Run Like Hell
| "Run Like Hell" | |
|---|---|
| Song | |
| B-side | "Don't Leave Me Now" (Holland, Sweden and some US releases) "Comfortably Numb" (Later US releases) |
"Run Like Hell" is a song on the Pink Floyd album The Wall. It is preceded by "In the Flesh" and is followed by "Waiting for the Worms". The song is from the point of view of anti-hero Pink during a hallucination, in which he becomes a fascist dictator and turns a concert audience into an angry mob. He sends the mob out to raid nearby neighborhoods that are full of minorities.
The music was written by David Gilmour (one of the three songs on The Wall for which Gilmour wrote music), while the lyrics were by Roger Waters alone. On the record, Waters provided the vocals (except for "Run, Run", in which Gilmour is lead singer). The song features the only keyboard solo on The Wall (although on live performances, "Young Lust" and "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" would also feature keyboard solos); after the last line of lyrics, a synthesizer apparently takes over Waters' singing. Also in the song are the sound of the mob's maniacal laughter, running footsteps, car tires skidding and a loud scream.
This song was originally much longer, however it had to be cut because of the time limitations on the original vinyl record format. Although the lyrics "Run like hell" appear several times in the liner notes, they are never actually heard in the song. Near the end, the same piercing shriek (made by Waters) can be heard, almost identical to that heard during "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" when seguing into "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II".
The track is also notable, as it is the only time the band would dabble in the disco genre, which was very popular in the late '70's.
Film version
Pink sends his Nazi followers to attack those he thinks "ought to be shot". He orders them to raid and destroy the homes of Jewish and black people. One scene depicts an interracial couple cuddling in the back seat of a car when a group of neo-Nazis accosts them, beating him and raping her. The song's length is reduced once again, with the second verse being sung over the keyboard solo.
According to some accounts, Wall director Alan Parker hired real skinheads for the scene, and things very nearly went out of control during the scene where they demolish a diner, when they continued their destruction even after Parker called "cut". They also allegedly sexually harassed the actress playing their victim.
Live versions
The Wall concerts
During the previous song, "In the Flesh", a giant inflatable pig was released, which Waters referred to in a speech between both songs. The speech between each concert varied slightly, so this is used to identify which show a recording came from. On Is There Anybody out There? The Wall: Live 1980-1981, the speech is a mix of the June 15, 1981 and June 17, 1981 speeches. It was sometimes introduced by Waters as "Run Like Fuck" and Waters and Gilmour sang different lines. In Roger Waters' The Wall concert in Berlin in 1990, he made no speech and sang all the lines alone. During the concert in Berlin, Waters didn't play the bass, but during the 1980 tours he played the Gilmour bass line.
Later tours
Following Waters' departure from Pink Floyd, the song became a regular number in the band's concerts, usually ending the show and going over nine minutes long. One live version was used as the B-side to "On the Turning Away". It can be heard, for example, closing the live album Delicate Sound of Thunder. Gilmour generally played an extended guitar introduction, sharing vocals with touring bassist Guy Pratt, with Pratt singing Waters' lines. In the 1994 tour, Pratt sometimes sang the name of the city where they were playing instead of the word mother in the line "...they're going to send you back to mother in a cardboard box..." – in the P•U•L•S•E video (live at Earls Court, 1994), he clearly sings London. In fact, in his book My Bass and Other Animals, Pratt states that for the final leg of the tour, he replaced the word mother with the name of whichever town they were playing in.
In addition to doing the song with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has also performed it himself on his solo tour in 1984, in support of his About Face album. In Waters' absence, Gilmour would trade lines with bassist Mickey Feat. He also performed the song solo at the Colombian Volcano benefit concert in 1986, trading lines with house-band keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick.
Covers
- The song was covered by the metal band Kittie, the second single from their 2001 album Oracle.
- It was also covered by German power metal band Angel Dust.
- The Minnesota Swarm of Major League Lacrosse play the main guitar riff of the song during player introductions.
- The trance fusion band Disco Biscuits frequently covers the song as well.
Personnel
- Roger Waters - vocals[1], screaming and panting[1]
- David Gilmour - guitars[1], bass guitar[1], backwards cymbals[1] vocals (chorus)
- Nick Mason — drums[1]
- Richard Wright — Prophet 5 synthesizer[1]
- James Guthrie — backwards cymbals[1], running and panting[1]
- Bobbye Hall — congas and bongos[1]
- Phil Taylor — tire screeching[1]
References
- Fitch, Vernon. The Pink Floyd Encyclopedia (3rd edition), 2005. ISBN 1-894959-24-8
