New Order – Run

Answer me
Why won't you answer me?
I can't recall the day that I last heard from you
Well you don't get a town like this for nothing
So here's what you've got to do
You work your way to the top of the world
Then you break your life in two

Well what's the use in complaining
When you've got what you don't need
Anyone would think you were hard done to
What do you want me to believe

What the hell is happening
I can't think of everything
I don't know what day it is
Or who I'm talking to

But I know that I'm ok
'Cause you're here with me today
I haven't got a single problem
Now that I'm with you

So what's the use in complaining
When you've got everything you need
Anyone would think you were hard done to
What do you want me to believe


Lyrics submitted by numb, edited by radio4head

Run song meanings
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5 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment..I am stunned that noone has yet commented on this song. Firstly it is one of the most catchy tunes ever written (it has some similarity to the earlier Bryan Adams song "One night love affair").
    I have always assumed the lyrics is about someone who has worked hard to become sucessful (sacrifing their personal relationship to some degree) and their partner is complaining... could of course be completely wrong but its the tune that makes it memorable.
    CharmingManon February 23, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentJohn Denver sued the band way back when, claiming the music was too similar to his Leaving on a Jet Plane.
    ratanxon August 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentIn fact, Denver must have won that lawsuit. I just got the Singles greatest hits disc, and he's credited as one of the writers.

    Supposedly it's just the guitar melody in the break that is similar to Leaving on a Jet Plane. So for subsequent releases, they don't include it.
    DavidLG1971on September 04, 2007   Link
  • 0
    My OpinionIt's definitely "hard done to" (meaning hard done by, treated unfairly), not "hardened too". The refrain to me does conjure up moany celebrity interviews, the idea of someone overburdened by life's gifts and still unsatisfied... the solution being to simplify and cut back. The official video (by Robert Frank), featuring a middle-aged man (David Warrilow) sitting at a table and changing expression as he recalls memories, is quite trippy.

    The Denver case was settled out of court, I think. It seems baffling when you think you know both songs. Isn't it about a faint melodic similarity between the last line of the verse (also in the guitar)? "I hate to wake you UP to say goodbye" with "I can't recall the day *when I* last heard from you"? There are extra beats in Run, but the interval is similar.
    radio4headon August 15, 2014   Link
  • -4
    General CommentHard-on'd not hardened. The song is about adults having sex with little people (pedophilia). Why do people take time to make website that provides no useful information? This website is basically useless.

    In Run Wild (another song by NO), the parent won't give up their child to Jesus/Jehovah because the parent "loves" their child so much, they can't let go (i.e., more pedophilia). Look at the album cover art of Get Ready, you will see the kid shooting back.

    fohallaon May 02, 2011   Link
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