It wouldn’t be wrong to assume most of us have stomped our feet and grabbed a mate or loved one to drunkenly bellow The Proclaimers’ I’m Gonna Be (500 miles) (and beer breath) into their ear.
Twenty-seven years on, identical twins Craig and Charlie Reid, who make up the Scottish band have discussed how they made the classic.
“In 1988, we were sitting in a flat in Edinburgh waiting to go up and play a gig in Aberdeen. We had an hour to kill before our lift, so I started playing some chords on the electric piano,”said Craig. “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) came straight away. I had the tune and lyrics in 45 minutes flat.”
He continued to tell The Guardian: “Right from the start we knew it was catchy, but when we started playing it live the reaction was tremendous. People make all sorts of interpretations of the lyrics – especially the supposed religious significance of 500 miles – but it’s just a love song. I stuck the Scottish word “havering” in there because that’s just what I’d say. It means talking nonsense, but in America one DJ thought we were singing about vomiting.”
It’s a romantic sentiment, but if you walk at an average walking speed, it would take around 6.5 days to walk 500 miles, that’s allowing for a break every six hours.
And if that’s not enough, you’d have walk 500 more. No chance.
