"A Thousand Miles from Nowhere" is a song written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

artist

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album ''Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerable s ...

. It was released in June 1993 as the second single from his album '' This Time''. Like his previous single, this song peaked at number 2 in the United States and at number 3 in Canada. The song was featured in two films, ''

Red Rock West ''Red Rock West'' is a 1993 American post-Western neo-noir thriller film directed by John Dahl and starring Nicolas Cage, Lara Flynn Boyle, J. T. Walsh, and Dennis Hopper. Its plot focuses on a drifter who is mistaken for a hitman while trave ...

'' (filmed prior to the release of ''This Time'' using a studio demo recording) and ''

Chasers ''Chasers'' is a 1994 American comedy film directed by Dennis Hopper. It is about a pair of United States Navy shore patrollers (SPs) (Tom Berenger and William McNamara) who must escort a beautiful prisoner ( Erika Eleniak), and the troubles the ...

''.

Content

The song's narrator is dealing with the aftermath of the end of his relationship with his significant other. The breakup is causing him to feel sad, lonely, and lost. Some of the lyrics in the refrain ("time don't matter to me" and "there's no place I wanna be") also describe his feelings of apathy and disinterest with everything else around him.

Music video

The music video was directed by Dwight Yoakam with the help of Carolyn Mayer (according to some sources). It features Yoakam riding on a

Copper Basin Railway The Copper Basin Railway is an List of Arizona railroads, Arizona short-line railroad that operates from a connection with the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) at Magma to Winkelman, Arizona, Winkelman, in of length. The railroad also has a branch ...

train across the

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

desert A desert is a landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions create unique biomes and ecosystems. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one-third of the la ...

, and is shown in two frames showing mostly different views of the train and Yoakam. Fellow musician

Kelly Willis Kelly Diane Willis (born October 2, 1968) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Her music has been described as being new traditionalist and alternative country. Early life Born in Lawton, Oklahoma, Willis was the youngest of three ...

does a cameo appearance as the young woman standing in a shallow stream.

Chart performance

"A Thousand Miles from Nowhere" debuted at number 72 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of June 26, 1993.

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thousand Miles From Nowhere, A 1993 singles 1993 songs Dwight Yoakam songs Songs written by Dwight Yoakam Reprise Records singles Song recordings produced by Pete Anderson