Collective Soul – Run

My InterpretationOkay. i like the diversity of the opinions and interpretations here, but i feel as if everyone is really missing the deeper meaning.

the opening lyrics are saying that everyone, not just him, are going through a severe depression as a result of confused ideologies. People are just consumers and have no unique identity and he's upset that he sees it and it's wearing off on him as apposed to him making a difference or being unique.

Then in the same opening verse he says what is there left for him to dwell on and he wants to move on but does not know how. and he, like everyone else, is waiting for someone to point him in the right direction. which, unfortunately, won't happen. but the messenger is not a woman necessarily. it's someone to open his eyes and snap him out of this depression out of this boredom.

In verse two he starts with the same idea as i've already said. he wants to know if there is something to snap us out of this very generic lifestyle that most of us follow. and when he says "I weaken with each voice that sings" he is reiterating that most ppl might even believe they are on the right path and when they try to point others in the "right" direction, he makes him feel worse because he's heard it all before and the people that think they get it, don't really. Then he calls this a "world of purchase." i believe here he is referring to our very consumer oriented lifestyles. most people don't care about improving their lives, or bettering themselves as human beings; instead they define themselves by the things they "purchase." you are what you buy basically. it sounds, in these last few lines, that he is almost conceding that to be happy in this consumer culture he needs to get over his boredom and just step in line with the way of the majority. but that almost sounds sarcastic.

but the chorus "i've got a long way to run" is the most telling part. and what he is saying that no matter what, he has a long way to go before he either finds the right answers or is able to conform to popular culture.

This is my first time posting here so i hope ppl like my interpretation. thanks for reading :)

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  @Spydiggity
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  I remember hearing this song when it very first came out. Well I am hearing it now again 11 years later if I am not mistaken.
  
  I think this song has alot of meaning to me now. I used to be really happy when
  I was in high school because I thought my life plans would work out exactly as planned. But they didn't. I had to work super hard just to get myself back on track.
  
  When he says processed sanity, i think of all of the people that go to bars and drink every night and think it's an okay lifestyle, it is what we think makes us happy. Since being dumped after a long relationship and trying to be who I was, I have discovered that living where I am makes me so sad. I leave town every chance I get to find new things and figure out how that will be a part of my life. Now I have plans to move every year for the next three years, I am going to RUN and do things
  I never thought i could do because I was held back my society telling me i was happy at bars and an abusive ex boyfriend.
  
  This song makes me feel good about myself because I am back on the path that
  I started on when I first heard this song, i found the old qualities in me that could
  be happy without substance of drinks or a man. Now I am going to run until i get
  my dream job and find peace with who I was meant to be. Every time I start my road trips, I start with this song.
  
  I cannot wait to reach my dream come true that I wanted 11 years ago. I too have a long way to run.

  Flag PilotKelson1056on August 12, 2009  

General CommentObviously the song is about the shallowness of life. After doing everything, buying everything, life has no meaning. Do I have a long way to run - to find the meaning of life.

And yet there is hope - "I long to find the messenger." This is someone who can give life real meaning. Someone who can answer the question: "why am I here?"

The messenger - try the Prince of Peace.

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  @Shockthefool
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  @Shockthefool
  
  My take from it is there are Soulless beings. The message is given to us upon conception. Call it a religious one or what have you. At least you're aware. It's disappointment in what most conceive as being God's intent. It's a Gnostic expression. Great song.

  Flag davidcjeon January 20, 2018  

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  @Shockthefool
  
  My take from it is there are Soulless beings. The message is given to us upon conception. Call it a religious one or what have you. At least you're aware. It's disappointment in what most conceive as being God's intent. It's a Gnostic expression. Great song.

  Flag davidcjeon January 20, 2018  

General CommentI think he's now an independent person and realizes that "growing up" wasn't what it was really cracked up to be. He longs for the times when he was a child, when he was immersed in innoncence. Perhaps he had all these big plans when he was younger, and now he's realized that he's at the age at which he wanted these plans to happen, and they haven't and never will. The "processed sanity" is possibly maturing; when deep down everyone really wants to be a child again and longs for their younger years.

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  @humanflame
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  What's even more amazing to me with any song is the length of interpretation we provide. This isn't a knock on anyone, just a testament to how important music is to people. CS's lyrics aren't lengthy but they pack so much into their lyrics.

  Flag dchesteron September 17, 2009  

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  According to Ed himself it is about writers block. But let the song take u where it may.

