Stories Behind the Song - A Thousand Miles

A Thousand Miles is the second song in our Stories Behind the Song series. This is the third song I wrote. By the way, when I say song, I mean lyrics. In my opinion, the song isn’t born until Len adds the music.

We refer to this song as the “lazy river” song because you feel like you could be sitting in a tube floating down the river when you listen to it. I can’t remember exactly where the idea came from, but the words to the chorus came pretty quick. The main idea is that even if we have traveled a long way (a thousand miles) on a road that is not the best for us we can make a change and go another direction. Each verse covers a different road. Verse 1 depicts walking down a dark path. Verse 2 is a path that leads to more happiness and serenity. Verse 3 is the looking back on life after finding the better path in verse 2 and also looking toward an eternal future. You’ll notice that the last two lines of each verse and the chorus that follows is slightly different.

Len laid down the main melody of the song when we were sitting out at the firepit on our back patio. He says that when he read the words, he thought this song might have a John Denver influence. He played around with different chord and strum patterns before finally hitting on a great melody. Once he started singing the words I knew this was going to be a song that people would like. It was fun to watch the process. As always, we put the finishing touches on when the rest of the band, Tim on keyboard, Neil on lead guitar, and John on bass added their own special touches.

Fun fact: This was the third song Len and I ever wrote.

We updated the Back to Eden webpage. You can check out our music page on our website - https://www.back-2-eden.com/media. Find A Thousand Miles.

Lyrics for A Thousand Miles – Back 2 Eden

Verse 1

I feel the bite of the cold night air

The path is worn and the trees are bare

The stars appear in the black winter sky

The full moon glows way up high

I’m heading to nowhere. I gotta get there fast

Cause God only knows how long this road will last

Chorus

A thousand miles on a one-way street

Doin’ my own thing…on repeat.

Taking a new road, shaking off this heavy load.

Feet on the ground. Turning this crazy life around.

I’m heading to nowhere. I gotta get there fast

Cause God knows how long this road will last

Verse 2

I see spring flowers in the fields below

The path is narrow, but it’s the way to go.