Run

My take on this song is about caring about someone no matter what. Regardless of circumstance or what has happened in the past, the feelings and love are all there. And always will be.

It's letting someone know that you'll always be there for them.

This to me is the story of two people being torn part by external circumstances, they don't really want to part, and they know they will possibly never see eachother again, but the singer is trying to comfort the person whom he is talking too. "even if you cannot hear my voice, ill be right beside you dear".

sorry to burst your bubble suezzle but this song has absolutely nothing to do with drug addiction.

in regards to your first argument the line "light up light up" could be taken as a drug reference but is actually along the lines of "be happy" just like the phrase used by many "lighten up"

as for the "i nearly did" part, could you honestly not figure out what he nearly did?.... he nearly cried, i thought that was just a given though.

im not going to bother with the last few lines you mentioned because i have the true meaning of the song right from the songs composer/writer Mr. Lightbody, here are a few paragraphs from an interview/article on snow patrol including direct quotes:

But back to new single Run with lyrics like ''Light up, light up, as if you have a choice, even if you cannot hear my voice, I'll be right beside you dear.'' A love/break-up song maybe? Gary explained: ''It's really about family. It's wanting to protect them from all the people in the world that want to destroy. It's about running away and keeping them safe not about fighting which perpetuates the violent cycle. It's a hopeful song.''

The flares are a rather literal but effective interpretation of the chorus: “Light up, light up/ as if you had the choice/ Even if you cannot hear my voice/ I’ll be right beside you, dear.” It is, says, Lightbody, “a song about family, and wanting to protect them from all the bad things in the world. It’s an apocalyptic song. Can we go somewhere safe when everything goes mad? The opening line, ‘I’ll sing it one more time for you’, is about singing my kid to sleep. I don’t have a kid, but I hope I do one day”.

i hope this clears everything up

hello all I hope this illuminates some of your points of view :)

This was Snow Patrol's breakthrough British single. Lead singer Gary Lightbody said of the song in Q Magazine April 2007: "I've never told anyone before and I don't want to spoil it for people because it has its own meaning for them. But in 2000 I was on a massive bender and one night I was drinking in the bar of the Glasgow School Of Art. I fell down a full flight of stairs. Jonny Quinn (Snow Patrol's drummer) found me in the stairwell with blood coming out of my head. He said I looked like a police chalk line and he thought I was dead.

I was very lucky. A fall like that could easily finish you off. I split my head open and my eye was closed and I lost a few teeth. I was put on a plane to see my mum and dad and they were terrified when they saw me. I wrote Run soon after in this little guitar I'd tried to smash up in my S--t little room near Hillhead. The words 'Light up, light up' gave this sense of a beacon. There had to be a light at the end of a tunnel." Jonny Quinn is the nephew of the Northern Ireland TV and film actress Patricia Quinn, whose credits include The Rocky Horror Show, I Claudius and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. (thanks, Edward Pearce - Ashford, Kent, England, for above 2) In 2008 a cover by Leona Lewis was included on the deluxe version of her Spirit album. After a show-stopping rendering by the singer on the X-Factor TV program provoked an ecstatic public reaction, Snow Patrol's original returned to the Top 30 of the UK charts. Such was the sudden demand for this song that in the same week an instrumental remake by karaoke specialists Ameritz also entered the UK Top 75. A couple of week's later Lewis' version was issued as a download only release and it went straight in at #1 on the UK singles chart.

This song is amazing..... I don't think I could ever get sick of it. Everything about it seems perfect, and the build-up in the chorus just gives me chills.

I agree with g4m8i7, I always thought the song was about leaving someone you really care for, but still having hope that in the end it will all work out ('I know we'll make it anywhere'). I think they're getting ready to leave each other and won't meet again for a while ('Then we really have to go' ... 'We don't have time for that'). And also, when he sings 'Louder, louder, we'll run for our lives' it's like they are wanting to escape from everything else and just stay how they are at that moment, like their lives will not be the same without each other.

Gary from Snow Patrol mentioned his child in an interview about this song a long time ago, about how he imagined singing to his future child. (at the time he had neither children nor one on the way, just a desire to have them in the future) He specifically mentioned the first verse as being sung to this future child.

Before I delve deeper, let me say that my broad interpretation of this song is very simple: Love. That pure, unwavering love that does not flinch, does not shy away, is always there through anything and everything, and always strives to shield the object of our affection from the evils of the world. The kind of love that a parent shows their child. But the song can be adapted to express the love in just about any other strong relationship too, including close friends.

Now imagine a man who loves his future child that is not even conceived yet SO MUCH that he writes an entire song for them before they are even a glimmer in his eye. That's the type of love we are talking about; that is why this song speaks so strongly to so many people. That is why this song can be used to express the love felt in so many different relationships. It is also why the Leona Lewis version, while good, falls short of the orginal. Her version is breathy, almost seductive, implying romantic love in my eyes, which is not as easily adaptable to other types of relationships.. at least not like the absolutely pure father/wishchild expression in the Snow Patrol version.

