a thousand miles vanessa carlton

Vanessa Carlton’s ‘A Thousand Miles’ Is The Only Truly Perfect Song

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Before early 2002, the music industry was a sad and solemn place. Eminem was topping the charts and Nickelback released their first single. Need I say more? No one could have predicted that one young woman and one piano riff would change the game forever.

Vanessa Carlton’s debut single ‘A Thousand Miles’ is the perfect song and nothing — seriously, NOTHING — will ever compare.

The track was huge in the early ’00s and on constant rotation on the radio. It’s not surprising that ‘A Thousand Miles’ was most successful in Australia, which was the only country to make the single number one on the charts and the song went on to become the sixth most successful single of the year.

Let’s listen to it right now, because I know you’re gagging for it:

Weirdly enough, if it was up to Carlton the song would have been titled ‘Interlude’, but the president of her record label insisted it be called ‘A Thousand Miles.’ Another record label suggested the name should be ‘Downtown Tonight’.

The horror.

Thankfully, Carlton conceded that ‘A Thousand Miles’ is the song’s rightful name and the rest, as they say, is history. While the track was released 18 years ago, it lives on in pop culture on loads on soundtracks — most notably featuring in White Chicks. Terry Crews lip-syncing the iconic track will never not be hilarious.

The song became instantly recognisable for its piano riff. As soon as those keys chime, I start to FEEL THINGS.

Then there’s the chorus, which doesn’t make a lot of sense but I still feel THE EMOTIONS. Let’s break it down:

If I could fall into the sky,
Do you think time would pass me by?
‘Cause you know I’d walk a thousand miles,
If I could just see you tonight.

I dunno, Vanessa. Can you fall into the sky? Would this affect the space-time continuum and stop time? Would walking a thousand miles help achieve this? Why tonight? Are you busy, tomorrow? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS.

Then there’s the music video which is a wild ride — literally. Vanessa is riding a mechanical piano, whizzing through towns, along highways, and up coastlines, while tapping along on the keys.

I dunno if it’s a green screen or what’s going on but it’s deeply weird to rewatch.

Here she is on a beach surrounded by wild horses. SHE GETS AROUND.

This seems slightly hazardous. Watch your head, Vanessa!

Here she is competing in a marathon — and winning. BITCH IS FLYING.

The song might be simple but maybe that’s what we need. In this overly complicated, often depressing world we inhabit, sometimes you just want a catchy piano riff and a girl singing about making her way downtown.

Name another song that’s first few seconds instantly fill any listener with joy? Beethoven could never.