A-side "She's a Rainbow" (US) Length 4:48 | Recorded July 1967 | |
B-side "She's a Rainbow" (Germany) Released 23 December 1967 (US)
January 1968 (Germany) Genre Psychedelic rock, experimental rock | ||
"2000 Light Years from Home" is a song from The Rolling Stones' 1967 psychedelic rock album Their Satanic Majesties Request. Written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it also appeared as the B-side to the American single "She's a Rainbow", and charted as a single in Germany. Jagger reportedly wrote the lyrics in Brixton prison following his conviction on drug charges in June 1967. The song was recorded by the band inside Olympic Studios during July 1967. The working title of the instrumental backing was "Toffee Apple". The prominent string part is played by Brian Jones on Mellotron.
Contents
The number was regularly featured during the Stones' 1989–90 Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tours; until 1997, when "She's a Rainbow" was also added to the band's stage repertoire, it was the only track from Satanic Majesties that the band had performed in concert.
After disappearing from set lists completely for 23 years, "2000 Light Years from Home" was performed on 29 June 2013 at Glastonbury Festival in the United Kingdom.
The song is used in the film Men in Black 3.
Personnel
Notable cover versions
"2000 Light Years from Home" has been covered by Todd Tamanend Clark, The Tragically Hip, The Danse Society, The Eden House, Grave Digger, Monster Magnet, Rachael Yamagata, Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, Cary Grace, and Sky Cries Mary.