Far Away Eyes

The song Far Away Eyes by The Rolling Stones, featured on their 1978 album Some Girls, is a fascinating blend of country twang and the band’s signature rock swagger. In a 1978 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Mick Jagger shared that the song was inspired by a real experience of driving through Bakersfield, California, on a Sunday morning, listening to gospel music on the radio. The lyrics reflect this solitude, capturing the moment when Jagger heard a preacher on a Los Angeles gospel broadcast, humorously depicted in the song as prompting him to run “twenty red lights” in the Lord’s honor. The song’s half-sung, half-spoken verses, delivered in Jagger’s parodic Southern accent, add a layer of irony, with some fans noting on platforms like Songfacts that it feels like a social commentary on radio evangelists and the Bakersfield scene.

Musically, Far Away Eyes stands out for its incorporation of the Bakersfield sound, a stripped-down, rock-infused country style pioneered by artists like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. The band, longtime fans of country music, leaned into this aesthetic with Ron Wood’s pedal steel guitar and Keith Richards’ acoustic strumming, creating what some fans on Songfacts call the “twangiest” track on Some Girls. A bootleg demo titled You Win Again with Richards singing exists, hinting at the song’s evolution. Interestingly, a post on X from January 2025 by @RollingStones highlighted a lyric—“Find a girl with far away eyes”—alongside a 1978 video shoot photo, stirring fan nostalgia. Some speculate the “girl with far away eyes” might be a nod to a real person, with one Songfacts commenter suggesting Pamela Fletcher, a slightly cross-eyed assistant to Diana Ross, though this remains unconfirmed.

The Rolling Stones formed in London in 1962, emerging from a shared passion for blues and early rock and roll. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, childhood friends from Dartford, Kent, reconnected in 1961 at a train station, bonding over Jagger’s Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records. This encounter sparked the band’s inception, with Brian Jones, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts joining to form the initial lineup. Jones initially led the group, but the Jagger-Richards songwriting partnership soon took center stage, fueled by manager Andrew Loog Oldham’s push for original material. Rooted in covers of blues artists like Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf, the band carved out a gritty, rhythmic sound that defined hard rock, setting them apart in the 1960s British Invasion.

The band’s official channels keep fans engaged: visit The Rolling Stones’ official website, follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and X. Fans also connect through communities like the It’s Only Rock’n Roll (IORR) fan site, which offers forums and tour updates, and the Rolling Stones Fan Group on Facebook, where enthusiasts share memorabilia and concert stories. These platforms keep the Zoo Freaks spirit alive, celebrating the band’s enduring legacy.