"Runaway Train" is a power ballad by American alternative rock band Soul Asylum. Its music video is notable for featuring images of missing people, most of them young children and teenagers.
Lead singer Dave Pirner has stated that the lyrics originally described his experience of depression.
"Runaway Train" was released in June 1993 as the fourth single from the band's 1992 album, Grave Dancers Union, and became a success around the world. It reached number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 and climbed to the top position on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart, earning a gold sales certification from the Recording Industry Association of America and selling 600,000 copies in the US.
Outside North America, it reached number two in New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland and peaked within the top five on the charts on several other European countries. The song helped bring their album, Grave Dancers Union, to a multi-platinum level and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1994.
Lyrics
Call you up in the middle of the night
Like a firefly without a light
You were there like a blowtorch burning
I was a key that could use a little turning
So tired that I couldn't even sleep
So many secrets I couldn't keep
Promised myself I wouldn't weep
One more promise I couldn't keep
It seems no one can help me now
I'm in too deep
There's no way out
This time I have really lead myself astray
Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one-way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there
Can you help me remember how to smile?
Make it somehow all seem worthwhile
How on earth did I get so jaded?
Life's mysteries seem so faded
I can go where no one else can go
I know what no one else knows
Here I am, just drowning in the rain
With a ticket for a runaway train
And everything seems cut and dry
Day and night
Earth and sky
Somehow I just don't believe it
Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one-way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there
Bought a ticket for a runaway train
Like a madman laughing at the rain
A little out of touch, a little insane
It's just easier than dealing with the pain
Runaway train never going back
Wrong way on a one-way track
Seems like I should be getting somewhere
Somehow I'm neither here nor there
Runaway train never coming back
Runaway train tearing up the track
Runaway train burning in my veins
I run away but it always seems the same
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