"Run to You" is a song by Swedish pop music duo

Roxette Roxette was a Swedish pop rock duo, consisting of Marie Fredriksson (vocals and keyboards) and Per Gessle (vocals and guitar). Formed in 1986, the duo became an international act in the late 1980s, when they released their breakthrough second a ...

, released on 21 November 1994 by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

as the fourth single from the duo's fifth studio album, ''

Crash! Boom! Bang! ''Crash! Boom! Bang!'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 9 April 1994 by EMI. The album was an immediate commercial success, peaking within the top 10 in over 20 national charts throughout Europe, Australasia and ...

'' (1994). Written by

Per Gessle Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the Swedish pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was d ...

and produced by

Clarence Öfwerman Clarence Öfwerman (born 22 November 1957) is a Swedish record producer, best known as the longtime producer of Roxette, having been with the band from their debut album ''Pearls of Passion'' in 1986 through to 2016's ''Good Karma'', Roxette's l ...

, the song charted moderately in several territories, peaking at number 20 in Finland, while reaching the top forty in Belgium, Scotland, Switzerland and the UK. "Run to You" was the duo's final single to chart in the top fifty of the

Australian Singles Chart The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

, peaking at number 49. The song's music video was directed by

Jonas Åkerlund Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish film director, screenwriter, music video director, and drummer. His video for Madonna's song "Ray of Light" won a Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Short Form, and a record of fiv ...

Composition and style

According to

Ultimate Guitar Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. UG ...

, "Run to You" has a medium

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 99

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The

verse Verse may refer to: Poetry * Verse, an occasional synonym for poetry * Verse, a metrical structure, a stanza * Blank verse, a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme * Free verse, a type of poetry written without the use of strict me ...

is composed of two repetitions of Bm–A–G–A–Bm–A–G–D–Bm, with the

pre-chorus Song structure is the arrangement of a song, and is a part of the songwriting process. It is typically sectional, which uses repeating forms in songs. Common forms include bar form, 32-bar form, verse–chorus form, ternary form, strophic form, and ...

consisting of two short bars of E–D–C. The first two choruses are made up of two sequences of G–C–E–D–G–C–G–D. The

middle 8 The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. A ...

consists of an E–Bm–G–Bm–D sequence, followed by an orchestral instrumental refrain of A–D–E–A–D–A–E–Bm–A–E–D. The final chorus and outro are made up of a repeating A–D–E–A–D–A–E pattern. Writer

said he is "especially fond of the middle-8. It's not as important in today's pop music as it used to be, but for me the greatest songs always had a fantastic middle-8, taking you somewhere else before building up to the chorus again. It's almost like a song within a song." The single contains one

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

: a demo titled "Don't Believe in Accidents", which was written by Gessle on 29 March 1988 as a way to "learn how to use my new

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. I wrote another one as well, probably the same day... that was "

The Look "The Look" is a song by Swedish pop duo Roxette. It was released in early 1989 as the fourth single from their second studio album, '' Look Sharp!'' (1988). It became an international hit, and was one of the most successful singles of 1989. It ...

". A decent Tuesday."

Critical reception

In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a music writer and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worked on air ...

wrote, "The current single sees the Swedish duo in jangly acoustic mode, producing a not totally unpleasant single but one with work to do if it is going to be a major hit for them." A reviewer from ''

People Magazine ''People'' is an American weekly magazine that specializes in celebrity news and human-interest stories. It is published by Dotdash Meredith, a subsidiary of IAC (company), IAC. With a readership of 46.6 million adults in 2009, ''People ...

'' complimented Fredriksson's vocals as "more subtle and graceful than her partner’s grating, affected rasp." Pete Stanton from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' stated that "Per and Marie have done it again", adding that

are "big

Euro-pop Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...

marshmallow Marshmallow (, ) is a type of confectionery that is typically made from sugar, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency. It is used as a filling in baking or normally molded into shapes and coated with corn starch. The sugar c ...

- soft-rocking stars". He noted the song's "pleasant guitars frolic with twirling violins and wow, we're in Happy Land."

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Run to You" was directed by Swedish director

, and consists of behind-the-stage footage of the band during the "

Crash! Boom! Bang! Tour The "Crash! Boom! Bang! World Tour" was the fourth concert tour by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, launched in support of their fifth studio album ''Crash! Boom! Bang!'' (1994). Box office and commercial recordings The "Crash! Boom! Bang! Tour" ...

". It features shots of the band travelling and performing during sound-checks, and ends with a scene of the band taking to the stage at the tour's 18 October 1994 date at the

Festhalle A Festhalle is a German arena or community center. The root meaning of the name "Fest-halle" literally means "Feast-Hall," but is best translated as "Festival Hall" or "Civic Center." Festhalles can be found in many towns and cities in Germany, and ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, Germany.

Track listings

All songs were written by Per Gessle, except "Listen to Your Heart" by Gessle and Mats Persson. * UK 7-inch and cassette single (EM360) # "Run to You" – 3:39 # "Love Is All (Shine Your Light on Me)" (edit) – 4:33 * CD single (Australia · Europe 8651292 · UK CDEMS360) # "Run to You" – 3:39 # "Don't Believe in Accidents" (demo, 30 March 1988) – 3:42 #"

" (demo, 6 May 1993) – 4:15 #"

Almost Unreal "Almost Unreal" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 10 May 1993 as the lead single from the soundtrack of the 1993 live action adaptation of '' Super Mario Bros.'', which starred Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, and ...

" (demo, February 1993) – 3:25 * UK CD2 (CDEM360) # "Run to You" – 3:39 # " Listen to Your Heart" (7-inch edit) – 4:05 # " Joyride" (7-inch version) – 3:59 # "

How Do You Do! "How Do You Do!" is a pop rock song by Swedish pop duo Roxette. It was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album ''Tourism'' on 3 July 1992. The track was a commercial success upon release, topping the national singles charts i ...

" – 3:12

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''

The Pop Hits ''The Pop Hits'' is the third greatest hits compilation album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 24 March 2003 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol Records. It was the second in a two-part series of "best of" albums released by the duo in qu ...

''. Studios * Recorded at Capri Digital Studios (

Capri Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has been ...

, Italy) and EMI Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) * Mixed at EMI Studios (Stockholm, Sweden) Personnel *

Marie Fredriksson Gun-Marie Fredriksson (; 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist and painter, who was best known internationally as the lead vocalist of pop rock pop duo, duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. ...

– lead and background vocals * Per Gessle – lead and background vocals, guitars, mixing * Anders Herrlin – bass guitar,

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

, programming * Mats Holmquist – string

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...

* Jonas Isacsson – guitars * Clarence Öfwerman –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, string arrangement,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, mixing * Stockholms Nya Kammarorkester –

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

* Alar Suurna – mixing, engineering

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Run To You (Roxette Song) 1994 singles Roxette songs Music videos directed by Jonas Åkerlund Songs written by Per Gessle 1994 songs EMI Records singles