This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
One two three four five six
Roadrunner roadrunner
Going faster miles an hour
Gonna ride by the stop-n-shop
With the radio on
I'm in love with the modern world
I'm in touch I'm a modern girl
New york city when it's late at night
I got the radio on
I'm like a roadrunner yeah
Said hello to the spirit of ol' 1956
It was pacing in the woods next to '57
Well the highway was my only friend
Cuz I went by so quick
Suburban trees were out there
And consequently it smelt like heaven
So I say roadrunner once roadrunner twice
I'm in love with the modern world
So let's go out all night aw
With the radio on got the fm
Radio on got the powerg got the magic
Radio on 50,000 watts of power
Radio on going faster miles an hour
Radio on I feel like a roadrunner yeah
Can't ya hear it out in jersey now
New york city when it's late at night
I'm headin' east on st. marks
Over to tompkin square park down by the power lines
I see all the neon and it's cold at night
I got my radio on
It's so exciting here with the skyscrapers
In the dark
I feel in touch with the modern world
I feel in touch I feel alive
With 50,000 watts of power
I got the radio on
Roadrunner roadrunner
Radio on going faster miles an hour
Radio on ya know I walk by the stop-n-shop
Radio on and then I drove by the stop-n-shop
Radio on and I like that much better than
Walking by the stop-n-shop
Radio on I had the radio on
Radio on I felt in touch with the modern world
Radio on I fell in love with the modern world
Radio on I feel in love, feelin' love I got the
Radio on like the power, got the magic
Radio on got the am
Radio on got the FM
Radio on 50,000 watts of power
Radio on going faster miles an hour
Radio on and the neon and it's cold outside
Radio on I feel in touch I feel in love I feel in love
Radio on I got the I got the I got the
Radio on I got the I got the I got the I got the
Radio on again
Radio on
Roadrunner roadrunner
Going faster miles an hour
Gonna ride by the stop-n-shop
With the radio on
I'm in love with the modern world
I'm in touch I'm a modern girl
New york city when it's late at night
I got the radio on
I'm like a roadrunner yeah
Said hello to the spirit of ol' 1956
It was pacing in the woods next to '57
Well the highway was my only friend
Cuz I went by so quick
Suburban trees were out there
And consequently it smelt like heaven
So I say roadrunner once roadrunner twice
I'm in love with the modern world
So let's go out all night aw
With the radio on got the fm
Radio on got the powerg got the magic
Radio on 50,000 watts of power
Radio on going faster miles an hour
Radio on I feel like a roadrunner yeah
Can't ya hear it out in jersey now
New york city when it's late at night
I'm headin' east on st. marks
Over to tompkin square park down by the power lines
I see all the neon and it's cold at night
I got my radio on
It's so exciting here with the skyscrapers
In the dark
I feel in touch with the modern world
I feel in touch I feel alive
With 50,000 watts of power
I got the radio on
Roadrunner roadrunner
Radio on going faster miles an hour
Radio on ya know I walk by the stop-n-shop
Radio on and then I drove by the stop-n-shop
Radio on and I like that much better than
Walking by the stop-n-shop
Radio on I had the radio on
Radio on I felt in touch with the modern world
Radio on I fell in love with the modern world
Radio on I feel in love, feelin' love I got the
Radio on like the power, got the magic
Radio on got the am
Radio on got the FM
Radio on 50,000 watts of power
Radio on going faster miles an hour
Radio on and the neon and it's cold outside
Radio on I feel in touch I feel in love I feel in love
Radio on I got the I got the I got the
Radio on I got the I got the I got the I got the
Radio on again
Radio on
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Roadrunner Lyrics as written by Jonathan Richman
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.