  Flag john8228on March 22, 2011  

General CommentIt's about the emptiness of consumerism in late capitalist society! We constantly have to feel that we're running towards a goal: 'Have I got a long way to run...' The 2nd verse alludes particularly strongly to the desensitisation effect of advertising.

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  @GotMeNow

My InterpretationHere Me Out: New Perspective for Everyone.. It's a long read, but I tried to make it enjoyable.

To me, this is ALL about music; musical artists, so called "voices of the generation", and the way they, along with their labels, have tied a lasso around what GOOD music and lyrics used to be and jumped down a never ending slide.

I almost feel like Edgar, the lead singer and song writer, is fighting to keep the sanctity of music alive. Trying to "Run" back up, while sieving through all the garbage going down, "Hey look! There's Britney Spears!.. slut," with his feet running a mile a minute up the slide.

For music advocates, turning on the radio today often results in vomiting all over the place. Consider the time this Album was released.. 1999 was the year and the top hits were: Livin' the Vida Loca, Hit Me Baby One More Time, and Genie in a Bottle.. and ever since it has been "contagious" and quite honestly I'm more than "bored" with it. Is this really music? Is this the "prize" that has evolved?

Every day a new hit comes out, and 9 times out of 10 is fabricated, and regurgitated with the same old riffs, lyrics, and metaphors. You really have to keep your eye out the "messenger" mixed in with all the crap. Maybe this "messenger" is the "cure" for this "processed sanity". Britney Spears was popular for way too long, and influenced the younger generation of the time, and now, what she did years ago was normal, and 11 year old girls showing more skin with less clothes is sane to the general society. Every new hit comes out, my heart, body, and soul "weakens with each voice that sings,"


"In this world of purchase," whatever can make the most money, is the best music for the record labels and radio stations.

So, there it is. How I feel when I hear this song. Not your typical: I'm depressed with society, and I have to do something or wait for someone to help me out to be happy. But, who knows, maybe I'm wrong.

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  @x302x

General CommentI think this song can really mean something to everybody. I used to have lots of friends when I was younger (at school, or in the neighbourhood). And one day, I just had to say goodbye. Each one has to go on different directions, on its own road, and run to face life. And I admit I will never see them again. So whenever you miss your old friends or if you need something to cheer you up when you're feeling nostalgic, this song is a cure.

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  @ryantyme

General CommentUsed on the Varsity Blues soundtrack, from the album Dosage, this is one of the most well written CS songs. Good interpretations by Caroline and ryantyme.

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  @Cuevo

General Comment^I think he (or she?) doesn't want to graduate because of all the friends (s)he'll be leaving and the real world (s)he'll be going into. I personally think it's about being stuck in a world where we all try to conform to a standard of acceptance--in a way, I'm agreeing with MarcusOLP up there. The second part, where Ed sings about buying back memories and awakening old qualities, I think he's talking about starting over from scratch to become a new person--now that he's done that, he's got a long way to run to become the person he wants to be. I don't have much evidence, but the line "processed sanity" makes me think of the sane, bland apathy you see in kids all the time--everyone wants to be normal. But I like everyone's interpretations here, we've got a good group of thinkers here. Rock on CS.

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  @Stone Free

My InterpretationI feel like this song is about retirement. "I've never been this bored before. Is this the prize I've waited for?" People spend their whole working lives looking forward to retirement, but often find themselves suddenly without a place in the world once it finally comes. It goes on to talk about the hours passing, having nothing left here to insure, and how he "weakens with each voice that sings."

I know a lot of seniors who sit on their porches and just try to occupy their time, and I can definitely see how a person who is new to retirement might perceive life as just "hours passing." I also think that a lot of the things you need to function as a working person suddenly lose their importance in retirement; you no longer depend on having a daily commute, tools for your trade, etc. and the things you have accumulated become outdated (think of VHS, cassettes, records, polaroid cameras). So all those material things in life you strove to maintain no longer need to be, or even can be, if they've worn out or lost their utility. Hence, he looks around him and notices there's "nothing left here to insure" - a fairly creative way of putting it. I also think the fact he finds himself "weakening" gives a strong hint about his situation (aging).

I think the lines about finding the messenger, buying back memories and awakening some old qualities abstractly depict his intent to reconnect with his past and revisit what had meaning to him... which is why he has a very good long way to run.

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  @cadences

General CommentI think this song has to do with the road of life. he says he wants to buy back memories so that maybe his life will be as good as it used to be. he says that his life is boring in the beginning of the song. he is wondering if he has a long road (life) ahead of him to run.

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  @Caroline7502