“500 Miles” (also known as “500 Miles Away from Home” or “Railroaders’ Lament”) is a song made popular in the United States and Europe during the 1960s folk revival. The simple repetitive lyrics offer a lament by a traveler who is far from home, out of money and too ashamed to return. The song is generally credited as being written by Hedy West, and a 1961 copyright is held by Atzal Music, Inc.. “500 Miles” is West’s “most anthologized song”. Some recordings have also credited Curly Williams, or John Phillips as co-writers, although Phillips admitted he had only rearranged it and “didn’t deserve the credit”. David Neale writes that “500 Miles” may be related to the older folk song “900 Miles” which may itself have origins in the southern American fiddle tunes “Reuben’s Train” and “Train 45”. Johnny Cash is known to have included “500 Miles” on his list of 100 essential country songs in the early 1970s.
Songs with Banjo from Harold Hagler
