| "Run Baby Run" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byGarbage | ||||
| from the albumBleed Like Me | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | July 10, 2005 (2005-07-10) | |||
| Recorded | 2003–2004 | |||
| Studio | Smart Studios, (Madison, Wisconsin) | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock | |||
| Length | 3:58 | |||
| Label | A&E | |||
| Songwriter | Garbage | |||
| Producer | Garbage | |||
| Garbage singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Run Baby Run" is a rock song by Americanalternative bandGarbage from their fourth studio album,Bleed Like Me (2005). Described by Garbage guitaristDuke Erikson as a call tonot-conforming, the track originated from an idea he had brought into the album sessions. "Being expected to go through life to behave a certain way, do certain things," Erikson explained later, "I think "Run Baby Run" is a plea to run from that. Run with your life, take it wherever it takes you."[1]
Band lead and primary lyricistShirley Manson called the song a rebuff to classicfairy tales, such asCinderella andSleeping Beauty.[2] "It's about encouraging myself and through that encouraging others just to sort of engineer your own life, engineer your own happiness," Manson explained. "I think for a long time I was under the illusion that life was like a storybook. I think particularly when you're a female, you're imbued with... this idea that somebody's gonna come along and fix your life. I came to the realization that actually nobody's gonna fix your life for you, you have to do it yourself."[2]
"Run Baby Run" was released as the second single fromBleed Like Me in Europe and Australia.[3] In North America however, outsider-anthem "Bleed Like Me" had already followed up "Why Do You Love Me" as second single, while in the United Kingdom, protest song "Sex Is Not the Enemy" was released in place of "Run Baby Run", and thus shared the same b-sides.[4] Garbage shotmusic videos for all three singles withSophie Muller.[5]
The genesis of "Run Baby Run" was in place by the end of 2003 at the band's home base ofSmart Studios inMadison, Wisconsin.[6] Duke Erikson had brought the idea for "Run Baby Run" into the sessions;[1] drummerButch Vig later described it as a song that was "really labored over".[7] The song originally began with aheavy metalriff which ended up turning into aCure-like verse part.[1] Garbage tried speeding up thetempo, changing thegroove, rewriting the vocalmelodies and verse lyrics to support the chorus, which they were happy with. By the end of 2004, the band had essentially re-written the song, scrapping all the original verses.[1]Bass guitar parts were performed byJustin Meldal-Johnson, while drums were performed byMatt Walker, as Vig wanted to control the sound of some of the songs from "behind the glass" during the album sessions, which wereengineered byBilly Bush.[7] The final recording wasmixed by Vig at Smart Studios andmastered byEmily Lazar atThe Lodge in New York City.[8]
On the song's lyrical subject matter, Shirley Manson explained, ""Run Baby Run" is about trying to engineer your own peace of mind and being unafraid to make changes in your life in order to try and facilitate that."[9] In a separate piece she added, "[It's] about escape and engineering your own path in life. We're all too guilty of thinking that peace, love and healthiness are things that we're all just given".[10]
On April 17, 2005, during the first North American run ofBleed Like Me tourdates, Garbage debuted "Run Baby Run" live onstage at the Avalon inBoston.[11]
Warner Music serviced "Run Baby Run" to European radio stations from May 15, and confirmed the physical single release on May 20.[3] The initial European release date was scheduled for June 20 to sync with local tourdates.[12] On June 25, Garbage performed "Run Baby Run" as part of a six-song set for theIsle of MTV festival, broadcast Europe-wide fromTrieste,Italy ,[13][11] The eventual release date fell back to August 1, when a CD maxi was made available in stores. InGermany, "Run Baby Run" peaked at number 97.[14]
At the start of June, Garbage's Australian labelFestival Mushroom serviced "Run Baby Run" to their radio stations, where it was the number-two most added track.[15] The retail single was released on 10 July as a CD maxi.[15][16] Despite the top twenty placing of the prior single, "Run Baby Run" debuted at number 47,[17] spending six non-consecutive weeks in the chart.[18]
