"Far Away Eyes" is the sixth track from the English rock band

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' 1978 album, '' Some Girls''. It was released, as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

of the single " Miss You" on Rolling Stones Records, on 9 June 1978. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine made it the 73rd song on their list of ''100 Greatest Rolling Stone's Songs''.

Origin

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

and

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943) is an English musician, songwriter, singer and record producer who is an original member, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-principal songwriter of the Rolling Stones. His songwriting partnership wi ...

collaborated extensively on writing and composing the song, which was recorded in late 1977. A bootleg version with Richards singing exists. The Stones, longtime country music fans, incorporated many aspects of Bakersfield-style country music into this song. These included in particular

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

's use of a

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

for a solo and highlights, an instrument used on other songs from the album such as " Shattered" and " When the Whip Comes Down." Also of note is the plodding rhythm of

Charlie Watts Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021. Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...

and

Bill Wyman William George Wyman ( né Perks; born 24 October 1936) is an English musician who was the bass guitarist with the rock band the Rolling Stones from 1962 to 1993. Wyman was part of the band's first stable lineup and performed on their first 19 ...

. Richards performed acoustic and electric guitars as well as sharing piano duties with Jagger.

Content

In the lyrics, the loneliness of life and the possibilities in finding love are dealt with: The verses of the song are half sung, half spoken, with Jagger using a parodic Southern accent: In a 1978 interview with ''

'' magazine, Jagger said: "You know, when you drive through Bakersfield on a Sunday morning or Sunday evening—I did that about six months ago—all the country music radio stations start broadcasting black gospel services live from L.A. And that's what the song refers to. But the song's really about driving alone, listening to the radio." On influences, Jagger stated: "I wouldn't say this song was influenced specifically by Gram (Parsons). That idea of country music played slightly tongue-in-cheek—Gram had that in ' Drugstore Truck Drivin' Man', and we have that sardonic quality, too." Asked by the interviewer if the girl in the song was a real one, Jagger replied, "Yeah, she's real, she's a real girl."

Live performances

The Rolling Stones performed "Far Away Eyes" at every concert of their U.S. Tour 1978. It is performed in the concert film, '' Some Girls: Live in Texas '78'', featuring fiddle player Doug "the Ragin' Cajun" Kershaw. Since that time, the song has been performed sporadically. A live recording from July 1995 was included on the album '' Totally Stripped'' (2016), and a performance from the Stones' 2006 A Bigger Bang Tour appeared in the 2008 concert film, '' Shine a Light'', and on the accompanying

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

. On 20 May 2013, the song was performed in Los Angeles as part of the Stones' " 50 & Counting Tour." During their Zip Code Tour the Stones performed "Far Away Eyes" at LP Field in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

on 17 June 2015. The Rolling Stones performed the song for the first time live since 2015—as the "vote song" chosen by the audience—at Raymond James Stadium in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

as part of their

No Filter Tour The No Filter Tour was a European/North American concert tour by the Rolling Stones which began on 9 September 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. The tour was scheduled to conclude in 2020 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour ...

. The song has been covered by

The Handsome Family The Handsome Family is an American music duo consisting of husband and wife Brett and Rennie Sparks formed in Chicago, Illinois, and as of 2001 based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are perhaps best known for their song " Far from Any Road" fro ...

on their 2002 album '' Smothered and Covered''.

Promotional video

The official promotional video was directed by

Michael Lindsay-Hogg Sir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet (born 5 May 1940), is a British American television, film, music video, and theatre director. Beginning his career in British television, Lindsay-Hogg became a pioneer in music film production, direct ...

, who directed several other videos for the band, including those for " Start Me Up," "

Jumpin' Jack Flash "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was seen as the band's retu ...

," and " Fool to Cry." Lindsay-Hogg also directed promotional videos for

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

, and

Paul McCartney and Wings Paul McCartney and Wings, often billed simply as Wings, was a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in 1971 in London by former The Beatles, Beatle Paul McCartney; his wife Linda McCartney on keyboards; session drummer Denny Seiwell; a ...

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, piano *

– acoustic and electric guitar, piano, backing vocals *

–

, backing vocals *

– bass guitar *

– drums

References

{{authority control The Rolling Stones songs 1978 songs Songs written by Jagger–Richards Song recordings produced by Jagger–Richards Music videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg Country rock songs Blues rock songs Virgin Records singles