Far Behind

Take leave
in conscious mind
Found myself
to be so inclined

Why sleep
in discontent...
Oh the price
of companionship

My shadow runs with me
Underneath the big wide sun
My shadow comes with me
as we leave it all
We leave it all
far behind

On empty pockets will
Allow a greater
sense of wealth

Why contain yourself
like any other
book on a shelf?

My shadow lays with me
Underneath the big wide sun
My shadow comes with me
as we leave it all
We leave it all
far behind

Subtle voices in the wind,
hear truth they're telling
A world begins where the road ends
Watch me leave it all behind
Far behind...


Far Behind doesn’t explore anything new. Eddie’s written plenty of road songs, and it’s a style he does quite well. Far Behind is no exception, and it is one of my favorite tracks on Into the Wild

I love the music. There is a driving muscular feel to the song, but at the same time it lacks some of the tension that’s in MFC or RVM. Those are songs about busting out, and there is a bit of a claustrophobic feel to those pieces. Far Behind, on the other hand, feels wide open, bursting with opportunity rather than offering an escape. The main guitar part is aggressive, but rather than anger there is a kick down the door and get on the road cuz there is a whole world out there to see vibe to it. The little whelp under his breath the and the way the song builds (quickly, but still building) just give it a wonderful vitality. And I really like the humming underneath the choruses.

Vocally Eddie is very solid here (as he is almost everyone on this record). He is full of passion and conviction but no strain. It’s a great companion piece vocally to No Ceiling in that regard. His voice is full of an untarnished optimism that’s a nice refreshing change. Not the optimism per se, which is almost always there, but usually it is a grim, defiant “don’t let the bastards drag you down” type of optimism. Not so here. This is optimism born of joy and possibilities

Lyrically Far Behind is not the high water mark of into the wild (I’d give the nod there to no ceiling or guaranteed personally) but the writing here is decent. He’s tredding over some familiar ground (the book on the shelf lyric was done in sometimes), and there are really no lyrics in the verses that grab the reader. Nothing terrible, but nothing compelling either, and all pretty straightforward. However, I really like the shadow image that dominates the chorus—that his only companion is himself, and that while normally the shadow would be the place where he keeps his darkness and his secrets, while he is on the road, underneath the sun, the darkness of it melts away—it becomes something to be embraced, a part of him that no longer need be feared. The lyrics are perhaps more ambiguous than that, but the songs that surround it, the feel to the music and vocals, and the bridge lend itself to this reading I think. I am a big fan of the bridge, the sense of fearless abandonment, the sense that there are so many possibilities in front of us if only we learn to look and listen for them. It’s the same idea he’s trying to convey in the verses, but here he really finds his voice.

4 stars

I know this is a "road" tune and it needs some decent tempo to be so, but for some reason the songs is too quick. I feel like it's rushed and I don't know if it's because it's short (like the other ITW tunes), but I want Ed to slow it down. I really like the song in itself, but I think it would be more telling if it was slower and a little more heavy handed. I could be wrong, but the way I hear it in my head slowed down is freakin killer.

I put 3 stars, I changed it to four after more thought and a few more listens.

2 stars. This music fits great into the movie...but come on, it's not a PJ song. I thought this was PJ SOTM thread?

Anyway...not terrible...actually pretty catchy. A little cheesy though at the same time.

Candlebox's version pwns. So does Even Flow.

this is a good song
probably one of my top 3 on the album

and i agree with stip, that even though its a song about going, leaving it all behind, its in a positive way. Its not about running away, its exploring the possibilities that lay ahead.

4 stars

wow--people really don't give a shit about far behind it seems.

stip, a really nice write-up.

I have to disagree with you on the "book on the self" lyric. I think that the FAR BEHIND lyric isn't a repetition of the SOMETIMES lyric. It's actually a sly reference to it, and an illustration of how Eddie's mindset has changed over the years.

The SOMETIMES lyrics is this:

Large fingers pushing paint
You're god and you've got big hands
The colors blend... the challenges you give man

Seek my part... devote myself
My small self... like a book amongst the many on a shelf

These convey a sense of insignificance and powerlessness that simply isn't found in FAR BEHIND. The emphasis of SOMETIMES is internal analysis.

Why contain yourself
like any other
book on a shelf?

In this lyric the singer gives the impression that he does have control over his fate. The entire song is directed outward. And it suggests that the singer believes that "he" is the only asset necessary to control his fate.

stip, maybe you did such a good job that you took the words right out of everyone else's keyboards.

it's prob my favorite off that record...I was gonna do it for the cover contest but seeing how no one is to excited about this thread I'm thinking that might not be a good idea!

No, please do it. I would love to hear it.

the tourney is going on now you should vote!

you sneaky bastard.

as for this song, it's very middle of the road for me, it's neither here nor there. i'm not digging the vocals too much.
3*'s

3, alot better than hard sun, but thats not difficult.

this whole album struck a chord with me back in the fall when I was moving around alot around the south. It is nice but I hope eddie doesnt write anything like this again, at least not till he is neil youngs old ass age or something.

It's just ok for me. One of the better songs off Into the Wild, but the album as a whole faded pretty quickly for me.

I've really been into this song the last week or so.