Introduction
“From a Distance” is a song recorded by American country star Alan Jackson and released as an album track on his second studio album, Don’t Rock the Jukebox (May 14, 1991). Jackson’s “From a Distance” is an original composition credited to Alan Jackson and Randy Travis, written for the Don’t Rock the Jukebox sessions and included in the album’s running order.
Musically the track aligns with the neotraditional country aesthetic that propelled Jackson’s early career—unadorned arrangements, acoustic roots, and a focus on a narrative vocal performance. Lyrically the song portrays a narrator who observes a former lover from afar, finding bittersweet comfort in watching her happiness rather than attempting to reclaim what was lost, an intimate portrait of longing and restraint within a country setting.
In terms of release history, “From a Distance” appears as track 8 on Don’t Rock the Jukebox and later served as the B-side to the single “Someday” (released August 19, 1991), which means the song circulated among listeners as part of a high-profile album rather than as a promoted radio single.
It is important to note that Jackson’s song is not the same composition as Julie Gold’s widely recorded “From a Distance”—the Gold song (popularized by Bette Midler in 1990) is a separate, Grammy-winning composition with a very different lyrical scope and history. Jackson’s piece, by contrast, is a homegrown country song that showcases his songwriting and collaboration with Randy Travis during a formative phase of his career.
As a result, Jackson’s “From a Distance” functions as a thoughtful album cut: modest in ambition but revealing in craft, it helps round out Don’t Rock the Jukebox and offers fans a smaller, more personal counterpoint to the record’s radio hits. It remains a quiet favorite for many Alan Jackson fans.
Video
Lyric
Just another bar
With loud guitars
Smoke and candles burning low
And the same old boys
Their backs to the bar
Staring across a crowded floor
Then I hear a familiar sound
Your voice’s laughing out loud
From a distance I can see you
Dancing slowly with somebody new
But I can’t hold you like I want to
But I can love you from a distance
So I take a chair
In a corner somewhere
You can’t see me
But I can look at you
And I remember those times
When I looked in your eyes
The way that he now looks at you
Deep down I know it’s over
But it hurts me when he’s so much closer
From a distance I can see you
Dancing slowly with somebody new
But I can’t hold you like I want to
But I can love you from a distance
And if I can’t hold you near me
I’ll just hold onto your memory
From a distance I can see you
Dancing slowly with somebody new
But I can’t hold you like I want to
But I can love you from a distance
I’ll always love you from a distance