Vanessa Carlton, A Thousand Miles | FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘

In the 40th edition of FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘, we highlight “A Thousand Miles” performed by Vanessa Carlton.

Bring on the bold, FIERCE tracks! FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘 provides background information and insight into pop, rock, and metal songs that raise eyebrows and stir the pot.  Featured records can be classic or brand new. In the 40th edition of FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘 (2023), we explore 🎵 “A Thousand Miles” performed by 🎙 Vanessa Carlton. 

“Makin’ my way downtown / Walkin’ fast, faces pass / And I’m homebound.” Would it be inaccurate to characterize 🎙 Vanessa Carlton as a one-hit wonder? Yes, and no.  By far, 🎵 “A Thousand Miles” is the biggest hit of the singer/songwriter’s career.  Without a doubt, the famous piano intro and riffs, as well as tuneful melodies helped “A Thousand Miles” peak at no. 5 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. “A Thousand Miles” charted for 41 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, helping propel her 2002 album, Be Not Nobody, to platinum status.  When mentioning Carlton, the one song we cite is “A Thousand Miles.” Technically, however, Carlton earned three more entries on the pop charts, two of which she’s the lead artist.  You could argue that 🎵 “White Houses” (2004) only earned minor success, peaking at a tepid no. 86. However, the no. 30 peak of 🎵 “Ordinary Day” shuts down the one-hit wonder label, no matter how big “A Thousand Miles” was. 

Sometimes characterized as one of the whitest songs ever (🫢), it was and still remains a vibe two decades later. Again, the piano plays a pivotal role.  Additionally, the strings are sweet as well.  Vanessa Carlton sings well, though for whatever reason, when “A Thousand Miles” comes to mind, the quality of the vocals seems less important than, say, other aspects of the record.  

“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.”  

Sure, 🎵 “A Thousand Miles” is pretty doggone white, but maybe, just maybe it’s nowhere close to being the whitest song ever.  After all, this Vanessa Carlton classic is sampled in a 2021 RAP song 🎵 “Who I Smoke”, by 🎙 Spinabenz, 🎙 Yungeen Ace, and 🎙 FastMoney Goon.

🎙 Vanessa Carlton • 💿 Be Not Nobody • 🏷 A&M • 📅 2002  

Vanessa Carlton, A Thousand Miles: FIERCE Pop + Rock 🔥🤘 No. 40 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; A&M; Amr Osman, Deiby Tum Tum, Harry Shelton, Jerome Abel, Mavluda Tashbaeva, Pavel Danilyuk, RDNE Stock project, Vishnu R Nair from Pexels]