“Long Long Way From Home” by Foreigner

"Long Long Way From Home" is where the Lou Gramm and Mick Jones partnership began: the two have said it was the first thing they ever worked on together, with Ian McDonald sharing the writing. It turned up on Foreigner's self-titled 1977 debut, and Atlantic sent it out that November as the album's third single.

Gramm wrote it from life. The song follows a guy who trades his small town for a shot at New York City and ends up lonely there, which, Gramm says, was his own move from Gates, just outside Rochester. He sings it like the city grit is still in his throat, over Jones' guitar, Ed Gagliardi's bass and Dennis Elliott's drums, with a clavinet chopping away and McDonald doubling on horn. Gary Lyons and John Sinclair produced, and it climbed Billboard's Hot 100 as far as number 20 in 1978.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.