A Distant History: Rarities 1997–2007

A Distant History: Rarities 1997–2007 is a download-only compilation album by the Scottish rock band Idlewild, released on 29 October 2007 (2007-10-29), on Parlophone. The album is a companion piece to Scottish Fiction: Best of 1997–2007 and is composed of rarities and B-sides from throughout the band's career.

A Distant History – Rarities 1997–2007
Compilation album by Idlewild
Released	29 October 2007 (2007-10-29)
Recorded	1997–2007
Genre	Rock
Label	Parlophone/EMI
Idlewild chronology
Scottish Fiction: Best of 1997–2007 (2007) A Distant History – Rarities 1997–2007 (2007) Post Electric Blues (2009)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
NME	5/10 (10/27/2007, p. 39)

According to the band's mailing list, the track listing was chosen by the band themselves.

Track listing

Source: Amazon^[1]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Queen of the Troubled Teens"	2:17
2.	"Self Healer"	2:00
3.	"Chandelier"	2:21
4.	"I Want To Be A Writer"	1:48
5.	"Satan Polaroid"	3:18
6.	"This Is Worse"	3:39
7.	"You Don't Have The Heart" (Live at the Glasgow Garage)	2:07
8.	"There's Glory in Your Story"	1:58
9.	"A Distant History"	4:36
10.	"I Was Made To Think It"	4:01
11.	"Poor Thing"	4:18
12.	"The Nothing I Know"	4:26
13.	"Everything Flows" (Teenage Fanclub cover)	3:34
14.	"I Found That Essence Rare" (Gang of Four cover)	3:04
15.	"Hold on To Your Breath"	3:55
16.	"Gone Too Long"	2:59
17.	"Don't Let Me Change"	4:44
18.	"El Capitan" (Acoustic)	4:07
19.	"Winter Is Blue" (Vashti Bunyan cover)	2:15
20.	"Hidden Ways"	2:41