Far Far Away

By Slade

On Slade in Flame

Released on October 11, 1974

21K Views

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[Verse 1]

I've seen the yellow lights go down the Mississippi

I've seen the bridges of the world and they're for real

I've had a red light off-the-wrist

Without me even gettin' kissed

It still seems so unreal


[Verse 2]

I've seen the morning in the mountains of Alaska

I've seen the sun set in the east and in the west

I've sang the glory that was Rome

And passed the "Hound Dog" singer 's home

It still seems for the best


[Chorus]

And I'm far, far away

With my head up in the clouds

And I'm far, far away

With my feet down in the crowds

Letting loose around the world

But the call of home is loud

Still as loud


[Verse 3]

I've seen the Paris lights from high upon Montmartre

And felt the silence hanging low in No Man's Land

And though those Spanish nights were fine

It wasn't only from the wine

It still seems all in hand


[Chorus]

And I'm far, far away

With my head up in the clouds

And I'm far, far away

With my feet down in the crowds

Letting loose around the world

But the call of home is loud

Still as loud


[Bridge]

I've seen the yellow lights go down the Mississippi

The Grand Bahama Island stories carry on

And though those arigato smiles

Stay in your memory for a while

There still seems more to come


[Chorus]

And I'm far, far away

With my head up in the clouds

And I'm far, far away

With my feet down in the crowds

Letting loose around the world

But the call of home is loud

Still as loud


[Chorus]

And I'm far, far away

With my head up in the clouds

And I'm far, far away

With my feet down in the crowds

And I'm far, far away

But the sound of home is loud

Still as loud

“Red light off-the-wrist”
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In short, an expression for having been intimate with someone in a hookup context.

“The glory that was Rome”
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“On desperate seas long wont to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair, thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And the grandeur that was Rome.”

Edgar Allan Poe, To Helen (1845).

Poe’s longing is for a classical beauty. Noddy’s is a more general attraction to home. Both are sparked by long travel.

““Hound Dog” singer”
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“Big Mama” Thornton

“I’ve seen the yellow lights go down the Mississippi”
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Referring to being abroad in the United States

“I’ve seen the sun set in the east and in the west”
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If you’re in Japan as evening falls, you can in a sense watch the sun set in the East. But the oddity of the line strongly bolsters the feeling of unreality noted in the first verse. Noddy feels fundamentally displaced, almost outside the normal rules of time.

The whip pan from Rome to Tennessee in the next line and a half has a similar effect.