"Running Scared" is a song written by

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist known for his distinctive and powerful voice, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. Orbison's most successful periods were ...

and Joe Melson and sung by Orbison. An

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

tic rock ballad, the recording of the song was overseen by audio engineer Bill Porter and released as a 45 rpm single by

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label co-founded in 1958 by Fred Foster. Originally founded in Washington, D.C., the label moved to Nashville in 1960, and experienced success over the next two decades with a number of artists including ...

in March 1961 and went to number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. "Running Scared" also reached No.9 in the UK Singles Chart. It sold over one million copies in the US alone. The song was included on Orbison's 1962 album ''Crying'' as the final track on the album.

Background

Noted for being a song written without a

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

, the song builds in the lyrics, arrangement, and vocals to a climax that, without

vibrato Vibrato (Italian language, Italian, from past participle of "wikt:vibrare, vibrare", to vibrate) is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch (music), pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. ...

, demonstrates the power of Orbison's clear, full voice. It is written in the

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

style; Orbison is credited with bringing this to the rock genre. Fred Foster, producer of the session and of Monument Records, did not want the powerful high note that ends the song to end in falsetto but in full or natural voice. According to Foster, the last note that ends the song is G above (G5) High C (C5) in full natural voice. The note is actually

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

high A (A4), over Middle C (C4). While "Running Scared" was an international hit, the B-side " Love Hurts" also picked up significant airplay in Australia. Consequently, chart figures for Australia show "Running Scared"/"Love Hurts" as a double A-side, both sides peaking at number five. This makes Orbison's recording of "Love Hurts" the first version to be a hit. "Love Hurts" later became better known in a version by rock band

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

, who had an international hit with it in 1975.

Charts

Covers and popular culture

* Jack Scott, a Canadian-born

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

singer from the same era, also had a minor 1962 hit with "Running Scared". He later re-recorded it in 1990 for one of his compilation albums, ''Jack Scott's Greatest Hits''. * Bob Luman released a version of the song as a single in 1967. It did not chart. *

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

recorded the song on his 1973 album '' Glen Travis Campbell''. *

The Fools The Fools are a Massachusetts rock band best known for the party atmosphere of their live performances and tongue-in-cheek original songs, cover version, covers and Parody#Music, parodies. History Hailing from Ipswich, Massachusetts, Ipswich, ...

on their 1981 album ''Heavy Mental'', reaching No. 50 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the 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), ...

. *

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...

on their 1986 album '' Kicking Against the Pricks''. * Brokeback on their 2001 album ''Morse Code in the Modern Age: Across the Americas''. *

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

, the British

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

DJ who died in 2004, listed "Running Scared" by Roy Orbison as one of the songs to be played at his memorial service. *

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and, latterly, sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) which was formed in 1970. He has written all of ...

on his 2012 album ''

Long Wave In radio, longwave (also spelled long wave or long-wave and commonly abbreviated LW) is the part of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave (MW) broadcasting band. The term is historic, datin ...

''. *

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit " Runaway", which was covered la ...

recorded the song for his 1965 album 1,661 Seconds with Del Shannon and sang the finale "with me" just as Orbison had, in full voice, not falsetto. *The song was used for the trailer for the 2017 horror film, Jigsaw

References

{{Authority control 1961 songs 1961 singles 1967 singles Roy Orbison songs Bob Luman songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Songs written by Roy Orbison Songs written by Joe Melson Monument Records singles Song recordings produced by Fred Foster

Background

Charts

Covers and popular culture

See also

References