Format CD maxi Length 3:58 | Genre Alternative rock | |
B-side "Honeybee"
"Never Be Free"
"Badass" Released July 10, 2005 (2005-07-10) Recorded 2003–04; Smart Studios
(Madison, Wisconsin) | ||
"Run Baby Run" is a song by alternative rock band Garbage from their fourth studio album, Bleed Like Me (2005). The song was released in Europe and Australia as the album's fourth and final single. It was released around the same time the United Kingdom received a parallel release for "Sex Is Not The Enemy" and "Bleed Like Me" was released in the United States.
Contents
Following on from the unexpectedly high chart positions for both the previous single "Why Do You Love Me" and the parent album Bleed Like Me, "Run Baby Run" failed to replicate their success. "Run Baby Run" was to be the third single release from Bleed Like Me in the United Kingdom, scheduled to be released at the same time as the band's UK tour.
After the tour was cancelled, Garbage went on a self-imposed hiatus and the single release was postponed and quietly cancelled. A US single release was also considered.
Background
"Run Baby Run" was first written by the end of 2003 at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin. The song began from an idea by guitarist Duke Erikson, and took a lot of work to complete. The band, while happy with the chorus, rebuilt the rest of the song around it; most of the song's original verses, lyrics and melody were re-written. Garbage didn't finish the song until the very end of the album sessions.
Shirley Manson later recalled, "'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. [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". The singer added that fairy tales gave "this idea that somebody's gonna come along and fix your life", but eventually "I sort of came to the realization that actually nobody's gonna fix your life for you, you have to do it yourself. And it's about just making an effort to make your life good. If it sucks, do something about it." Erikson added, "Being expected to go through life to behave a certain way; I think 'Run Baby Run' is a plea to run from that. Run with your life, take it wherever it takes you. It's about not conforming."
On May 25, 2004, Garbage confirmed a list of 14 songs being worked on for the record, including "Run", and on December 14, confirmed that the song, now under the final title of "Run Baby Run", would be included on the finished album Bleed Like Me.
Release
On April 10, 2005, Garbage drummer Butch Vig told fans in Los Angeles that "Run Baby Run" would be the second European single taken from Bleed Like Me; and on April 17, Garbage debuted "Run Baby Run" live at Boston Avalon.
On May 15, "Run Baby Run" was sent to European radio, and on May 20 it was officially confirmed for physical single release. The "Run Baby Run" video was first shown online at the band's website on June 10, before being sent for airplay on June 15. The initial European release date was June 20.
The week "Run Baby Run" was provided to Australian radio, it was the number-two most added track; and on 10 July was released on CD maxi. Despite the top 20 success of previous single "Why Do You Love Me", the single debuted at number 49.
Garbage were completing European dates; including a show broadcast Europe-wide from Trieste (Isle of MTV), during which "Run Baby Run" was performed prior to the rescheduled 1 August release of the single across Europe. Despite both a maxi and single CD format being planned; only the maxi was ever issued. On August 15, "Run Baby Run" reached number 97 on the German Singles Chart.
By June 30, "Run Baby Run" had received a number of adds to UK radio and TV; and a tentative September 12 issue date. "Run Baby Run" was rescheduled for release in the UK on October 24; however the single was cancelled after the band's UK tour was pulled. The "Run Baby Run" video was pulled from television; despite adds to music channels.
A March 20, 2006 release date for a reworked version of "Run Baby Run", upfront of a listed Absolute Garbage issue date was rumored, but did not happen. On May 22, 2007, it was officially confirmed that "Run Baby Run" would not be included on Absolute Garbage.
Critical reception
"Run Baby Run" was generally very well received by contemporary pop music critics, a number of whom, including NME, commented on the track as part of Bleed Like Me's strong opening half. Rolling Stone felt the song recreated the 80s new wave sound better than efforts from bands like Kasabian and Bloc Party: "Surrounded by a black forest of power-chord distortion, Manson pleads and prays like Deborah Harry atop a bouncing, throaty guitar riff that New Order would envy." The New York Daily News also picked up on the New Order sound, commenting that the band had given the bass guitar "the best hook". Peter Murphy, of Hot Press, described "Run Baby Run" as one of the band's most positive songs; "[It] glows with compassion, forgiveness and self-acceptance."
Rolling Stone felt that song's "tender, dreamy verses" brought to mind "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure.
Music video
On the weekend of May 31, 2005, Manson and Muller filmed the video for "Run Baby Run" in London, Paris, Berlin and Istanbul. By June 8, the video was ready to air, and on June 12, it premiered on Garbage's official website.
Locations filmed in include within Charles de Gaulle International Airport and on the Paris Métro crossing over the Seine on the Viaduc d'Austerlitz (France); outside the Olympiastadion and in Mohrenstraße and Neu-Westend stations on the Berlin U-Bahn (Germany); and around and within Istanbul's Hotel Pera Palas, Haydarpaşa Terminal and over the Bosphorus strait (Turkey). Studio shots were filmed in London.
- "Run Baby Run" – 3:58
- "Honeybee" – 4:02
- "Never Be Free" – 4:28
- "Badass (October 2003 Ruff Demo)" – 3:15
B-sides
"Run Baby Run" was backed with B-sides "Honeybee" and "Never Be Free" which had been previously been released on the UK "Sex Is Not The Enemy" single. Both tracks were recorded during the sessions for Bleed Like Me. An acetate of "Never Be Free" leaked from Chrysalis Music Group in 2003, but the track did not end up on the internet. The single also contained a demo version of "Badass" (once titled "Teach Me Tonight"), that had been left unfinished from album sessions in October 2003. Exclusive to the "Run Baby Run" release, "Badass" leaked onto the Internet on June 13, 2005, a month before the single was issued.
While Vig describes "Honeybee" as "Neil Young-esque, with a druggy feel", Manson wrote the song was "pretty dark and twisted. It's a lusty, yearning moan". "Honeybee" featured drums performed by Matt Walker, while "Never Be Free" credited John5 with guitar. All three tracks were written and produced by Garbage, although "Never Be Free" may have originally been a John Lowery co-write. Producer James Michael may have also worked on the track at one point.