Blonde hair blowin' in the summer wind
A blue-eyed girl playing in the sand
I'd been on a trail for a little while
But that was the night that she broke down and held my hand
The teenage rush, she said, 'maybe I'll just runaway, we got time'
Well that ain't much...
We can't wait 'til tomorrow
You gotta know that this is real, baby why you wanna fight it?
It's the one thing you can choose, oh!

We got engaged on a Friday night
I swore on the head of our unborn child that I could take care of the three of us
But I got the tendency to slip when the nights get wild.
It's in my blood
She says she might just runaway somewhere else, some place good
We can't wait 'til tomorrow
You gotta know that this is real, baby why you wanna fight it?
It's the one thing you can choose

Let's take a chance baby we can't lose
And we're all just runaways
I knew that when I met you, I'm not gonna let you runaway
I knew that when I held you, I wasn't lettin' go

We used to look at the stars and confess our dreams
Hold each other to the morning light
We used to laugh, now we only fight
Baby are you lonesome now?

At night I come home after they go to sleep
Like a stumbling ghost, I haunt these halls
There's a picture of us on our wedding day
I recognize the girl but I can't settle in these walls

We can't wait 'til tomorrow
No we're caught up in the appeal, baby why you wanna hide it?
It's the last thing on my mind
(Why you wanna hide it?)
I turn the engine over and my body just comes alive and we all just runaway
I knew that when I met you, I'm not gonna let you runaway
I knew that when I held you, I wasn't lettin go, no no no!
(No no no!)
(And we're all just runaways)
Yeah runaway
(And we're all just runaways)
Yeah


Lyrics submitted by ewycc

Runaways Lyrics as written by Dave Brent Keuning Brandon Flowers

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Runaways song meanings
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23 Comments

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  • +6
    General Comment

    Just thinking, not sure about anyone elses oppinions, but this is essentially two people who have met, full of ambitions wanting to escape from the world together. This works for a period of time until the reality of their situation kicks in. After a while, everything becoes to much for them "I have the tendency to slip when the nights get wild". While the man maintains loyalty, the woman dislikes the this reality and is looking to runaway from this situation "somewhere good". "I knew that when I met you, I would never let you go" maintains the fact that he's still commited to her. The womans fighting the prospects of something better over the horizon, but the man is simply looking towards tomorrow with optism, and taking a chance on their relationship. While reflecting on the relationship, while he still knows his wife, he no longer sees the same person that envisioned this perfect world, "we used to stare at the stars and confess our dreams..." anyways, thats my interpretation, not sure if it's right but.. Best song on battler born hands down.

    dd3073on September 18, 2012   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation

    I think it's clearly a story about a couple that met in their teenage times, when they used to think that running away from this tough world it's the solution to their problems. Then, they get married, and both realize they still have this feeling sometimes, but now they know that no one can just simply do that. Specially cuz now they are a family. But that teenage rush is still there, hidden. Or not that much.

    AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO IMAGINES THE VIDEO FROM THIS SONG HAPPENING IN THE DARK AGES, WITH BRANDON DRESSED UP AS A GENTLEMAN (not that he isn't) AND SOME CHICK IS IN LOVE WITH HIM AND STUFF, AND THEN WHEN THE DRUMS DOES THAT THING RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING, BRANDON IS RIDING A HORSE REALLY FAST! HE'S JUST RUNNING LIKE IF HE WERE DETERMINATED TO RUN AWAY!

    ok, I went too far maybe...

    juurodrigson July 11, 2012   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    The title lyric is actually "Ain't we all just runaways?" in the first verse and at start of each chorus. The night gets "wild," not wide. "Brandon Flowers

    Lorienon July 24, 2012   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I heard this song on the radio in a shop yesterday, I did not know the Killers had a new song, so thrilled! I love it! His voice is incredible! So glad the Killers are back!

    happy7on August 31, 2012   Link
  • +2
    Song Meaning

    There's a lot of ambiguity in this and that's fine, artistic license - but it makes it difficult to work out what's going on. the song is more like it's just little parts taken from a much longer song.

    take this bit: "At night I come home after they go to sleep Like a stumbling ghost, I haunt these halls"

    has he become a regular working man, travelling a long way to his work everyday and coming home late, lamenting the loss of his life's hopes and dreams and even closeness to his kids? Or is he out on the town, coming home drunk, stumbling around, after his wife and kid has gone to bed?

    Has Brandon Flowers been in either of these situations himself? I don't know. Maybe some of the song is autobiographical, but he's thrown in some extra lines that sound evocative of something else and obscure the real meaning which he wants to keep personal.

    My 2 cents.

    anbhon August 21, 2012   Link
  • +2
    Memory

    I broke up with my girlfriend of 6 years nearly 12 months ago, we had already bought tickets to a music festival in August this year and we saw each other for the first time since the breakup. We danced together in the field where we'd danced the year before and when I heard this song I felt like it was simultaneously the happiest and saddest moment of my life. I've never felt like that before. I'm not sure whether I'll see her again but I've got tickets for next year.

    mattdbon October 06, 2012   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    I think it's clearly a story about a couple that met in their teenage times, when they used to think that running away from this tough world it's the solution to their problems. Then, they get married, and both realize they still have this feeling sometimes, but now they know that no one can just simply do that. Specially cuz now they are a family. But that teenage rush is still there, hidden. Or not that much.

    AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO IMAGINES THE VIDEO FROM THIS SONG HAPPENING IN THE DARK AGES, WITH BRANDON DRESSED UP AS A GENTLEMAN (not that he isn't) AND SOME CHICK IS IN LOVE WITH HIM AND STUFF, AND THEN WHEN THE DRUMS DOES THAT THING RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING, BRANDON IS RIDING A HORSE REALLY FAST! HE'S JUST RUNNING LIKE IF HE WERE DETERMINATED TO RUN AWAY!

    ok, I went too far maybe...

    juurodrigson July 11, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Okay guys.

    It looks like this is about people that fell in love when they were teens.

    But he cheats when he's drunk. "But I got the tendency to slip when the nights get wild." Their marriage isn't going as well anymore, but there is still something there. Except they can't runaway now, because they're married. So he wants another chance? IDK!

    apollineon July 28, 2012   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    This seems like such a sweet/sad song. In a few ways it reminds me of my boyfriend and me.

    Anyways, I think this song starts off about the days from when they were a young couple, obviously. But it really means something to the guy that he was able to get her to finally go out him. After he got her pregnant, they got engaged and made things work. Over the years things he got difficult and sometimes she wants to leave and run away. Sometimes even the guy in the marriage is slacking and he knows it. But in the end, he knew from the start that he always loved her and was not going to let her go and as the song lyric says, he wasn't going to let her run away, he wasn't going to let her go. So even when things get bad and rough and the marriage might end, he thinks back to how wonderful things were in the beginning and holds onto that to keep things going.

    I think it certainly has a bittersweet message, but I like to see it on the more hopeful note. :)

    rosebud77on July 30, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I fancy Brandon Flowers yet I'm completely straight, how weird!

    zombizon November 03, 2012   Link

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