Тысяча миль: история одного хита Ванессы Карлтон

2002 single by Vanessa Carlton

"A Thousand Miles" (originally titled "Interlude") is the debut single of American pop singer Vanessa Carlton. Produced by Curtis Schweitzer and Ron Fair, the song was released as the lead single for Carlton's first album, Be Not Nobody (2002). First released to US radio in February 2002, it became Carlton's biggest hit in the United States and her only single to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number five. The song also experienced commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, number three in Ireland, and the top 10 in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

"A Thousand Miles" is a piano driven pop song supported by a string orchestral arrangement. Carlton says that the song was inspired by a crush she had on a Juilliard student (who is now a "very famous actor") whom she met while she was attending the School of American Ballet. She further stated that because she never actually spoke to her crush due to her shyness, she felt like she had "a better chance of falling up than ever having a relationship with this person".

"A Thousand Miles" is written in the key of B major and composed with a tempo of 95 beats per minute. Carlton wrote the song's piano riff in the summer of 1998 at her parents' house in Philadelphia; her mother, who had been listening to her, said, "Vanessa, that's a hit song." The final title of the song, "A Thousand Miles", was based on a suggestion by Fair's nephew. After the song's completion, Fair said that he listened to it repeatedly and "it made me weep. That's usually my litmus test. If I cry, I know it's a hit". The album Be Not Nobody was released on April 30 and, partly because of the popularity of "A Thousand Miles", debuted in the U. S. top five with first week sales of over 101,000 copies. It was 2002's sixth most played single on U. S. radio (ranking sixth on the Hot 100 2002 year end chart), and sold well in other countries (where it was promoted and released over the summer months). It was a top five hit in Ireland and France, and managed to reach the top ten in other parts of Europe such as the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Netherlands. It was most popular in Australia, where it became the sixth most successful single of the year and held the number one position on the ARIA Singles Chart for two weeks, from August 11 to 24. It replaced a Junkie XL remix of "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis Presley, and was itself replaced by Avril Lavigne's "Complicated". It also reached the top 20 in Germany. E! Online said the song was "a bona fide hit for good reason. Catchy pop on the surface, it has melodic complexity beneath that bodes well for repeated listening". It failed to chart in Japan. Carlton told the website Contactmusic. com of the first time she watched the single's music video, in which she is seen playing the piano while traveling through a variety of settings:
I was in the studio and had just taken a break, when someone ran in the room and said, "You're on MTV!" We put it on and I just stared at the screen. After a few minutes, I just covered my eyes and started to laugh. It seemed so surreal. The night after that, I heard the song on the radio for the first time. It was all so unbelievable. It received heavy airplay on the channel following its premiere on the top ten video program Total Request Live on January 4, 2002, and was popular enough to be retired from the show's countdown. There was speculation that bluescreen techniques had been utilized during its creation, but according to Carlton it was "100 percent real"; she also said she felt that Marc Klasfeld (the video's director) "captured who I was in that video", The Sessions recording of "A Thousand Miles" was later included on the album Sessions @ AOL, released in October 2003.

The song was highly acclaimed by music critics. Billboard magazine opined, "it's the song's classical tied piano hook that endures with urgency throughout the song that lends it spectacular charm, along with the artist's vulnerable vocal style A truly auspicious opening." Most other critics gave Be Not Nobody mixed reviews, but generally praised the song. AllMusic wrote: "as it moves from its solo orchestral backed choruses, the result isn't overwhelming, it's sweet, multi layered, and appealing". Sean Richardson of the Boston Phoenix made favourable comparisons between "A Thousand Miles" and Michelle Branch's debut single "Everywhere", saying, "it's a good natured reverie, with none of the troubled soul searching that characterizes the work of Tori and Fiona. She occasionally evokes her piano playing predecessors by raising her girlish voice to a howl, but she's better off being herself". Adrien Begrand of PopMatters magazine said the song was "catchy and hard to dislike", but characterized it as "the sort of girly voiced, introspective pop that is made to please people who are looking for singer/songwriters who look and sound profound, but actually have nothing to say". "A Thousand Miles" continued to receive regular rotation on Adult Contemporary and Adult Top 40 radio stations two years after its original release, and Billboard magazine has named it "one of the most enduring songs of the millennium". Carlton has said that rappers such as Fabolous and Ja Rule "really like this song." In the film White Chicks (2004) a group of girls refer to the song as their "jam" when it's played on the radio. It's played again two more times in the film: when Terry Crews' character sings this song to Marlon Wayans' character, and when Terry Crews' character sings it to the Wilson twins. Terry Crews' character in the film sings along with it and shakes his head hard when he hears the orchestrated hook. The song is also prominently featured in the Season 3 finale titled "Flashback in the Day" of the television sitcom Workaholics.

Directed by Marc Klasfeld, the music video was filmed in Newbury Park, California, and in portions of Downtown Los Angeles. There was no use of green screen or visual effects, only a custom built dolly for the piano and a safety belt on Carlton. It begins with Carlton entering her garage and uncovering her piano. When she starts playing and the song begins, the piano starts to move through the neighborhood outside. While playing, she passes by bikers and footracers on the road, near a parade downtown, along the beach, and across other parts of the city, gradually taking place until the sun sets. In the end, she and the piano finally return to her garage, where she gets up and reenters the house.

"A Thousand Miles" won in the Can't Get You Out of My Head category at the VH1 Big in 2002 Awards, and it was nominated for three Grammy Awards: Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s). It lost Song of the Year and Record of the Year to Norah Jones' "Don't Know Why", while the Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) award went to "Mean Old Man", performed by James Taylor. The song became popular amongst U. S. troops serving in Iraq, and in April 2003 the Chicago Sun Times reported that it had become the most requested song on the radio station British Forces Broadcasting Service Middle East. Carlton responded, "Perhaps, 'A Thousand Miles' conveys the feelings and longing and desperation that the U. S. soldiers feel for their loved ones. I don't know. But whatever peace I am able to bring to the hearts of the people at war is a contribution that I am proud of". By May 2003 the website Musicnotes had sold a record 10,000 pieces of digital sheet music for "A Thousand Miles", and it won the website's "Song of the Year" award. The song's production team was nominated for a 2003 Technical Excellence & Creativity Award in the category of Outstanding Creative Achievement in Record Production — Single or Track.

First appearing as a sample in the original soundtrack of the 2001 film Legally Blonde, the song is Carlton's most successful single, and her only top twenty hit in the U. S.; her next highest peaking single, "Ordinary Day", went no higher than number thirty on the Billboard Hot 100. Carlton told VH1 in 2004, "I just sit down and write my songs It just kind of happened and it will never happen again like that." A writer for the Boston Phoenix said that with the song, Carlton "won favor with smart but awkward teenage girls who didn't see themselves in more evidently constructed teen pop personalities like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera", and Slant magazine said it "helped pave the way for an industry beginning to take a turn away from bubblegum pop".

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref(s). (Reference(s))United StatesFebruary 18–19, 2002Contemporary hit radio, Top 40, modern adult contemporary, hot adult contemporary radioA&MJapanMay 2, 2002CDAustraliaMay 20, 2002United KingdomJuly 22, 2002CD, cassette