songs ... It just kind of happened and it will never happen again like that." 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
Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Kentwood, Louisiana, Spears began performing as a child, landing acting roles in stage productions and television shows. She signed with Jive Records in 1997 and released her debut album...
and Christina Aguilera
Christina Aguilera
Christina María Aguilera is an American recording artist and actress. Aguilera first appeared on national television in 1990 as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star in Disney Channel's television series The Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994...
", and Slant magazine said it "helped pave the way for an industry beginning to take a turn away from bubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop
Bubblegum pop is a genre of pop music with an upbeat sound contrived and marketed to appeal to pre-teens and teenagers, produced in an assembly-line process, driven by producers, often using unknown singers.Bubblegum's classic period ran from 1967 to 1972...
". The opening piano melody to the song was used in U.S. jewellery retailer Zales
Zale Corporation
The Zale Corporation is, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, a leading specialty retailer of jewelry in North America. The Zale Corporation was incorporated in Delaware in 1993...
' holiday ad campaign in late 2006 and 2007.
Cover versions
- Australian MetalcoreMetalcoreMetalcore is a subgenre of heavy metal combining various elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two genres. The term took on its current meaning in the mid-1990s, describing bands such as Earth Crisis, Deadguy and Integrity...
band Never See TomorrowNever See TomorrowNever See Tomorrow are an Australian metalcore band that formed in 2006. Their debut EP To The Depths was released in 2007 starting a run of shows that inevitably saw the group gain attention in the Australian Hardcore/Metal scene.-To The Depths EP:...
covered the song. - Band Artist V.S. Poet covered the song.
- "A Thousand Miles" was covered by singer-songwriter David ArchuletaDavid ArchuletaDavid Archuleta, is a former United States Air Force Airman of Okinawan stationary troops and is currently an American male kickboxer.-Biography:...
, - Rapper T.I.T.I.Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. , better known by his stage name T.I., is an American rap artist, film and music producer, actor and author. He is also the founder and co-chief executive officer of Grand Hustle Records....
sampled it for the song "All Night" - The song was also sampled on Cheryl ColeCheryl ColeCheryl Ann Cole is an English pop and R&B recording artist, songwriter, dancer, actress and model. She rose to fame in late 2002 when she auditioned for the reality television show Popstars: The Rivals on ITV. The programme announced that Cole had won a place as a member of the girl group, Girls...
's second album "Messy Little RaindropsMessy Little RaindropsMessy Little Raindrops is the second studio album by British recording artist Cheryl Cole, released on 29 October 2010 by Fascination Records. The project is the follow-up to Cole's multi-platinum debut solo album 3 Words , following seven successful years as a member of girl group Girls Aloud...
", on track 12, "Waiting". - A Spanish-language adaptation of the song entitled "Para estar junto a ti" was recorded by Costa Rican.
- Pop group EscatsEscatsEscats is a jazz band from Costa Rica and it's composed of three members: Luis Alonso Naranjo , Kin Rivera Jr and Nelson Segura - About the Band :...
included a cover of Carlton's song on their debut album entitled Para quien quiera que seas, donde quiera que estés. - Victoria JusticeVictoria JusticeVictoria Justice is an American actress, singer-songwriter, and dancer. She debuted as an actress at the age of 10 and has since appeared in several films and television series including the Nickelodeon series Zoey 101 and Victorious...
covered the song as a debut single. - Ronan ParkeRonan ParkeRonan David Parke is an English singer from Poringland, Norfolk, UK who came runner-up in the fifth series of ITV show Britain's Got Talent, despite being the bookies' favorite to win. After the show, it was reported that Ronan had signed a joint record deal with Sony Music...
is due to release the song as his debut single.
Formats and track listings
American and Canadian CD single- "A Thousand Miles" — 3:59
- "Twilight" (live) — 4:07
UK enhanced CD single
- "A Thousand Miles" — 3:59
- "Paradise" (piano/vocal version)
- "Red Ditty"
- "A Thousand Miles" (music video) — 3:59
Australian CD single
- "A Thousand Miles" — 3:59
- "Twilight" (live) — 4:07
- "Wanted" (Ripe mix)
- "A Thousand Miles" (music video) — 3:59
Personnel
- Vanessa Carlton - Vocals and piano
- Andy Nixon - Drums
- John Goux - Guitar
- Leland SklarLeland SklarLeland "Lee" Bruce Sklar is an American musician, singer-songwriter and film score composer. A prominent bass guitarist, Sklar has contributed to thousands of albums as a session musician...
- Bass guitar - Ron FairRon FairRon Fair is a veteran A&R executive, record producer arranger, recording engineer and songwriter. In a career that has spanned over 30 years at major record labels he has produced and arranged hits for several artists, but he is best known as a "guru/mentor", guiding the careers of unknown artists...
- VibesVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
, organ and harmonicaHarmonicaThe harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes... - Luis ConteLuis ConteLuis Conte is a Cuban percussionist.-Early years:As a child in Cuba, Conte began his musical odyssey playing the guitar. However, he soon switched to percussion, and that has remained his mode since....
- Percussion
Peak positions
| Chart (2002) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... Singles Chart |
1 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 12 |
| Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart | 4 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart | 8 |
| Danish Singles Chart | 3 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 6 |
| French SNEP Singles Chart | 8 |
| German Singles Chart | 14 |
| Irish IRMA Singles Chart | 3 |
| Italian FIMI Singles Chart | 6 |
| Japan Singles Chart | 15 |
| New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart | 4 |
| Norwegian Singles Chart | 14 |
| Swedish Singles Chart | 30 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 8 |
| UK Singles Chart | 6 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
5 |
| U.S. Billboard Pop Songs | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Top 40 | 2 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Top 40 Tracks Top 40 Tracks Top 40 Tracks is a defunct airplay chart from Billboard Magazine. It was created in 1998, when Billboard Magazine changed the airplay profile of The Hot 100 Airplay to include more R&B, Country, and Rock stations to its profile . To preserve the notion of the former chart, Top 40 Tracks was... |
2 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (2002) | Position |
|---|---|
| Australian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Austrian Singles Chart | 74 |
| Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart | 20 |
| Belgian (Wallonia) Singles Chart | 49 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 9 |
| French Singles Chart | 57 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart | 2 |
| Swiss Singles Chart | 20 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification | Date | Sales certified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 2 x Platinum | 2002 | 140,000 |
| Belgium | Gold | October 12, 2002 | 25,000 |
| France | Silver | February 5, 2003 | 125,000 |
| New Zealand | Gold | October 6, 2002 | 7,500 |