So Far Away (Avenged Sevenfold song)

"So Far Away"
Single by Avenged Sevenfold
from the album Nightmare
Released	April 5, 2011
Recorded	November 2009 – April 2010
Studio	The Pass (Los Angeles) Phantom (Westlake Village)
Length	5:28 (album version) 4:34 (radio edit)
Label	Warner
Songwriter(s)	Synyster Gates
Producer(s)	Mike Elizondo
Avenged Sevenfold singles chronology
"Welcome to the Family" (2010) "So Far Away" (2011) "Not Ready to Die" (2011)

"So Far Away" is a song by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released as the third single for their fifth studio album, Nightmare. The single was released on April 5, 2011, via Warner Records.^[1] The song is a tribute to the band's original drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan, who died in his sleep on December 28, 2009.

Writing

In the special edition of Revolver magazine that was released the same day as the Nightmare album, Gates stated that he originally started out writing the song "So Far Away" in honor of his grandfather. However, the song is now primarily about his former bandmate, best friend and previous drummer of Avenged Sevenfold, The Rev,^[2] who died on December 28, 2009.

During most concerts, the band performs the song as a tribute to the Rev by having the audience hold up their lighters or cell phones during the song as the stage background features a banner commemorating the Rev's legacy.^[3][4]

Release

"So Far Away" was first released by KROQ radio exclusively for one day on July 21, 2010.^[5]

In late March 2011, it was revealed that "So Far Away" would be released as the third single from Nightmare. The song starting hitting radio stations April 5, 2011.^[6]

Music video

The music video (directed by Wayne Isham) features the four remaining members of the band playing in a studio and also riding in a Cadillac DeVille through a neighborhood (possibly Huntington Beach, where the band originated). Throughout the video, flashbacks of the four play. They are shown as children playing in a garage, then teens playing and hanging out, and stealing beer from a liquor store. There is a scene in the video in which a young Sullivan is depicted riding the handlebars of a bike being ridden by a young M. Shadows, kicking over a metal trash can on the street. Shadows referenced this when talking about Sullivan before playing So Far Away at Rock am Ring 2014. ("we've known this guy since we were this big, rolling round the neighborhood, knocking over trash cans; just being dickheads"). During the bridge, a collection of photos and videos of the Rev play. It ends with a clip of the remaining band members and James embracing.

Avenged Sevenfold posted a countdown on their official website that showed the time until release for a new video for "So Far Away". SFA7X When the video was released, the site crashed due to so many people attempting to watch the video at once. After a second failed attempt to release the video, they solved the problem by hosting the music video on YouTube.

This was the second video not to feature the current drummer for Avenged Sevenfold; the first being Nightmare. For this music video, Synyster Gates uses a custom Schecter guitar, similar to his usual black/silver pinstriped guitar. However instead of the inlays on the fretboard reading "SYN", it displays "REV". Johnny Christ also wore a guitar strap with the word "foREVer" written on it.

As of October 2024, the video has over 375 million views on YouTube.^[7]

Chart performance

The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number 15 on the Alternative Songs chart. This is the band's first number-one single.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"So Far Away"	5:27

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2011) Peak position Canada Rock (Billboard)[8] 41 Mexican Ingles Airplay (Billboard)[9] 39 US Active Rock (Billboard)[10] 1 US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[11] 15 US Hard Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[12] 21 US Heritage Rock (Billboard)[13] 6 US Rock & Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[14] 5 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[15] 1 US Rock & Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[16] 5

Year-end charts Chart (2011) Position US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[17] 27

Personnel

Avenged Sevenfold M. Shadows – lead vocals Zacky Vengeance – acoustic guitar, backing vocals The Rev – drum arrangement, songwriting Synyster Gates – lead guitar, backing vocals, songwriting Johnny Christ – bass guitar Session musicians Mike Portnoy – drums, percussion Brian Haner, Sr. – additional guitar Stevie Blacke – strings and string arrangement

Production Mike Elizondo – producer Craig Aaronson – A&R Brent Arrowood – assistant engineer Chad Carlisle – assistant engineer Adam Hawkins – engineer Andy Wallace – mixer Ted Jensen – mastering Jodie Levine – production co-ordination, contractor Andy Olyphant – A&R Paul Suarez – pro-tools Jan Petrow – assistant engineer Joanna Terrasi – production co-ordination, contractor

References

1. "Avenged Sevenfold – So Far Away". Discogs. discogs.com. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
2. "Synyster Gates Talks Pinkly Smooth And More With Binaural". Deathbatnews.wordpress.com. December 9, 2010. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
3. "Avenged Sevenfold pays tribute to late drummer with 'So Far Away' - Zap2it". Blog.zap2it.com. Archived from the original on December 25, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
4. "Avenged Sevenfold pay tribute to The Rev in video for "So Far Away" |". Devilbearrock.com. May 11, 2011. Archived from the original on August 6, 2011. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
5. "New Avenged Sevenfold album previews up online, and full length stream of new track". Lick Library. July 21, 2010. Archived from the original on September 22, 2010. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
6. "Future Releases on Alternative Radio Stations". March 20, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
7. "Avenged Sevenfold - So Far Away [Official Music Video]". YouTube. May 6, 2011. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
8. "Canada Rock". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
9. "Hot Rock & Alternative Songs – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2021.
10. "Active Rock". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
11. "Alternative Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
12. "Hard Rock Digital Song Sales". Billboard. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
13. "Heritage Rock". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
14. "Rock & Alternative Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
15. "Mainstream Rock". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
16. "Rock & Alternative Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
17. "Hot Rock & Alternative Songs – Year-End 2011". Billboard. Retrieved October 29, 2021.