Over the Hills and Far Away (Gary Moore song)

"Over the Hills and Far Away"
Single by Gary Moore
from the album Wild Frontier
B-side"Crying in the Shadows"
Released8 December 1986 (1986-12-08)
Genre
Length
  • 4:38 (7" version)
  • 5:20 (album version)
  • 7:23 (12" version)
Label10
Songwriter(s)Gary Moore
Producer(s)Peter Collins
Gary Moore singles chronology
"Listen to Your Heartbeat"
(1985) 		"Over the Hills and Far Away"
(1986) 		"Wild Frontier"
(1987)

"Over the Hills and Far Away" is a song by Northern Irish musician Gary Moore, released in December 1986 by 10 Records as the first single from his sixth solo album Wild Frontier. The song peaked at number 20 on the UK Singles Chart,[2] but was most successful in the Nordic countries, topping the charts in Finland and Norway.[3][4]

The song features The Chieftains, who also appear in the video.[5] Moore performed the song with the group at the TV show celebrating their 25th anniversary in 1988.

The single B-side, "Crying in the Shadows", was also written by Moore and was produced by Mike Stone. It was also recorded by Japanese singer Minako Honda, titled "The Cross (Ai No Jujika)", with Moore on guitar. Moore's version of "Crying in the Shadows" was released as a single in Japan in October 1986, one month after Honda's version, with "Once in a Lifetime" from the Run for Cover album as the B-side.

Lyrics

The song is about a man wrongfully accused of armed robbery, but won't tell who his alibi is as it is the wife of his best friend, with whom he was sleeping. So, he gets sent to prison "over the hills and far away, for ten long years". During prison he receives love letters from the woman and "he swears he will return one day", so "back in his arms is where she'll be".[6]

The song's subject matter is very similar to that of the 1959 country ballad "Long Black Veil", which also involves a wrongfully-convicted man who refuses to give an alibi because it would reveal his affair with his best friend's wife.

Track listing

7" vinyl

  1. "Over the Hills and Far Away" – 4:38
  2. "Crying in the Shadows" – 5:00

7" vinyl double pack (limited edition, UK)

  1. "Over the Hills and Far Away"
  2. "Crying in the Shadows"
  3. "Out in the Fields" (Live)
  4. "All Messed Up" (Live)

12" vinyl

  1. "Over the Hills and Far Away" (Extended Version) – 7:23
  2. "Over the Hills and Far Away" (7" Version) – 4:38
  3. "Crying in the Shadows" – 5:00
  4. "All Messed Up" (Live at Milton Keynes) – 5:52

CD (1988, UK)

  1. "Over the Hills and Far Away"
  2. "Crying in the Shadows"
  3. "All Messed Up" (Live)

Charts

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 94
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[3] 1
Ireland (IRMA)[8] 6
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] 25
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] 22
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] 43
Norway (VG-lista)[4] 1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[12] 7
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[13] 27
UK Singles (OCC)[2] 20
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[14] 24

Covers

  • Ukrainian singer Ruslana performed the song in Ukrainian titled Понад горами (Ponad Horamy), the studio version appeared on her album Naikrashche, released in 2001.
  • In 2000, it was covered by Swedish viking metal band Thyrfing on their third album Urkraft.
  • In 2001, it was covered by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish for their EP of the same name, which peaked at number 1 in Finland as well as charting in several over countries.[15]
  • In 2004, for the Gary Moore tribute album Give Us Moore, it was covered by German heavy metal band Domain.[16]
  • In 2015, it was covered by Finnish country band Steve 'n' Seagulls on their debut album Farm Machine.[17]
  • In 2018, it was covered by Patty Gurdy on the album Shapes & Patterns EP. The music video has been viewed over 14 million times.[18]

References

  1. ^ "Gary Moore". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  2. ^ a b "Gary Moore: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  3. ^ a b Timo (13 August 2015). "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1960: Artistit MOK - MOY". Sisältää hitin. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  4. ^ a b "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away". VG-lista.
  5. ^ "Chieftains, Tops in Irish Folk Music, Celebrate Their Silver Anniversary". Los Angeles Times. 1988-03-24. Retrieved 2022-04-25.
  6. ^ "Making sense of 'Over the hills and far away'". Itsacon's Log. 2011-03-12. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 207. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Over the Hills and Far Away". Irish Singles Chart.
  9. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Gary Moore" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  10. ^ "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  11. ^ "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away". Top 40 Singles.
  12. ^ "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away". Singles Top 100.
  13. ^ "Gary Moore – Over the Hills and Far Away". Swiss Singles Chart.
  14. ^ "Gary Moore Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  15. ^ "finnishcharts.com - Nightwish - Over The Hills And Far Away". finnishcharts.com. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  16. ^ Songfacts. "Over The Hills And Far Away by Gary Moore - Songfacts". www.songfacts.com. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  17. ^ "Original versions of Over the Hills and Far Away by Steve 'n' Seagulls | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2020-10-01.
  18. ^ "Over the Hills and Far Away" - Patty Gurdy (Gary Moore / Nightwish Hurdy Gurdy Cover), retrieved 2022-06-19