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"500 Miles Away from Home" is a folk song made popular in the United States and Europe during the 1960s folk revival. The simple repetitive lyrics offer a lament by a traveler who is far from home, out of money and too ashamed to return.

"500 Miles" is Hedy West's most anthologized song in 1961. Rewritten with new lyrics by American country music singer Bobby Bare, it charted as a hit single in 1963.

Bobby Bare is born April 7, 1935 in Ironton, Ohio. His story is nearly as fascinating as his music. Bare's mother died when he was five. His father couldn't earn enough money to feed his children, forcing the family to split up. Bare was working on a farm by the time he was 15 years old, later working in factories and selling ice cream to support himself. Building his first guitar, he began playing music in his late teens, performing with a local Ohio band in Springfield.

I'm five hundred miles away from home
Teardrops fell on mama's note when I read the things she wrote
She said we miss you son we love you come on home
Well I didn't have to pack I had it all right on my back
Now I'm five hundred miles away from home
Away from home away from home cold and tired and all alone
Yes I'm five hundred miles away from home

I know this is the same road I took the day I left home
But it sure looks different now
Well I guess I look different too cause time changes everything
I wonder what they'll say when they see their boy looking this way

Oh I wonder what they'll say when I get home
Can't remember when I ate it's just thumb and walk and wait
And I'm still five hundred miles away from home
If my luck had been just right I'd be with them all tonight
But I'm still five hundred miles away from home
Away from home away from home...