Run to You (Bryan Adams song)

"Run to You"
Single by Bryan Adams
from the album Reckless
B-side I'm Ready
Released October 18, 1984
Format 7"
Recorded April 1984
Genre Rock, Hard rock, AOR
Length 3:54
Label A&M
Writer(s) Jim Vallance
Bryan Adams
Producer(s) Bob Clearmountain
Bryan Adams
Certification Gold (Canada)
Bryan Adams singles chronology
"This Time"
(1983)		 "Run to You"
(1984)		 "Somebody"
(1985)

"Run to You" is a song by Canadian musician Bryan Adams. It was released in October 1984 as the lead single from his fourth studio album, Reckless. The song topped the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has appeared on all of his compilation albums. The single was certified Gold in Canada in 1985.[1]

Writing and recording

After a tour in Asia, Adams started the recording for Reckless.[2] The recording for "Run to You" started on March 27, 1984 at Little Mountain Sound, Vancouver, Canada and continued through the summer.[2] It was mixed on September 21 in New York by Jim Vallance.[2] The song, written January 10, 1983, became the last song written for Reckless.[2] Adams and Vallance originally wrote the song for Blue Öyster Cult, but the group turned it down.[3]

Release and reception

"Run to You" was released in October 1984 and became one of the most successful songs from Reckless on the American rock charts and arguably one of Bryan Adams's most recognizable and popular songs.[2] "Run to You" was released worldwide on October 18, 1984.[2] It was his first number one on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart and reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100.[4] "Run to You" reached the top twenty on the Canadian singles chart and remained there for seven weeks. It held the highest Canadian chart position Adams had attained at the time of release and became his second top twenty single in Canada.[5] "Run to You" was released the following month in Ireland and peaked at #8 and reached #11 on the UK Singles Chart. It was his second single to chart in Europe.[6][7]

Stewart Mason from Allmusic said "Run to You" was the first of the album's six Top 30 hits, and in retrospect, "one of the weakest of the lot. Although the song has a thundering chorus, the kind that sounds truly excellent blasting through FM speakers, there is quite literally not much else to the song: of the song's nearly four-minute length, over half of the song is devoted to repeats of the chorus and an unimaginative instrumental breakdown that leads into a seemingly endless vamp on the chorus to fade."[8] The long instrumental is indicative of the theme of the music video where the protagonist is serenading his guitar as the object of his affection.

Music video

The music video was shot in London, England and later Los Angeles.[9] Directed by Steve Barron, it was nominated for the 1985 MTV Video Music Awards in five different categories: Best Direction, Best Special Effects, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, and Best Cinematography. While the song didn't win any of the awards, it has received more MTV Video Music Award nominations than any other of Adams's songs.[10] The English actress Lysette Anthony appears in the video.

Personnel

Chart positions

Chart (1984) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[11] 24
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[12] 19
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 4
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[13] 14
Ireland (IRMA) 8
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 14
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) 11
US Billboard Hot 100 6
US Billboard Top Rock Tracks 1

En-Rage version

"Run to You"
Single by En-Rage
from the album Saviour
Released October 30, 1992
Format CD-Single
Recorded 1992
Genre Dance
Length 3:41
Label Intercord
Writer(s) Jim Vallance
Bryan Adams
Producer(s) Barry Leng, Duncan Hannant
En-Rage singles chronology
"Run to You"
(1992)		 "Why Don't You"
(1993)

The first notable cover recording was released as a single by Englih urban dance act En-Rage in 1992. This version did not meet with the same critical acclaim as Adams's version, but, after having failed to chart when released the first time in May 1992, the single gained an unexpected boost in popularity due to controversy in the UK music media about the band's name: they shared their name with a German heavy metal band who had been recording under the same since 1984. After changing their name to En-Rage to avoid legal action from the German band, they re-released the single six months later, and this time it peaked at #3 in the UK (eight spots higher than before); the following year.

Track listings

CD-Maxi

  1. Run To You (7") 3:41
  2. Run To You (12") 5:43
  3. Ease The Pain (Full) 5:02
  4. Run To You (Instrumental) 3:57

Charts

Chart (1992-93) Peak
position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[15] 13
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[16] 6
Germany (Media Control Charts)[17] 14
Ireland (IRMA) 4
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[18] 20
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company) 3

Other cover versions

"Run to You" has been covered by numerous artists. The second was an alternative rock version by Lou Barlow on the 1993 extended play album, Lou Barlow and Friends: Another Collection of Home Recordings. A German band named Novaspace covered "Run to You" on their 2003 album, Cubes which was heavily inspired by Dance and pop music. The Japanese rock band Nil covered "Run to You" on their 2004 cover album "The Covering Inferno". The Norwegian hard rock singer-songwriter Jørn Lande covered "Run to You" on his cover' album Unlocking the Past on the Japanese edition of the album. In 2009 U.K. girl band Bananarama released their own version as a digital pre-order only to their album Viva.

The song appears on Flash FM radio station in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

It has been mashed up with Metallica's "Enter Sandman" on YouTube.[19]

Canadian rock bands Arkells and The Reason covered the song together at both Edgefest and the Festival of Friends.

References

  1. ↑ "CRIA Certifications". Canadian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Album notes for Anthology by Dave Marsh (CD booklet). A&M Records (A&M 5613).". 2005-10-18.
  3. ↑ Tunis, Walter (13 January 2009). "Around the world with Bryan Adams". Malaysia Star.
  4. ↑ "Artist Chart History (singles) - Bryan Adams". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  5. ↑ "Bryan Adams - Canadian Album Chart". RPM. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  6. ↑ "Bryan Adams". Chart Stats. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  7. ↑ "Irish Album Chart". irish-charts.com. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  8. ↑ "Run to You". Allmusic. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  9. ↑ "The Life Of Bryan" (in Danish). -skolarbete.nu. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  10. ↑ "Rock On The Net: Bryan Adams". Rock On The Net. 1986-09-05. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  11. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (DOC). Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Bryan Adams – Run to You" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  13. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Bryan Adams search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
  14. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Bryan Adams – Run to You". Top 40 Singles.
  15. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Rage – Run to You" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  16. ↑ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  17. ↑ "Chartverfulgong > Rage > Run to You – musicline.de" (in German). Media Control Charts. PhonoNet GmbH.
  18. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Rage – Run to You". Swiss Singles Chart.
  19. ↑ "Enter You (Bryan Adams vs Metallica Mashup) by Wax Audio". Retrieved 18 April 2012.

External links