Songfacts®:

• In America, Big Country is known as a one-hit-wonder, that hit being "In A Big Country," which was in heavy rotation on MTV. In their native UK, however, they had three bigger hits: "Wonderland" (#8), "Chance" (#9) and "Fields of Fire."
  
  "Fields of Fire," released in America after "In A Big Country," got just tepid airplay in that country, as the video was largely ignored by MTV.
• A band composition, lead singer Stuart Adamson claimed that the song wasn't intended to tell a coherent story. "It's a selection of images," he told Smash Hits. "Thoughts on a train journey."
• Originally written in the key of D, producer Steve Lillywhite had the band tune their instruments up one full note to the key of E to create a higher vocal range for singer Stuart Adamson. When playing live, the band performs this song in the key of D.
• This song was originally titled "400 Miles." When it was written, Adamson and Bruce Watson were taking regular trips from Edinborough, Scotland, to London. The distance between these cities is approximately 400 miles, and that distance is prominent in the chorus:
  
  Four hundred miles
  Without a word until you smile