Gomez completed an inaugural U.S. tour opening for Eagle-Eye Cherry in October 1998, while the press still offered praise (Spin magazine called Bring It On "a damn beautiful album," giving it an eight out of ten rating). Liquid Skin followed one year later and went platinum in England, and the rarities/B-sides compilation Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline appeared in 2000. A third studio album, In Our Gun, was released in spring 2002. Another hiatus saw Ian Ball relocating to Los Angeles while still working with the band at its new studio in Portslade, England. The dozens of tracks recorded during this time were whittled down and fashioned into Split the Difference, released in May of 2004. By that time, Hut, the group's original label, had gone under, leaving Gomez signed to Virgin (Hut's distributor). Despite all the critical acclaim, the band's album sales never seemed to match Virgin's expectations, and the two sides parted ways later that year.
In 2005, Gomez signed with ATO Records and released Out West, the group's first live album. How We Operate arrived in May 2006, and the band rounded out the year by assembling a retrospective collection of singles, rarities, and unreleased tracks entitled Five Men in a Hut: Singles 1998-2004. Gomez's members were spread across two continents by this point, leading to a three-year gap between How We Operate and the band's sixth studio release, A New Tide, parts of which were recorded individually by the various bandmates and then merged online. Ben Ottewell took some time after its release to launch a solo career, with 2011's Shapes & Shadows marking his first major release outside of the band. Months later, the band released another studio album, Whatever's on Your Mind, with Phantom Planet's Sam Farrar sharing production duties with the bandmates themselves.
Biography by Greg Prato
Get Miles
Gomez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sitting here in silence, man i don't get no peace
The waves upon my shore take me away piece by piece
Gonna leave everything i know gonna head out towards the sea
Jump off this island gonna head out towards the sea
I love this city man but this city's killing me
The cars below my street take me away piece by piece
Gonna leave everything i know gonna head out towards the sea
Gonna leave this city man, gonna head out towards the sea
Get miles away, get miles away, get miles away
Get miles
I love this planet but this planet's killin' me
Sitting here in all this grass man i don't get no weed
The sweat comin' from my pores take me away piece by piece
Gonna leave everything i know gonna head to the galaxy
Gonna leave this planet man, gonna head to the galaxy
Get miles away, get miles away, get miles away, get miles away, get miles away, get miles away, get miles away
Get miles
The lyrics to Gomez's song "Get Miles" suggest the singer's desire to escape the mundanity of his current life. This theme is reflected in the repetition of the phrase "get miles away" during the chorus, giving the listener a sense of urgency and the need for change.
In the first stanza, the singer describes his love for an island but conveys a sense of restlessness as it's "killing him," showing his desire to break away from the familiarity and routine. The wave's repetitive sounds take him away, which serves as a metaphor for his mind's desire to escape his current environment. In the second stanza, the singer expresses his love for a city, but the noise of the cars takes him away piece by piece. The chaos and monotony of the city's hustle and bustle have taken a toll on the singer, causing him to seek escape.
Then the singer switches to a more metaphoric image in the last stanza, showing his love for the planet, but the planet's killing him, taking him away piece by piece, including the weed in the grass that he can't access, leading him to plan to leave this planet and head to the "galaxy." The choice of words "galaxy" reflects how the singer is looking for a complete change of environment to find peace and escape.
Overall, "Get Miles" is a song that portrays the desire for a fresh start, and the use of metaphors and repetition drives this message home.
Line by Line Meaning
I love this island but this island's killing me
I have a strong affection for this island, but the stressors of living here are slowly but surely wearing me down.
Sitting here in silence, man i don't get no peace
Even in a quiet moment of reflection, I am still plagued by restlessness and anxiety.
The waves upon my shore take me away piece by piece
The constant sound of waves have a hypnotic effect on me, causing me to lose pieces of myself in the process.
Gonna leave everything i know gonna head out towards the sea
I am making the choice to leave behind everything familiar and explore new possibilities out in the open sea.
Jump off this island gonna head out towards the sea
I am using this island as a starting point for my journey towards new horizons.
Get miles away, get miles away, get miles away
My ultimate goal is to put as much distance as possible between myself and the stressors that have held me down.
I love this city man but this city's killing me
I have a strong affinity for the buzzing energy of the city, but I am realizing that it's having a negative impact on my well-being.
The cars below my street take me away piece by piece
The constant hum of traffic and urban noise is chipping away at my sense of self and making it difficult to find peace.
Gonna leave everything i know gonna head out towards the sea
I am making the choice to leave behind everything familiar and explore new possibilities out in the open sea.
Gonna leave this city man, gonna head out towards the sea
I have decided that the best way to find peace and clarity is by escaping the chaos of the city and setting out on my own adventure on the sea.
I love this planet but this planet's killin' me
Despite my deep love and appreciation for the world we live in, I am struggling to find my place and feel at peace within it.
Sitting here in all this grass man i don't get no weed
Even in the tranquility of nature, I am having a hard time finding contentment and harmony with my surroundings.
The sweat comin' from my pores take me away piece by piece
Even my own body is a source of tension and discomfort, making it difficult to fully immerse myself in my environment and find a sense of belonging.
Gonna leave everything i know gonna head to the galaxy
In order to find a true sense of liberation and escape from the things that are holding me back, I must leave everything I know behind and venture out into the unknown reaches of the galaxy.
Gonna leave this planet man, gonna head to the galaxy
My ultimate destination is to leave the confines of our planet and explore the endless possibilities of the galaxy beyond.
Get miles away, get miles away, get miles away, get miles away, get miles away, get miles away, get miles away
No matter where my journey takes me, my primary focus is on putting as much distance as possible between myself and the negativity and stressors that are causing me harm.
Get miles
This phrase serves as a powerful reminder of my main objective: to distance myself from all that is toxic and move towards a brighter, more fulfilling future.
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: BEN OTTEWELL, BENJAMIN JOSEPH OTTEWELL, IAN THOMAS BALL, OLIVER JAMES PEACOCK, PAUL BLACKBURN, THOMAS WILLIAM GRAY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind