Restless Heart (John Parr song)

Background

The song was released as a soundtrack single in 1988, but only in the UK and Germany. It was Parr's first release since 1986, and failed to chart, however the song has gained popularity through its attachment to The Running Man film, where it is played over the ending credits. An unofficial upload of the song onto YouTube has gained over 350,000 views since December 2009.

Release

The single was released on 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl and CD single via Trax Music Ltd. in the UK and via CBS Records in Germany. The song was not included on the instrumental soundtrack release which was issued in the US, the UK, Ireland and Germany.

In the UK, the 7" and 12" vinyl was released through Trax Music Ltd - a Braveworld release through Rank Film Distributors. The 7" vinyl issue featured the exclusive B-side "Crystal Eye", which was written and produced solely by Parr, although it was not part of The Running Man film. The 12" vinyl featured an extended version of "Restless Heart" as the featured song, along with "Crystal Eye" and the single version of "Restless Heart". A CD version featured the same track-listing as the 12" vinyl release. The UK single picture sleeve artwork featured a close up of Arnold Schwarzenegger as seen on the film poster, with additional figures of him and co-star María Conchita Alonso running together. The back side of the sleeve highlighted a photo of Parr.

In Germany, the 7" and 12" vinyls released through CBS Records featured the same track-listings as the UK issues. Additionally, a CD single version was issued in the country via CBS. It was issued in a cardsleeve and featured "Restless Heart (Single Version)" as the featured song, along with "Crystal Eye" and "Restless Heart (Extended Version)". The German picture sleeve artwork different slightly from the UK release. The illustrations were handled by Renato Casaro. A slightly different close-up of Schwarzenegger was used, with additional illustrations of two of the films villains; a close-up of Dynamo as well as Eddie "Buzzsaw" Vatowski on his motorcycle whilst holding his chainsaw. The back sleeve, although again slightly different from the UK version, featured the same photo of Parr.

After appearing on Parr's third studio album Man with a Vision in 1992, the song also appeared on the 2006 Membran/Ambitions/Yesterrock two-disc set release Man in Motion which merged the Man with a Vision album with Parr's fourth 1996 studio album Under Parr. It also appeared on Parr's 2011 album Letter to America which featured one disc acting as a greatest hits (where the song was included) and a disc of other new songs and acoustic versions of older songs.

Promotion

A music video was created for the single, which was the main form of promotion. The video highlighted Parr performing the song with his signature American flag guitar amongst similar scenery to that in the film. Additionally, snippets of scenes from The Running Man were also featured.

Track listing

1. "Restless Heart" - 4:20
2. "Crystal Eye" - 3:20

1. "Restless Heart (Extended Version)" - 5:51
2. "Crystal Eye" - 3:25
3. "Restless Heart (Single Version)" - 4:17

1. "Restless Heart (Extended Version)" - 5:51
2. "Crystal Eye" - 3:20
3. "Restless Heart (Single Version)" - 4:20

1. "Restless Heart" - 4:17
2. "Crystal Eye" - 3:25

1. "Restless Heart (Extended Version)" - 5:51
2. "Crystal Eye" - 3:25
3. "Restless Heart (Single Version)" - 4:17

1. "Restless Heart (Single Version)" - 4:17
2. "Crystal Eye" - 3:24
3. "Restless Heart (Extended Version)" - 5:53

Personnel