500 Miles

History

The song is generally credited as being written by Hedy West,Blood, Peter and Annie Patterson (eds), Rise Up Singing, Sing Out Corporation, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , United States, 1992, p. 232 and a 1961 copyright is held by Atzal Music, Inc. "500 Miles" is West's "most anthologized song". Some recordings have also credited Curly Williams, or John Phillips as co-writers, although Phillips admitted he had only rearranged it and "didn't deserve the credit". David Neale writes that "500 Miles" may be related to the older folk song "900 Miles" (Roud 4959), which may itself have origins in the Southern American fiddle tunes "Reuben's Train" and "Train 45".{{cite book |access-date = 2012-02-19}} Johnny Cash is known to have included "500 Miles" on his list of 100 essential country songs in the early 1970s.

Folklorist Norm Cohen writes that a distance of 900 miles, rather than 500, is most commonly referenced in versions of the traditional song, but other distances, including 400 miles and 10,000 miles also appear.

The melody of "500 Miles" is very close to that of “You’ll Never Miss Your Mother Till She’s Gone", written by Harry Birch, an alias of Charles A. White, and published by White, Smith, and Company of Boston, Massachusetts in 1885. Both "You'll Never Miss Your Mother Till She's Gone" and "900 Miles" were first recorded by Fiddlin' John Carson in 1923-4.

Bobby Bare version

| B-side = It All Depends on Linda

The most commercially successful version of the song was Bobby Bare's in 1963. His version became a top-10 hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, as well as a top-five hit on both the Country and Adult Contemporary charts.

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Other cover versions

• The song appears on the 1961 eponymous debut album by The Journeymen; this may have been its first release.
• The song was heard on the February 1962 Kingston Trio live album College Concert (a 1962 US number three).
• It was further popularized by Peter, Paul and Mary, who included the song on their debut album in May 1962.
• It appears as "Nine Hundred Miles“ on the 1962 album When I Was a Young Girl from folk-singer Barbara Dane (released in October 1962).
• American country music singer Bobby Bare recorded a version with new lyrics, which became a hit single in 1963.
• Dick and Dee Dee released a version of the song on their 1964 album, Turn Around.
• The song was covered by Sonny & Cher on their 1965 album Look at Us. This version was played over the credits of the 1966 BBC TV film Cathy Come Home.
• The lyrics feature heavily in the Bob Dylan song "I Was Young When I Left Home".
• Bluegrass versions were recorded by The Country Gentlemen on their album 25 Years and The Seldom Scene on their album Act I.
• The Hooters recorded a version of this song with additional lyrics, dedicated to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Peter, Paul and Mary provided background vocals for them, as well. This version is on the album Zig Zag.
• It has also been recorded by Terry Callier (as ″900 Miles″ on The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier), Lonnie Donegan, The Brothers Four, Glen Campbell, Johnny Rivers, Reba McEntire, Jackie DeShannon, The Seekers, Elvis Presley, Peter and Gordon, Eric Bibb, Hootenanny Singers, Joan Baez, Takako Matsu, The Persuasions, Slater Rhea, Bad Astronaut, and many others.
• The song was performed by Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, and Stark Sands for the soundtrack of the film Inside Llewyn Davis.
• Rosanne Cash covered the song on her 2009 album The List.
• In 2012, the song was recorded by American bluegrass band, The Special Consensus for their album Scratch Gravel Road.
• Niger's pioneer of electronic music Mamman Sani recorded an instrumental version, which is included in the compilation album Unreleased Tapes 1981-1984.
• The song's tune with a few slight lyric changes has been incorporated into the reggae song "Roach Killer" by Super Chick.
• The song is also covered by Clint Eastwood & General Saint in their hit song "Stop That Train", although the covered part is not to be heard until halfway into the song.
• Being a well-documented song publicised by English Folk Dance and Song Society, and Mainly Norfolk, the song was recorded by Jon Boden and Oli Steadman for inclusion in their respective lists of daily folk songs "A Folk Song A Day"{{cite web|url=https://www.afolksongaday.com/?page_id=5354|title=A Folk Song A Day: Song List |access-date=12 January 2024}} and "365 Days Of Folk".

In other languages

Albanian

Ilirët sang the song in Albanian.

Assamese

Jayanta Hazarika sang in Assamese "Ketiyaba Bejarote" (English: :Sometimes When in Grief") in 1962. Again, in 2018, Zubeen Garg sang "Kot Mur Maa" (English: Where’s My Mom) for a drama of Aawahan Mobile Theatre group.

Bengali

Bengali singer Anjan Dutt sung the song in Bengali called "Mr. Hall" in his 1997 album Keu Gaan Gaye.

Chinese

In 2017, a Chinese adaptation of the song called "别送我" (English: "Don't Send Me Off") was released on the soundtrack of Duckweed and sung by Chen Hongyu, Su Zixu, Liu Hao Lin, and Han Luo.

Czech

A Czech version was recorded in 1967 as "Tisíc mil" (English: "Thousand Miles") with the lyrics by Ivo Fischer, sung as a duet by Waldemar Matuška and Helena Vondráčková. and other version 500 mil performed by Rangers-Plavci

Finnish

In Finnish, the song has been recorded under at least five different scores, by Jukka Raitanen. This time, it was called "Liian kaukana" (English: "Too Far Away"). Lyrics were written by Raul Reiman. This song was released on Raitanen's album Yölinjalla. "Yölinjalla(in)" song is a Finnish version of the song "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash.

