"A Thousand Miles" is a piano-driven pop song supported by a string orchestral arrangement. Carlton says that the song is about 'lost love', but has not said exactly whom the song may be about other than the subject is a Juilliard alumni and a "very famous actor". She has also called the song "a combination of reality and fantasy. It's about a love that so consumes you that you do anything for it. That's how I felt at that time."
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".
" A Thousand Miles " (originally titled " Interlude ") is the debut single written and recorded by American pop singer Vanessa Carlton. Produced by Curtis Schweitzer and Ron Fair, the song was released as the lead single for Carlton's album Be Not Nobody (2002). Her signature song, it became Carlton's breakthrough ...
In the United States, "A Thousand Miles" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 later that month; it peaked at number five for three weeks in May and remained on the chart for 41 weeks.