"Runaway" is a debut song written by Stephen Barker Liles, Robert Blackledge and

Canaan Smith Canaan Lee Smith (born August 24, 1982) is an American country music singer and songwriter signed with Round Here Records, an independent label founded by Florida Georgia Line. He has released two albums, ''Bronco'' in 2015 and '' High Country S ...

and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group Love and Theft. It is the lead-off single from the band's debut album ''

World Wide Open ''World Wide Open'' is the debut studio album by American country music band Love and Theft. It was released on August 25, 2009 (see 2009 in country music) via Carolwood Records, a sister label of Lyric Street Records. The album includes the sin ...

''. The song debuted on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart in March 2009.

Content

The song's narrator wants to get from with his current life as it is not going well, and he decides to become a "runaway."

Critical reception

Dan Milliken of Country Universe.net gave the song a C rating, and said this in his review of the song that the band "is another three-piece boy band who sound like they paid a lot of attention to 80’s pop-rock and care deeply about the inner yearnings of suburban girls between the ages of 11 and 17." Juli Thanki of Engine 145 gave it a thumbs-down, saying that the band "combine the adult contemporary pop of 'Iris' era

Goo Goo Dolls The Goo Goo Dolls are an American rock band formed in 1986 in Buffalo, New York, by guitarist/vocalist John Rzeznik, bassist/vocalist Robby Takac, and drummer George Tutuska. After starting off as a cover band and then developing a punk sound, ...

and the treacly sentiment featured in your average

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts is an American country music band founded in 1999. The band members were Gary LeVox (lead vocals), Jay DeMarcus (bass guitar, background vocals), and Joe Don Rooney (lead guitar, background vocals). DeMarcus is LeVox's second cousi ...

song with the nonthreatening cuteness of the

Jonas Brothers The Jonas Brothers () are an American pop rock band. Formed in 2005, they gained popularity from their appearances on the Disney Channel television network. They consist of three brothers: Kevin Jonas, Joe Jonas, and Nick Jonas. Raised in W ...

." She also thought that the lead vocals lacked grit in comparison to the song's theme of running away.

Chart performance

"Runaway" debuted at number 60 on the ''Billboard''

chart for the week of March 14, 2009. It debuted at number 65 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

for the chart dated September 12, 2009.

Year-end charts

References

{{Love and Theft (band) 2009 debut singles 2009 songs Love and Theft (duo) songs Lyric Street Records singles Songs written by Canaan Smith