"Over the Hills and Far Away" is a song by Northern Irish musician

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

, released in December 1986 by

10 Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwi ...

as the first single from his sixth solo album ''

Wild Frontier ''Wild Frontier'' is the sixth solo studio album by Northern Irish guitarist Gary Moore, released on 2 March 1987. His first studio effort after a trip back to his native Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1985, the album contains several songs abo ...

''. The song peaked at number 20 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, but was most successful in the Nordic countries, topping the charts in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The song features

The Chieftains The Chieftains are a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous wi ...

, who also appear in the video. 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 , better known as , later changed to , was a Japanese idol and musical singer. In 1985, she made her debut with the single "Satsui no Vacane". She was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia on January 5, 2005. At 4:38 A.M. on November 6, 200 ...

, 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 Run for Cover Records is an American independent record label based in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 2004 by Jeff Casazza at the age of 17 with a $1,000 loan, the label functioned as a small one-person bedroom operation in Brighton, until Casa ...

'' 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". The song's subject matter is very similar to that of the 1959 country ballad "

Long Black Veil "Long Black Veil" is a 1959 country ballad, written by Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin and originally recorded by Lefty Frizzell. It is told from the point of view of a man falsely accused of murder and executed. He refuses to provide an alibi, ...

", 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 # "Over the Hills and Far Away" – 4:38 # "Crying in the Shadows" – 5:00 7" vinyl double pack (limited edition, UK) # "Over the Hills and Far Away" # "Crying in the Shadows" # "

Out in the Fields "Out in the Fields" is a song by Irish musicians Gary Moore and Phil Lynott, who had previously been bandmates in Thin Lizzy. Written by Moore and released as a single in 1985, the song was also featured on his album '' Run for Cover'' in the sa ...

" (Live) # "All Messed Up" (Live) 12" vinyl # "Over the Hills and Far Away" (Extended Version) – 7:23 # "Over the Hills and Far Away" (7" Version) – 4:38 # "Crying in the Shadows" – 5:00 # "All Messed Up" (Live at

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

) – 5:52 CD (1988, UK) # "Over the Hills and Far Away" # "Crying in the Shadows" # "All Messed Up" (Live)

Charts

Covers

* Ukrainian singer

Ruslana Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko ( uk, Руслана Степанівна Лижичко, ''Ruslana Lyzhychko''; born 24 May 1973), known mononymously as Ruslana, is a World Music Award and Eurovision Song Contest winning recording artist, holding ...

performed the song in

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

titled ''Понад горами'' (Ponad Horamy), the studio version appeared on her album

Naikrashche ''Найкраще'' ''(The Best)'' is an album by the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2004, Ruslana Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko ( uk, Руслана Степанівна Лижичко, ''Ruslana Lyzhychko''; born 24 May 1973), known ...

, released in 2001. * In 2000, it was covered by Swedish

viking metal Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consider it more a cr ...

band

Thyrfing Thyrfing is a viking metal band from Sweden. The band is named after the royal sword Tyrfing from Norse mythology. History Thyrfing was formed in 1995 by Patrik Lindgren (guitar), Jocke Kristensson (drums), Peter Löf (keyboard) and Kimmy ...

on their third album ''

Urkraft ''Urkraft'' (English: ''Primordial Force'') is the third album by Swedish viking metal band Thyrfing. It was released in 2000. On some editions of the album, there is a bonus cover of " Over the Hills and Far Away" by rock musician Gary Moore ...

''. * In 2001, it was covered by Finnish

symphonic metal Symphonic metal is a cross-generic style designation for the symphonic subsets of heavy metal music subgenres. It is used to denote any metal band that makes use of symphonic or orchestral elements. The style features the heavy drums and guitar ...

band

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...

for their EP of the same name, which peaked at number 1 in Finland as well as charting in several over countries. * In 2004, for the Gary Moore tribute album ''Give Us Moore'', it was covered by German heavy metal band Domain. * In 2015, it was covered by Finnish country band Steve 'n' Seagulls on their debut album ''Farm Machine''. * In 2018, it was covered by

Patty Gurdy Patricia Büchler (born 1997), known professionally as Patty Gurdy, is a German hurdy-gurdy musician, singer, songwriter and vlogger. Early life and career Büchler was born in 1997. She lived in Düsseldorf while she studied there and graduat ...

on the album ''Shapes & Patterns'' EP. The music video has been viewed over 14 million times.

External links

1988 TV performance at the Chieftains' anniversary show

References

{{Gary Moore 1986 singles Songs written by Gary Moore Gary Moore songs Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer) Number-one singles in Finland Number-one singles in Norway 1986 songs