Walking Far From Home

Album: Kiss Each Other Clean (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This freak-folk number is the first single and opening track from Kiss Each Other Clean, the fourth album released by American singer-songwriter Samuel Beam, who records under the name of Iron & Wine.
  • Beam told Billboard magazine that he started writing "Walking" while on tour in Australia and New Zealand. "When you're out and about in the middle of that kind of journey, it's fun to start with images you actually see and daydream and come up with new images," he noted. "That one took a long time to finish."
  • The song was released as a special Record Store Day Black Friday single in November.
  • How come 'Iron & Wine?' Beam explained his moniker to Spin magazine: "Back in '98 or so when I was in film school I was working on lighting for a movie in Georgia, out in the middle of nowhere at a gas station," he recalled. "Inside the gas station they had a bunch of old home remedies like castor oil, and one of them was a protein supplement called Beef, Iron & Wine. I just dropped the Beef part. I recognized that a lot in my writing I'm trying to show both sides of the coin - the sour and sweet. Iron & Wine seemed to fit with that duality and I thought it would be more interesting to call the project that rather than use Sam Beam. I never tried the stuff, though. Hell no. Someone told me that I should try and get sponsoring. So if they're reading..."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Who Wrote That Song?

Who Wrote That Song?Music Quiz

Do you know who wrote Patti Smith's biggest hit? How about the Grease theme song? See if you can match the song to the writer.

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Psychedelic Lyrics

Psychedelic LyricsMusic Quiz

Whoa man! Do you know which band came up with these cosmic lyrics?

Graham Parker

Graham ParkerSongwriter Interviews

When Judd Apatow needed under-appreciated rockers for his Knocked Up sequel, he immediately thought of Parker, who just happened to be getting his band The Rumour back together.

John Parr

John ParrSongwriter Interviews

John tells the "St. Elmo's Fire (Man In Motion)" story and explains why he disappeared for so long.

Song Cities

Song CitiesMusic Quiz

Nirvana, Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen are among those who wrote songs with cities that show up in this quiz.