In this song, we have quite simply the greatest lullabye in the history of the world. A lyllabye written for a child that has not even been conceived, and may never be born. A lullabye for the wish of a child, the mere thought.. the hope for a child that may some day exist.. That is why this song strikes so deeply and instantly. It is impossible to stand and face something that pure and not be moved.

Verse 1: This verse is very straightforward and easy to understand if read in the context of a lullabye. He's singing his daughter's favorite bedtime song one more time but then it's time for bed. (I chose a gender to make the interpretations easier to follow, and I imagined daughter because of all the times he calls them 'dear' in the song.) He also makes sure she knows how much he loves her, telling her that she's the only thing that's right in all he's done. Another possible intepretation of "we really have to go" is that they are going somewhere other than bedtime. Summer camp, college, etc.. any time that she would need that reassurance, including darker times, such as illness or death. But in all cases, it is a lullabye. A reassurance to her that it will be alright.

Verse 2: It gets a little tricky here. You have to remember he is not really singing to his daughter, but to his HOPE of a daughter. He is singing to his future child who may never be. He can picture her in his mind, can almost touch her, but not quite... he can "Barely look" at her, but every time he sees her in his mind, he knows that they will "make it anywhere away from here". Now, it is important to note.. he doesn't mean that they won't make it if they stay "here".. they don't have to leave "here" to make it, in fact it's quite the opposite. Think of "here" as wherever they are safe... home.. where they are a family and strong, where nothing can hurt them... now... think of "anywhere away from here" as any time they can't be together in that safe place. Summer Camp, School, college, marriage and the kids move away, war, jail, poverty, illness, death, anything that breaks up that safety. He KNOWS that they will "Make it anywhere away from here".. in other words, they will be alright, no matter what.

Chorus: "Light Up, light up" means brighten up, don't feel dark or lost. "As if you have a choice" why doesn't she have a choice? The next line tells us.. because "Even if you cannot hear my voice I'll be right beside you dear" Louder, louder (our chorus together, strong as a family) "And we'll run for our lives" Remember that in the chorus, they aren't physically in the same location.. there is that separation .. she can't hear his voice, but "WE" will run together.. implying again, that he is with her in spirit, even though he isn't there in the flesh for whatever reason. And run for our lives doesn't necessarily mean danger, just that she will escape whatever trouble is after her, and her father has never left her side, and never will) "I can hardly speak I understand Why you can't raise your voice to say" Is actually not complete in the first chorus. You need the continued chorus later on in the song to interpret this.

Verse 3: The first two lines of verse 3 have two different meanings. Not two possible interpretations, but two meanings. It means both of thse things in the same two lines of the song. The last two lines are really only relevant to the second meaning.

a) Think of all the songs written for children. They usually are written right after the baby is born, and their parent almost always mentions the eyes of their child. Babies have such wonderfully curious eyes, sparkling and bright, full of promise, love, and hope for a long happy life. Now remember, in this song, he is singing to a child that may never exist. "To think I might not see those eyes Makes it so hard not to cry" He loves this child so much that the thought of never being blessed with her, of never holding her and seeing that wonder in her eyes makes it hard not to cry.

b) And if the child does come into the world, then the thought of being separated from her, being unable to look on her and see her eyes has a very similar effect. As they say their long goodbye before something pulls them apart (man haven't we all been here before) it nearly does make him cry.

Chorus Part 2: The last two lines of the first half of the chorus actually are the first two lines of the second half of the extended chorus. This part of the chorus is particularly interesting.. he is singing to a future child who may never even be born about how he's already choking up on how fast she's growing.

"I can hardly speak" (because I'm choking on the words) "I understand why you can't raise your voice to say" (because as a kid you don't want to say it) Slower, slower (slow down, as in life is coming too fast) We don't have time for that (life doesn't slow down for anybody, and for kids, seems to take too long anyway) All I want is to find an easier way (what every parent and child wants, an easier/safer way) To get out of our little heads (to grow up)

Verse 4: Again, very straightforward if taken with the rest of the song. Have heart, it's natural to be afraid even if it's just for a few days that our world is interrupted. But we will be ok, we'll get through this mess, together.

Conclusion: This song is love on tap. The absolute purest expression of love imaginable, and I invite you to top off a nice tall glass and drink it up.

It doesn't actually matter what the true meaning of a song is though. People relate to different songs in all kinds of ways, and people just state what they get from the song and how it relates to them.

The real meaning doesn't matter, it's what you get from it that's the important thing

The song is about hope!

Leona Lewis covered this song...but I kinda prefer the original!

I agree I love this song and i can relate to the lyrics, i think we have all been at that situation where we are afraid to love because of the pissible outcome. "Snow Patrol" is a great band.

i interpret the lyrics "Light up, light up. As if you have a choice" as though he's speaking to someone who is so bright and radiant and amazing, saying something like 'even if you TRIED, if you "had a choice", you couldn't be dull.' if that's not what he meant, i don't wanna know. ;)