"Runaway Train" is a song by English musicians

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

. A CD,

cassette Cassette may refer to: Technology * Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback ** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in the ...

and

7-inch vinyl In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

single from Elton John's album ''

The One The ONE is a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at 100 Nathan Road. It was developed by Chinese Estates Holdings and opened in 2010. Owner Joseph Lau Luen-hung g ...

'' was released in July 1992 and was later accompanied by a music video shot the same year. It was also used in the ''

Lethal Weapon 3 ''Lethal Weapon 3'' is a 1992 American buddy cop action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Jeffrey Boam and Robert Mark Kamen. The sequel to ''Lethal Weapon 2'' (1989), it is the third installment in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film serie ...

'' movie soundtrack.

Writing and recording

The music for the song was written by Elton John and

Olle Romo Olle Romö is a Swedish music producer, songwriter, and drummer. Romo rehearsed with Swedish progressive rock group Kaipa in early 1982, however he left the group after a few weeks to join Eurythmics, and he was a drummer for them from the mid-to ...

while the lyrics were written by John's long-time collaborator

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

. For the recording of his instrumental part, John used the Roland RD-1000 digital piano. Eric Clapton sings a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with John for this track. Clapton takes the main singing part and improvised a couple guitar solos while recording. The song is in the key of

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the cont ...

. For the studio recordings, Clapton used a capo on the third

guitar fret A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrum ...

, but never used it for live performances when John and Clapton went on tour in 1992.

Release and promotion

The song was released on 20 July 1992 as the second single of John's studio album, ''

'', and from the ''

'' soundtrack. Then, it was available for several European countries. A music video to accompany the single was released in late 1992. It consists of video snippets while Clapton and John are performing the song during the Eric Clapton World Tour in London's

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

Track listings

Maxi-CD single # "Runaway Train" – 5:23 # "Aretha & Elton – Through The Storm" – 4:21 # "George Michael & Elton John – Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" – 5:49 # "Elton John & Cliff Richard –

Slow Rivers "Slow Rivers" is a duet by English musicians Elton John and Cliff Richard, released as a single in 1986. Written by John and Bernie Taupin, the song was included on John's 1986 album ''Leather Jackets''. Commercial reception The single peaked ...

" – 3:10 7-inch vinyl single # "Runaway Train" – 5:23 # "Elton John – Understanding Women" – 9:31

Personnel

Personnel are taken from the single release liner notes. * Eric Clapton – lead guitar · lead vocals * Elton John – keyboards · lead vocals * Olle Romeo – drums · percussion · programming *

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a British rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone's first work was with Noel Murphy in 1 ...

– rhythm guitar *

Guy Babylon Guy Babylon (December 20, 1956 – September 2, 2009) was an American keyboardist/composer, most noted for his work with Elton John. Babylon was born in New Windsor, Maryland. He attended Francis Scott Key High School before moving on to the ...

– keyboards · programming *

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific session bassist, he has played bass for acts such as The Who, the John Mayer Trio, Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Jeff Beck ...

– bass guitar * Janice Jamison – backing vocals *

Carole Fredericks Carole Denise Fredericks (June 5, 1952 – June 7, 2001) was an American singer best known for her work in French music. She was the younger sister of Taj Mahal. Between 1990 and 1996 she was in the trio Fredericks Goldman Jones alongside s ...

– backing vocals * Beckie Bell – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Runaway Train 1992 singles Eric Clapton songs Elton John songs MCA Records singles 1992 songs Lethal Weapon (franchise) Songs with music by Elton John Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin The Rocket Record Company singles Male vocal duets