Bette Midler From a Distance
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
“From a Distance” is a song recorded by Bette Midler in 1990 for her album Some People’s Lives, and them again in 2006 for her Christmas album entitled Cool Yule. But Midler wasn’t the song’s creator.
No, credit for that falls to Julie Gold. She first put the song together in 1985 as an amateur songwriter. It turns out that her skills were above par in this case, however, as the song was picked up by singer Nanci Griffith, who recorded it for her 1987 record Lone Star State of Mind. After achieving some star status with Griffith it was picked up by Midler where it hit critical claim worldwide, peaking at second place on the Billboard Hot 100 and winning her a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1991.
Much of the song’s popularity, interestingly enough, coincided with the outbreak of the first Gulf War; it worked to inspire troops from the U.S. armed forces and received a “Seven Seals Award” from the U.S. Department of Defense.
“From a Distance” is still played regularly today.