Moreover, "500 Miles" has also been released with religious content under the name "Lapsuuden usko" (English: "Childhood Faith"), with lyrics by Matti Nyberg. This version has been recorded at least three times in 1973, 2005, and 2011. It was released by a parish singer group Dominicones in 1973. In 2005 it was recorded by actor and singer Mikko Leppilampi. The song was released on album Tilkkutäkki (English: Quilt, by various artists), and targeted to people who want to remember the time of their confirmation on Lutheran church. In 2011, it was recorded by Petrus (real name Petri Kokko, born 1970) in his album Enkelten laulut (English: The Songs of Angels).

French

The song was adapted by lyricist Jacques Plante under the title Et j'entends siffler le train (English: "I Hear the Train Whistling"). It was sung by Richard Anthony, who had a hit with it. His recording reached number one in France in 1962. According to Richard Anthony, the song struck a chord with young French soldiers who were leaving for the Algerian War.

Hugues Aufray also sang it, but his version was not as successful. Anthony's version was covered by Franco Battiato on his 1999 album Fleurs. In 2011, Hugues Aufray rerecorded the song in a duet with Françoise Hardy on his album Troubadour since 1948.

German

In 1963 a German version, "Und dein Zug fährt durch die Nacht" (English: "And Your Train Goes Through the Night"), was a success for Peter Beil. Also in German, Santiano in 2012 released a marine-themed version, "500 Meilen", on their album Bis ans Ende der Welt.

Hebrew

A Hebrew version by Aviva Marks is called, "500 מייל" in 1966. The meaning of the name is "500 Miles", and it came part of her album Sweeter than Wine ("מתוק מיין"). The song is mostly translation to Hebrew.

Hindi

Indian composer Rajesh Roshan used the tune to compose "Jab Koyi Baat Bigad Jaaye" (English: "When Things Go Wrong") in 1990's movie Jurm.

Indonesian

The tune of this song has been used in religious contents in Indonesia, in the widely popular book of songs and praise for Catholics in Indonesia, Madah Bakti, song number 366 "Ya Tuhan Kami Datang".

Japanese

The Japanese duo Wink included it as the B side of their 1989 single 淋しい熱帯魚, under the title 背中 まで 500 マイル. In 2018, Japanese singer Kiyoe Yoshioka sang a Japanese version of the song, "500 Mairu" (500マイル) on her debut album Uta Iro.

Slovenian

Slovene singer Lado Leskovar wrote a 1965 hit based on the song titled "Poslednji vlak" (English: "The Last Train").

Spanish

Costa Rican rock band Los Rufos recorded a Spanish version under the title "500 Millas" in 1967. A similar version was recorded by the Nicaraguan band Los Rockets.

Vietnamese

Two versions in Vietnamese have been recorded. One is "Tiễn em lần cuối" ("Send You Off for the Last Time") sung by Trung Hanh; another one is "Người tình ngàn dặm" ("Thousand-mile-away Lover") sung by Ngọc Lan.

In media

Peter, Paul & Mary's version of the song was used in:

• Rocky Mountain Express: 2011 Canadian film, which chronicles the early history of the Canadian Pacific Railway while following restored steam locomotive Canadian Pacific 2816 along the route.
• Mr Inbetween: 2018-21 Australian TV series used it in season two, episode eight: "You'll See Me in Your Dreams".
• Professor T.: 2021 Crime Drama featuring Ben Miller used the version in season one, episode four: "Mother Love".
• In the 2022 film Bullet Train, a version of the song is used by Song For Memories.
• Episode four in season two of the BBC Drama The Responder ends with The Journeymen version of the song.

References

References

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3. Hunt, Ken. (3 August 2005). "Obituary: Hedy West". The Independent.
4. "Elvis Presley: Original Versions of Songs He Sang".
5. Phillips, John: Papa John. An Autobiography, Doubleday & Co. 1986, {{ISBN. 978-0440167839, p. 118
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7. Gross, Terry. (5 October 2009). "Rosanne Cash Runs Down Her Father's 'List'".
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23. (12 November 2013). "Various artists: Inside Llewyn Davis".
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30. "Helena Vondráčková | Tisíc mil".
31. (1979). "Jukka Raitanen – Yölinjalla (1979, Vinyl)".
32. "Cover versions of 500 Miles written by Hedy West".
33. (1973). "Dominicones – Ihminen (1973, Vinyl)".
34. "Tilkkutäkki - Kitara, Tähdet Ja Taivas (2005, CD)".
35. (31 May 2012). "Mikko Leppilampi - Lapsuuden usko".
36. "Petri Kokko".
37. "InfoDisc: Les Bilans Récapitulatifs (Chansons, Tubes ou Succès) des Titres N° 1".
38. (21 August 2017). "'Jab Koi Baat Bigad Jaaye' copied from 'Five Hundred Miles'".
39. (28 May 2014). "Jab koi baat bigad jaye–500 miles away from home".
40. (21 December 2009). "Five Hundred miles / Jab koi baat bigar jaie comparison".
41. "Ikimonogakari Vocalist Kiyoe Yoshioka Announces Debut Solo Album "Uta Iro"".
42. "Iz naftalina: Lado Leskovar – Poslednji vlak - siol.net".
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44. (1965). "Los Rockets – Thelma / 500 Millas (1965, Vinyl)".