Format 7"
12"
CD single Length 3:37 | Recorded 1988 Label Chrysalis | |
Released August 1988 (UK)
June 1993 (US)
2000 (re-release) Genre Celtic rock
folk rock
college rock | ||
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" is a song written and performed by Scottish duo The Proclaimers, and first released as the lead single from their 1988 album Sunshine on Leith. The song reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart on its initial release, and it has since become their most popular song worldwide, initially becoming a number 1 hit in Iceland, before reaching number 1 in both Australia and New Zealand in early 1989.
Contents
In 1993, following its appearance in the American film Benny & Joon, the song was released in North America and many other countries around the world, it reached the top five on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian Hot 100 charts. In 2007 the Proclaimers re-recorded the song with English comedians Peter Kay and Matt Lucas for the UK's Comic Relief charity telethon, scoring a number one hit in the UK, outperforming their original UK singles performance.
"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" has become a live staple at the Proclaimers' concerts. The duo played it at Edinburgh 50,000 – The Final Push at Murrayfield Stadium on 6 July 2005, the final concert of Live 8, to symbolise the conclusion of "The Long Walk to Justice".
The song was mainly written by Craig Reid in mid-1987 while waiting to travel to a Proclaimers concert in Aberdeen. Reid recalled, "I can remember sitting at the piano and the chords just came to me. I reckon I wrote the whole thing in 45 minutes. I knew that it was a good song, maybe even a single, but I had no idea how popular it would become." Reid has said that the band's earnings from the song are about five times the rest of their catalogue combined.
Track listing
All tracks written and composed by Charlie and Craig Reid, except where noted.
- "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" – 3:37
- "Better Days" – 3:14
- "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" – 3:37
- "Better Days" – 3:14
- "Teardrops" – 2:33
- "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" – 3:37
- "Better Days" – 3:14
- "Teardrops" – 2:33
- "I Can't Be Myself" (Merle Haggard) – 2:30
Comic Relief version
In 2007 the Proclaimers re-recorded the song with Peter Kay and Matt Lucas as their characters Brian Potter from Phoenix Nights and Andy Pipkin from Little Britain respectively. There is a slight change in the title of the song, with the parentheses placed around "I'm Gonna Be" rather than "500 Miles". The lyrics also include a change, with the words "roll 500 miles" replacing "walk 500 miles", because the characters Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin are both in wheelchairs. "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles" was released as a charity single for Comic Relief immediately following its performance on the Comic Relief 2007: The Big One television show on BBC1 on 16 March 2007. It reached number 3 on the official UK Singles Chart on download sales alone, and one week later reached number 1, where it remained for three weeks. It sold 126,000 copies in its first week, making it the biggest selling number one of the year up to that point. Its sales were double that of the "official" Comic Relief single by Girls Aloud vs. Sugababes, and their cover of Aerosmith's "Walk This Way". The song ended 2007 as the year's 8th biggest-selling single in the UK. The song was popular in Ireland as well, and peaked at #7 in Irish Singles Chart.
Kay also directed a video clip of the song featuring himself as Brian Potter, Lucas as Andy, David Walliams as Lou, The Proclaimers and an audience of celebrity guests, comprising Johnny Ball, David Beckham, David Bellamy, Dusty Bin, Tony Blackburn, Stan Boardman, Basil Brush, Bob the Builder, Bucks Fizz, Cannon and Ball, Bob Carolgees & Spit the Dog, Jasper Carrott, Keith Chegwin, Jimmy Cricket, Tess Daly, Bobby Davro (referred to in the lyrics), Carol Decker, Lesley Garrett, Clare Grogan, Paul Henry, Frazer Hines, Siobhan Redmond (credited as "Her off Holby City"), Elton John, The Krankies, Burt Kwouk, Bonnie Langford, Eddie Large, Michael Le Vell, Limahl, Kenny Lynch, Des Lynam, Timmy Mallett, Amanda Mealing, Jennie McAlpine, Terry Nutkins, Bill Oddie, Paul O'Grady, Postman Pat, Wendi Peters, Robert Powell, Rod, Jane and Freddy, Rupert the Bear, Showaddywaddy, Status Quo, Kathy Staff, Frank Sidebottom, Sonia, Dennis Taylor, David Tennant, Willie Thorne, Kate Thornton, Dave Lee Travis, Roy Walker, Louis Walsh, Pete Waterman, Lizzie Webb, Sally Whittaker, June Whitfield and Gary Wilmot. Osama bin Laden (then still a fugitive terrorist), Lord Lucan (missing since 1974) and Shergar (a kidnapped race horse) are also falsely credited as appearing in the video.
Track listing
- "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles" – 3:41
- "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles" (1988 Original Version) – 3:39
The enhanced CD and DVD also featured the promotional video for the song and a photo gallery.
Popular culture
Originally recorded and released in 1988, the song was first a success only in countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, later in 1993, it was included as one of the main themes of the 1993 American romantic comedy film Benny and Joon starring Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson; subsequently, due to its exposure during the film, "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" reached the top 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart during the summer of that year.
The song is often played in the warm up before the Scotland football team matches when playing at home at Hampden Park in Glasgow, and again when the team scores. The same is true for the Scottish Rugby team at Murrayfield Stadium although since 2013 a mashup version of the song mixed with David Guetta's "Titanium" and Midnight Oil's "Beds Are Burning" has been used as well.
The song is also often played at Easter Road before Scottish Premiership side Hibernian's home matches.
Scottish darts player Robert Thornton uses the song as his walk-on song.
In 2007, Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song, with minor lyric changes, for their video game Alvin and the Chipmunks.
At the end of the fourth series of the new Doctor Who, a video of the cast and crew of the show (as well as The Proclaimers themselves) singing and dancing along to the song was released, as a farewell to David Tennant, Russell T. Davies, and other key players in the show's development; hailing the shift into the Steven Moffat era of the show.
The song was also very popular in Spain in the late 1990s thanks to TV advertisements. It was a reference song for the ads of Retevisión, one of the first private telecommunications companies in Spain.
The song is also featured on the How I Met Your Mother episode "Arrivederci, Fiero", in which it is revealed that the character Marshall has had a cassette tape with the song on it stuck in his car for years. Commentary on the song's unlimited replay value follows. It remained a running gag for the rest of the series.
This song is also featured on the Grey's Anatomy episode in season 9 "Readiness is All" when Matthew proposes to April in a surprise flash-mob to this song.
The song is featured in the movies Bachelorette, Identity Thief, Benny & Joon, Burke and Hare and Sunshine on Leith (film). It is also featured in the movie The Angels' Share directed by Ken Loach, which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.
A cover of the song was recorded by Down by Law on their album Punkrockacademyfightsong.
The song is sung in the television series The Cafe by Ralf Little and cast to close out the final episode of season one, "Deal or No Deal".
The song is also sung in the 2014 Australian film 500 Miles by the lead actor Pete Valley to the lead actress Ebony Nave in a quite iconic scene that is set in a small country town pub.
In 2015, Budweiser's Super Bowl ad features a cover version of this song by Sleeping at Last. In the same year it also laid the basis for song "Magna Carta 800 Years", which was a tribute to Magna Carta in the rebooted version of Horrible Histories.
This song appears in a commercial for Lunchables as a promotion for their new product, "kabobbles".
The song appeared in the fourth episode of Hindsight.