"Runaway" is a song by Irish family band

the Corrs The Corrs are an Irish family band that combine pop rock with traditional Irish themes within their music. The group consists of the Corr siblings, Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Car ...

, released in September 1995 as the debut single from their first album, ''

Forgiven, Not Forgotten ''Forgiven, Not Forgotten'' is the debut studio album by Irish pop rock group the Corrs. It was released by Atlantic Records on 26 September 1995 across the world. The album was primarily produced by David Foster, with additional production by ...

'' (1995). It had middling chart success except in Ireland and Australia, peaking at number 10 in both countries. It was also an

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

hit in Canada, reaching number two on the ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Adult Contemporary Tracks chart and number 25 on the ''RPM'' 100 Hit Tracks chart. On the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, it originally reached number 49, but a re-release in 1999 saw the single reach a new peak of number two on the same chart.

Background and composition

The song was written by

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that ref ...

Sharon Sharon ( he, שָׁרוֹן ''Šārôn'' "plain") is a given name as well as an Israeli surname. In English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name. However, historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In I ...

and

Caroline Corr Caroline Georgina Corr MBE (born 17 March 1973), known to fans as the "Chick with the Stick", is an Irish singer and drummer for the Celtic folk rock band The Corrs. In addition to the drums, Corr plays the ''bodhrán'', ''cajón'', percussions ...

, and co-produced by their older brother

Jim Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim ...

and

David Foster David Walter Foster (born November 1, 1949) is a Canadian musician, composer, arranger, record producer and music executive who chaired Verve Records from 2012 to 2016. He has won 16 Grammy Awards from 47 nominations. His music career spans mor ...

. Andrea has said the first time she sang it in front of her parents, she was embarrassed because of the line "make love to me through the night" and noted that she knew her mother would be thinking "where did she learn that?!" The song has a subtle key change. It is written in F major, but towards the end, the fourth (a B flat) gets augmented (becoming a B), so the key changes to

lydian mode The modern Lydian mode is a seven-tone musical scale formed from a rising pattern of pitches comprising three whole tones, a semitone, two more whole tones, and a final semitone. : Because of the importance of the major scale in modern music ...

. Rhythmically, a similar change happens in the drums, which initially play a slow 6/8th. In the end, a snare drum is played on the 2-eh and 5-eh, which makes a

double-time In popular music, half-time is a type of meter and tempo that alters the rhythmic feel by essentially ''doubling the tempo resolution'' or metric division/level in comparison to common-time. Thus, two measures of approximate a single measure o ...

feel.

Critical reception

Steve Baltin from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' stated that the song "should immediately make a mark" at

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

, because of its producer,

. He added that the Corrs "has a very soothing quality running through this string-based mid-tempo tune. With all the pluses working for it, the Corrs should strike quickly into the American pop scene." A reviewer from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated it four out of five, describing it as an "excellent single", with "touches of

Fairground Attraction Fairground Attraction were a London based folk and soft rock band. They are notable for the 1988 hit songs " Perfect" and "Find My Love", both taken from the group's multi-platinum selling debut album, ''The First of a Million Kisses''. The ban ...

". Pan-European magazine ''

Music & Media ''Music & Media'' was a pan-European magazine for radio, music and entertainment. It was published for the first time in 1984 as ''Eurotipsheet'', but in 1986 it changed name to ''Music & Media''. It was originally based in Amsterdam, but later ...

'' wrote, "Programmers who like their playlist material to be full of melody and harmony should stop here. The Corrs are four siblings from

County Louth County Louth ( ; ga, An Lú) is a coastal county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of Meath to the south, Monaghan to the west, Armagh to the north and Down to the ...

, Ireland, who specialise in blending stately and melodic pop with more traditional

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considerab ...

, resulting in a record perfect for daytime ERR and ACE."

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for "Runaway", directed by Randee St. Nicholas, was shot in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

over two days in August 1995, featuring locations such as

Phoenix Park The Phoenix Park ( ga, Páirc an Fhionnuisce) is a large urban park in Dublin, Ireland, lying west of the city centre, north of the River Liffey. Its perimeter wall encloses of recreational space. It includes large areas of grassland and tre ...

and

Pearse Railway Station Pearse railway station ( ga, Stáisiún na bPiarsach) or Dublin Pearse is a railway station on Westland Row on the Southside (Dublin), Southside of Dublin, Ireland. It is Ireland's busiest commuter station and second busiest station overall ...

. Shot mostly in black-and-white, with flashes of colour in certain scenes, the video begins with Andrea on a train, looking out the window and singing, then follows the band as they sing and perform in several locations, including in a forest and on a train station platform, before ending with her getting off the train and running towards the camera. Sharon once said this video should give fans an impression of what Ireland is like. Accordingly, it was raining the day the scenes where Andrea is running through the woods were shot.

Track listings

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Remix version

The song was re-released in February 1999, remixed by

Tin Tin Out Tin Tin Out were an English electronic dance music duo, comprising Darren Stokes and Lindsay Edwards. They remixed songs for a variety of artists such as Duran Duran, Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, The Corrs and Des'ree, as well as collaborating with ...

, reaching number two on the

, held from the top by

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

's debut single " ...Baby One More Time". Atypical of Tin Tin Out's usual output and their previous remix of the Corrs' song "

What Can I Do What Can I Do? may refer to: * "What Can I Do?" (Édith Piaf song), 1950 * "What Can I Do?" (Ice Cube song), 1994 * "What Can I Do?" (The Corrs song), 1998 * "What Can I Do" (The Black Belles song), 2010 * "What Can I Do" by Gotthard from ''Hu ...

", the remix for "Runaway" is a lighter, more

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

-oriented recording which utilizes a stripped back live band arrangement with a simple drum kit, a rhythmic bass guitar and a strummed acoustic guitar, retains Sharon Corr's fiddle from the original recording, features orchestral strings in the latter half of the song performed by the

Duke Quartet The Duke Quartet is a contemporary string quartet based in Europe. Its members are Louisa Fuller (violin), Rick Koster (violin), John Metcalfe (viola), and Sophie Harris (cello). This quartet specialises in contemporary music, and its repertoir ...

and removes the rhythm change present in the original version.

Track listing

Music video

Dani Jacob's fourth Corrs video is, similar to " Love to Love You", compiled of backstage and concert footage; this time from one single gig at the

Manchester Evening News Arena Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has the ...

on 1 February 1999. It also includes a few scenes of the band in the recording studio with

working on the remixed version of the song. Footage of the band walking through the corridor to the stage was later used for the intro for the rest of their concerts from 1999 to 2001.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control The Corrs songs 1994 songs 1995 debut singles 1999 singles 143 Records singles Atlantic Records singles Lava Records singles Music videos directed by Randee St. Nicholas Songs written by Andrea Corr