What is "over the hills and far away"

adv. (context idiomatic English) far away, not near.

Over the Hills and Far Away is the first EP by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, released in 2001 through both Spinefarm Records and Drakkar Records. Bassist Sami Vänskä would leave the band after the recording of this CD, due to musical differences between him and Tuomas Holopainen, to be replaced by the current bassist and male vocalist, Marco Hietala.

The editions by Drakkar and Century Media contain different additional live tracks taken from the live DVD From Wishes to Eternity, recorded in Tampere, Finland, on 29 December 2000.

The EP debuted at number one on the Finnish Singles Chart and spent twelve weeks in the top three, topping it for another four weeks and spending six weeks at number two. It charted for a total of 49 weeks, including two weeks in early 2004. The EP has been awarded double-platinum certification in Finland and has sold over 36,000 copies to date, becoming the sixth-best-selling single of all time in Finland. Over the Hills and Far Away entered also the European charts, in the Top 100 of Germany, Austria, France and Switzerland.

The EP has two new songs and a remake of Angels Fall First's "Astral Romance", sung by Tony Kakko beside Tarja Turunen. The title song is a cover from the Northern Irish singer and guitarist Gary Moore, and has backing vocals by Tuomas Holopainen and Kakko; Tapio Wilska sings on "10th Man Down".

Over the Hills and Far Away may refer to:

"Over the Hills and Far Away" is a traditional Scottish song, dating back to at least the late 17th century. One version was published in Thomas D'Urfey's Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy; a very different one appeared in George Farquhar's 1706 play The Recruiting Officer. A version also appears in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera of 1728.

The words have changed over the years, as can be seen in the versions below. The only consistent element in early versions is the title line and the tune. D'Urfey's and Gay's versions both refer to lovers, while Farquhar's version refers to fleeing overseas to join the army. The tune was provided with another set of lyrics for the British Sharpe television series of the 1990s, based on Farquhar's version. This version was also recorded by John Tams who played Dan Hagman in the series.

The nursery rhyme " Tom, Tom, the Piper's Son" mentions a piper who knows only one tune, this one. Early versions of this, known as "The distracted Jockey's Lamentations", may have been written (but not included) in Thomas D'Urfey's play The Campaigners (1698):

Tommy was a Piper's Son, And fell in love when he was young; But all the Tunes that he could play, Was, o'er the Hills, and far away.

Another nursery rhyme "Five Little Ducks" uses the title of the song as a line.

Over the Hills and Far Away is a collection of fantasy short stories by Lord Dunsany, edited by Lin Carter. It was first published in paperback by Ballantine Books as the sixty-fifth volume of its celebrated Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in April, 1974. It was the series' sixth Dunsany volume, and the third collection of his shorter fantasies assembled by Carter.

The book collects a poem, two plays and thirty-four short pieces by the author, including several of his Jorkens stories, with an introduction by Carter. A poem, by H. P. Lovecraft, in tribute to Dunsany is also included.

"Over the Hills and Far Away" is the third track from English rock band Led Zeppelin's 1973 album Houses of the Holy. It was released as a single, with " Dancing Days" as the B-side, in the US.