“A Thousand Miles” was written by Vanessa Carlton and released in 2002 as the lead single from her debut album, Be Not Nobody. Built around its instantly recognisable piano riff, the song became Carlton’s signature hit reaching No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The music video, directed by Marc Klasfeld, was filmed without CGI or green screen: Carlton played a piano mounted on a flatbed truck as it moved through the streets of Los Angeles, with the wind in her hair entirely real. She was strapped to the bench by a seatbelt hidden under her skirt.
The song later found a second life in the 2004 film White Chicks. An undercover FBI agent plays it in the car, hoping to put off Terry Crews’ character only for him to light up, declare it his favourite song and sing along all the way.