From a distance the world looks blue and green,
and the snow-capped mountains white.
From a distance the ocean meets the stream,
and the eagle takes to flight.
From a distance, there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
It’s the voice of hope, it’s the voice of peace,
it’s the voice of every man.
From a distance we all have enough,
and no one is in need.
And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease,
no hungry mouths to feed.
From a distance we are instruments
marching in a common band.
Playing songs of hope, playing songs of peace.
They’re the songs of every man.
God is watching us. God is watching us.
God is watching us from a distance.
From a distance you look like my friend,
even though we are at war.
From a distance I just cannot comprehend
what all this fighting is for.
From a distance there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
And it’s the hope of hopes, it’s the love of loves,
it’s the heart of every man.
It’s the hope of hopes, it’s the love of loves.
This is the song of every man.
And God is watching us, God is watching us,
God is watching us from a distance.
Oh, God is watching us, God is watching.
God is watching us from a distance
Enjoy This Video – From a Distance Lyrics Sung by Bette Midler
Some Facts About From a Distance Lyrics and Bette Midler
The song “From a Distance” was written in 1985 by American singer-songwriter Julie Gold. Julie was working as a secretary at the time for HBO and writing songs in her free time. Her friend, Christine Lavin, introduced the song to Nanci Griffith who first recorded for her 1987 release, Lone Star State of Mind. It quickly became a favorite of Griffith’s fans around the world. The song became an international commercial success after it was recorded in 1990 by Bette Midler for the album Some People’s Lives, peaking at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and went on to win a Grammy for Song of the Year in 1991.
Bette Midler re-recorded a Christmas version for her 2006 Christmas Album, Cool Yule, with additional lyrics by Midler, Robbie Buchanan and Jay Landers. Additional recordings of the original have been performed by Gold, Griffith, Simon Nicol (of Fairport Convention) and many others. The song has also been sung by a number of children’s school choirs.
It received a “Minute Man Award” from the United States Army for inspiring the troops and a “Seven Seals Award” from the Department of Defense.
Julie Gold has stated that she believes in an immanent and beneficent God, and also thinks that people have a right to interpret the song any way they want, as with all art. She has stated that the song is about the difference between how things appear to be and how they really are.
The original notion may have been that a potentially harmonious world filled with hope and peace is perceivable when one stands back and looks at things “from a distance”. God, from a similar perspective, “is watching” everything we do. It is not clear from these words that God is actively watching over us in a caring way or merely viewing what we do from a critical standpoint, but presumably God also hears the same harmony and songs “from a distance”.
Another interpretation is that the perception of love and peace only exists “from a distance” and that the up close reality is not being addressed. It suggests that God is deistic and doesn’t actually act on our problems, and is only an observer. From a distance “no one is in need,” and “there are no hungry mouths to feed.” “God is watching us from a distance.” In other words, God is so far from human experience as to not be able to see, and thus respond, to hunger or need.
The Bette Midler recording of the song ranked at number 37 on VH1’s list of the “50 Most Awesomely Bad Songs Ever” and ranked at number 14 on Blender Magazine’s list of “The 50 Worst Songs Ever”. Criticisms focus on the song’s lyrical content and the production of Midler’s version, suggesting the single offers “liberal homilies, stiff rhymes and more sound F/X than a Mel Gibson movie.” Blender’s editors declare the “Worst Moment” to result from the use of the drum machine, stating, “If God exists, He probably hates drum machines.”
