"500 Miles" is a folk song made popular in the United States and Europe during the 1960s folk revival

American folk music revival

The American folk music revival was a phenomenon in the United States that began during the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the mid-1960s. Its roots went earlier, and performers like Josh White, Burl Ives, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Richard Dyer-Bennett, Oscar Brand, Jean Ritchie, John Jacob...

. The simple repetitive

Repetition (music)

Repetition is important in music, where sounds or sequences are often repeated. One often stated idea is that repetition should be in balance with the initial statements and variations in a piece. It may be called restatement, such as the restatement of a theme...

 lyrics offer a lament

Lament

A lament or lamentation is a song, poem, or piece of music expressing grief, regret, or mourning.-History:Many of the oldest and most lasting poems in human history have been laments. Laments are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and laments continued to be sung in elegiacs accompanied by...

 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

Hedy West

Hedy West was an American folksinger and songwriter.West was of the same generation as Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and others of the American folk music revival. Her most famous song "500 Miles" is one of America's best loved and best known folk songs...

, and a 1961 copyright is held by Atzal Music, Inc. Some recordings have also credited Bobby Bare

Bobby Bare

Robert Joseph Bare is an American country music singer and songwriter. He is the father of Bobby Bare, Jr., also a musician.-Early career:...

, Curly Williams, and/or John Phillips

John Phillips (musician)

John Edmund Andrew Phillips , was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter and promoter . Known as Papa John, Phillips was a member and leader of the singing group The Mamas & the Papas...

 as co-writers. David Neale writes that "500 Miles" may be related to the older folk song, "900 Miles," which may itself have origins in a southern American fiddle tune called "Reuben's Train."

"500 Miles" is West's "most anthologized song." The song appears on the 1961 self-titled debut album by The Journeymen; this may have been its first release.

The song was heard on the February, 1962 Kingston Trio live album College Concert

College Concert

College Concert was the twelfth album by the American folk music group The Kingston Trio, released in 1962 . It was the group's third live release and the first live release with new member John Stewart...

(a 1962 US#3). It was further popularized by Peter, Paul & Mary (it was the second track on their US#1, May 1962 debut album

Peter, Paul and Mary (album)

Peter, Paul and Mary is the first album by Peter, Paul and Mary, released in 1962. It's one of the rare folk albums to reach US#1 - staying for over a month...

). Rewritten with new lyrics (by Bobby Bare), it charted as a hit single by American country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 singer Bobby Bare in 1963 (#10 US, #47 NOR, #7 NOR, #9 SWE, #16 DEN). Bare's version features a spoken recitation following the repeat of the Refrain, before he sings one original line of his second verse. Following this, he makes a transition from the key of G to the key of D for the Third Verse, featuring a counterpoint portion by the backup singers, before making a transition back to the key of G for the last refrain, before the song's fade. The lyrics feature heavily in the Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...

 song "I Was Young When I Left Home". It has also been recorded by the Brothers Four, Sonny & Cher

Sonny & Cher

Sonny & Cher were an American pop music duo, actors, singers and entertainers made up of husband-and-wife team Sonny and Cher Bono in the 1960s and 1970s. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector....

, Johnny Rivers

Johnny Rivers

Johnny Rivers is an American rock and roll singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. His styles include folk songs, blues, and revivals of old-time rock 'n' roll songs and some original material...

, The Hooters

The Hooters

The Hooters is an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By combining a mix of rock and roll, reggae, ska and folk music, The Hooters first gained major commercial success in the United States in the mid 1980s due to heavy radio and MTV airplay of several songs including "All You...

, Reba McEntire

Reba McEntire

Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...

, Jackie DeShannon

Jackie DeShannon

Jackie DeShannon is an American singer-songwriter with a string of hit song credits from the 1960s onwards. She was one of the first female singer-songwriters of the rock 'n' roll period.- Life and early career :...

, The Seekers

The Seekers

The Seekers are an Australian folk-influenced pop music group which were originally formed in 1962. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States...

, Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

, The Highwaymen

The Highwaymen (country supergroup)

The Highwaymen were an American supergroup comprising four country music artists well known for, among other things, their involvement and pioneering influence on the outlaw country subgenre: Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Kris Kristofferson...

, The Seldom Scene

The Seldom Scene

The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland.-Early history:The band formed out of the weekly jam sessions in the basement of banjo player Ben Eldridge. These sessions included John Starling on guitar and lead vocals, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone...

, Nick Cave

Nick Cave

Nicholas Edward "Nick" Cave is an Australian musician, songwriter, author, screenwriter, and occasional film actor.He is best known for his work as a frontman of the critically acclaimed rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, established in 1984, a group known for its eclectic influences and...

, Richard Anthony

Richard Anthony (French singer)

Richard Anthony is a French singer, born 13 January 1938 in Cairo, Egypt, as Ricardo Btesh.-Biography:Richard's father was an industrialist, and his mother was the daughter of an English diplomat...

, Franco Battiato

Franco Battiato

Francesco Battiato is an Italian singer-songwriter, composer, filmmaker and, under the pseudonym Süphan Barzani, also a painter. Battiato's songs contain esoteric, philosophical and religious themes...

, Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash

Rosanne Cash is an American singer-songwriter and author. She is the eldest daughter of the late country music singer Johnny Cash and his first wife, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin....

, Bad Astronaut

Bad Astronaut

Bad Astronaut is an American indie/punk rock band founded in 2000 by Joey Cape, singer from Lagwagon. In Bad Astronaut, Joey Cape explores a new style of pop, with lyrics often about deep and intricate personal matters....

, Peter and Gordon, Hootenanny Singers

Hootenanny Singers

The Hootenanny Singers were a popular folk group from Sweden, founded in 1961, and continuing into the 1970s. The group included Björn Ulvaeus, who later was a member of ABBA. Other bandmembers were Johan Karlberg, Tony Roth and Hansi Schwarz...

, Joan Baez

Joan Baez

Joan Chandos Baez is an American folk singer, songwriter, musician and a prominent activist in the fields of human rights, peace and environmental justice....

  and many others. In an episode of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.The show renders the title as Gomer Pyle - USMC. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot was aired as the finale of the fourth season of The Andy...

, Jim Nabors

Jim Nabors

James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...

, in the title role, sang the song to character Lou-Ann Poovie, played by Elizabeth MacRae

Elizabeth MacRae

Elizabeth MacRae is an actress who guest starred on various television shows from the 1960s to the 1980s...

, resulting in Lou-Ann choosing Gomer as her boyfriend.