Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways,
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways
(Please come home)
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways
(Please come home)
Daddy hit you in a temper,
But he's sorry now,
(Please come home)
Just a quarrel had with mummy,
Just a family row
(Please come home)
You caught mum chasing dad with a knife,
(Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry)
You ran away to escape from the fights,
(Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry)
Now you're lost in a maze of neon light,
And she's worried,
He's worried
She's worried, oh...
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways,
(Please come home)
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways
(Please come home)
Pacing street-lamps on the highway,
Haystack for your bed
(Please come home)
In the morning we will find you,
In papers to be read
(Please come home)
You heard screams from
The warmth of your bed
(Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry)
You slumbered on without being fed
(Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry)
Now there's no more tears to be shed,
And she's sorry,
He's sorry,
He's sorry, oh...
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways,
(Please come home)
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways
(Please come home)
(Please come home)
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways
(Please come home)
But he's sorry now,
(Please come home)
Just a quarrel had with mummy,
Just a family row
(Please come home)
(Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry)
You ran away to escape from the fights,
(Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry)
Now you're lost in a maze of neon light,
And she's worried,
He's worried
She's worried, oh...
(Please come home)
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways
(Please come home)
Haystack for your bed
(Please come home)
In the morning we will find you,
In papers to be read
(Please come home)
The warmth of your bed
(Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry)
You slumbered on without being fed
(Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry)
Now there's no more tears to be shed,
And she's sorry,
He's sorry,
He's sorry, oh...
(Please come home)
Oh run-a, oh run-a, oh runaways
(Please come home)
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About a kid that his parents treat him bad - yell and hit a lot, and he runs away from home (or at least he wants to), but his parents always apologize to him, so he stays\come back, and they still do the same thing, and it never ends.
This song is about a child who runs away from his parents.
Some families are so bad that a runaway is better off away.
By the late 80s, everyone realized the problem. (Although it still took a while to get the political will together to fix it, and the first attempt was far from perfect.)
But in 1982, not so much. "Teenage runaways" were a Serious Problem and Something Must Be Done, but people really weren't talking about domestic abuse. So kids were getting returned to abusive families and everyone was congratulating themselves on a job well done.
I'm not saying XTC is responsible for the Children's Act 1989 or anything, just that they were trying to help raise consciousness on something that needed it at the time.