500 Miles High is a jazz fusion tune written by Chick Corea with lyrics by Neville Potter, performed by Chick Corea and Return to Forever. It was recorded in October 1972 and released on the 1973 album Light as a Feather. The nine-minute piece is largely instrumental with three verses sung by Brazilian vocalist Flora Purim, and it opens with a rubato electric piano intro before Purim's vocal and a Latin-tinged ensemble groove. Although the title has sometimes been linked to drug culture, Potter's lyrics express romantic love. The track blends jazz fusion with Brazilian samba influences and showcases Corea's exploratory writing and Purim's signature vocal; it helped popularize Corea's work and has since become a jazz standard with many cover versions by artists including Flora Purim, George Shearing, and The Manhattan Transfer.