In the United Kingdom, "Run Baby Run" was fancied to follow "Sex Is Not The Enemy" and thus by the end of June had received a number of adds to UK radio and TV playlists; and a tentative September 12 retail date.[19] On August 25, Garbage cancelled their UK tour and announced their intent to go "on hiatus"; the October 24 single release for "Run Baby Run" was quietly postponed and then cancelled.[20] The music video was pulled from television.[21] In North America, Shirley indicated to that "Run Baby Run" or "It's All Over But the Crying" were still being considered byGeffen for single release in theUnited States.[2] A rumour surfaced in at the end of the year that a reworked version of "Run Baby Run" would be released on March 20, 2006, upfront ofAbsolute Garbage greatest hits compilation, but did not happen.[22]
Over the weekend of May 31, 2005,[23] Shirley Manson and Sophie Muller filmed the music video for "Run Baby Run" inLondon,Paris,Berlin andIstanbul.[24] By June 8, the video was ready to air.[25] Locations the pair filmed in include withinCharles de Gaulle International Airport, on the streets ofPigalle and onLine 5 of theParis MétroViaduc d'Austerlitz crossing over theSeine (France); outside theOlympiastadion,DIW and Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte buildings, and on the platforms of theMohrenstraße andNeu-Westendstations on theBerlin U-Bahn (Germany); and inside Istanbul'sHotel Pera Palas,Haydarpaşa Terminal train station, theÇemberlitaş HamamıTurkish baths, throughout theBeyoğlu district, around theBlue Mosque and looking towards theGalata Tower over theBosphorusstrait from theGolden Horn ferry terminals. (Turkey).[26]
The "Run Baby Run" video was exclusively streamed online at the band's website from June 10,[27] before being serviced to music channels on June 15.[28] The "Run Baby Run" video was uploaded toVEVO in 2015.[29]
The "Run Baby Run" single release was backed withb-sides "Honeybee" and "Never Be Free", both recorded during the album sessions forBleed Like Me. Butch Vig described "Honeybee" as "Neil Young-esque, with a druggy feel",[30] while Manson described it as "pretty dark and twisted. It's a lusty, yearning moan".[31] "Honeybee" featured drums performed byMatt Walker, while "Never Be Free" creditedJohn5 with guitar. All three tracks were written and produced by Garbage, although "Never Be Free" may have originally been aJohn Lowery co-write.[32] Producer James Michael may have also worked on the track at one point.[33] Anacetate of an early version of "Never Be Free" leaked fromChrysalis Music Group in 2003, but the track did not end up on the internet.[32] The "Run Baby Run" maxi-single also featured ademo version of "Badass" (once titled "Teach Me Tonight"[34]), that had been left unfinished from abandoned album sessions in October 2003. Exclusive to the "Run Baby Run", "Badass" leaked onto the Internet a month before the single was issued.[35]
"Run Baby Run" was generally very well received by contemporary pop music critics, a number of whom, including Dan Martin ofNME, who commentedBleed Like Me's strong opening half: "A spleen-tingling big rock rollercoaster" while singling out "Run Baby Run".[9] A number of reviewers picked up on The Cure influence on "Run Baby Run": in an album preview,Rolling Stone felt that song's "tender, dreamy verses" brought to mind "Just Like Heaven",[38] while Chuck Arnold ofPeople wrote "Garbage smooths out the rough stuff with the melodic pop appeal of "Run Baby Run", an exhilirating rush that brings to mind The Cure".[39] In theRolling Stone album review, felt the song recreated the 80snew wave sound better than efforts from bands likeKasabian andBloc Party: "Surrounded by a black forest of power-chord distortion, Manson pleads and prays likeDeborah Harry atop a bouncing, throaty guitar riff thatNew Order would envy."[40] TheNew York Daily News also picked up on the New Order sound, commenting that the band had given the bass guitar "the best hook".[41] Leander Williams, ofTime Out New York, wrote "Garbage's adventures inWall of Soundmulti-tracking make what's been called a return to basics impossible. What's interesting is how the band tops the guitar and explosive glitches of present day rock with theBlondie-tronic keyboard riffs of new wave pop on "Run Baby Run"... amongst others".[42] Peter Murphy, ofHot Press, described "Run Baby Run" as one of the band's most positive songs; "[It] glows with compassion, forgiveness and self-acceptance."[43]
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| Chart (2005) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[44] | 47 |
| Germany (GfK)[14] | 97 |
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | July 10, 2005 | CD maxi single | Festival Mushroom |
| Germany | August 1, 2005 | A&E |
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