No, I am not extending the Christmas music season with this tune because, contrary to popular belief and usage, it isn’t a Christmas song, or wasn’t intended as one. Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde wrote it in 1983 during the recording of the band’s third LP, “Learning to Crawl,” their first after the deaths of bassist Pete Farndon and lead guitarist James Honeyman-Scott. Scott’s death hit Hynde particularly hard, and he’s the missing person she’s singing this to and about.
The song was released as a single in late 1983 in most of the world; in the U.S. it was the B-side to “Middle of the Road.” How they got the hard-as-nails Hynde to act in this silly video is something she’s never been asked to explain.
![Pretenders - 2000 Miles (Official Music Video) [HD Remaster]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/AEyGZlBdkaA/hqdefault.jpg)
Over the years “2000 Miles” has become not only a holiday standard but Hynde’s most enduring song, with more than four dozen recorded covers. Hynde herself re-recorded it in 2014, accompanied by piano instead of Robbie McIntosh’s swirling guitars.
