"So Far Away" is a song by American heavy metal band

Avenged Sevenfold Avenged Sevenfold (abbreviated as A7X) is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead gui ...

, released as the third single for their fifth studio album, ''

Nightmare A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety, disgust or sadness. The dream may contain situations o ...

''. The single was released on April 5, 2011, via

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

. The song is a tribute to the band's original drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who died in his sleep on December 28, 2009.

Writing

In the special edition of ''

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

'' magazine that was released the same day as the ''

'' album, Gates stated that he originally started out writing the song "So Far Away" in honor of his grandfather. However, the song is now primarily about his former bandmate, best friend and previous drummer of Avenged Sevenfold, The Rev, who died on December 28, 2009. During most concerts, the band performs the song as a tribute to the Rev by having the audience hold up their lighters or cell phones during the song as the stage background features a banner commemorating the Rev's legacy.

Release

"So Far Away" was first released by KROQ radio exclusively for one day on July 21, 2010. In late March 2011, it was revealed that "So Far Away" would be released as the third single from ''Nightmare''. The song starting hitting radio stations April 5, 2011.

Music video

The music video (directed by

Wayne Isham Wayne Isham (born December 2, 1958) is an American film director and music video director who has directed films and music videos of many popular artists. Early life and education Isham was born on December 2, 1958 in Vinita, Oklahoma. He at ...

) features the four remaining members of the band playing in a studio and also riding in a Cadillac DeVille through a neighborhood (possibly

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as o ...

, where the band originated). Throughout the video, flashbacks of the four play. They are shown as children playing in a garage, then teens playing and hanging out, and stealing beer from a liquor store. There is a scene in the video in which a young Sullivan is depicted riding the handlebars of a bike being ridden by a young M. Shadows, kicking over a metal trash can on the street. Shadows referenced this when talking about Sullivan before playing So Far Away at Rock am Ring 2014. ("we've known this guy since we were this big, rolling round the neighborhood, knocking over trash cans; just being dickheads"). During the bridge, a collection of photos and videos of the Rev play. It ends with a clip of the remaining band members and James embracing. Avenged Sevenfold posted a countdown on their official website that showed the time until release for a new video for "So Far Away"
SFA7X
When the video was released, the site crashed due to so many people attempting to watch the video at once. After a second failed attempt to release the video, they solved the problem by hosting the music video on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. This was the second video not to feature the current drummer for Avenged Sevenfold; the first being

. For this music video,

Synyster Gates Brian Elwin Haner Jr. (born July 7, 1981), better known by his stage name Synyster Gates or simply Syn, is an American guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold. He ranks No. 9 on ''Guitar World''s best m ...

uses a custom Schecter guitar, similar to his usual black/silver pinstriped guitar. However instead of the inlays on the fretboard reading "SYN", it displays "REV". Johnny Christ also wore a guitar strap with the word "foREVer" written on it. As of April 2025, the video has over 391 million views on YouTube.

Chart performance

The song reached number one on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart and peaked at number 15 on the

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

chart. This is the band's first number-one single.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

Avenged Sevenfold * M. Shadows – lead vocals * Zacky Vengeance – acoustic guitar, backing vocals *

The Rev James Owen Sullivan (February 9, 1981 – December 28, 2009), also known by his stage name The Rev (shortened version of ''the Reverend Tholomew Plague''), was an American musician, best known as a founding member of the heavy metal band Aven ...

– drum arrangement, songwriting *

– lead guitar, backing vocals, songwriting * Johnny Christ – bass guitar Session musicians *

Mike Portnoy Michael Stephen Portnoy (born April 20, 1967) is an American musician who is primarily known as the drummer, backing vocalist, and co-founder of the progressive metal band Dream Theater. In September 2010, Portnoy announced his departure fro ...

– drums, percussion * Brian Haner, Sr. – additional guitar *

Stevie Blacke Stevie Blacke (born in London, England) is an American producer, musician, arranger, and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for having composed string arrangements on many hit records. Born in London and raised in Ohio, Blacke grew up wi ...

– strings and string arrangement Production *

Mike Elizondo Michael A. Elizondo Jr. (born October 22, 1972) is an American producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. A protégé of Dr. Dre, Elizondo has worked with 50 Cent, Eminem, Linkin Park, Carrie Underwood, Fiona Apple, Mastodon, Ry Cooder ...

– producer * Craig Aaronson – A&R * Brent Arrowood – assistant engineer * Chad Carlisle – assistant engineer * Adam Hawkins – engineer * Andy Wallace – mixer *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

– mastering * Jodie Levine – production co-ordination, contractor * Andy Olyphant – A&R * Paul Suarez – pro-tools * Jan Petrow – assistant engineer * Joanna Terrasi – production co-ordination, contractor

References

{{Authority control 2010 songs 2011 singles Avenged Sevenfold songs Rock ballads Music videos directed by Wayne Isham Song recordings produced by Mike Elizondo Songs written by The Rev Songs written by Synyster Gates Warner Records singles