I Ran (So Far Away)
Encyclopedia
"I Ran" is a song by English New Wave
band A Flock of Seagulls
. It was released on their debut album A Flock of Seagulls
in 1982 and was its most successful single
, reaching number 9 in the United States
and number 1 in Australia
.
in which the band members performed in a room covered in aluminum foil and mirrors. The video is a homage to Brian Eno
and Robert Fripp
's (No Pussyfooting)
album cover, which was also respectively portrayed by The Strokes
for their single, "The End Has No End
" two decades later. The video received heavy rotation on MTV
in the summer of 1982, and helped the single to become a hit. The video features a different edit of "I Ran" than the album version; the introduction was greatly shortened.
The band toured the United States extensively to promote the single, supporting Squeeze on their 1982 tour. As well as reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100
, "I Ran" peaked at #3 on the Mainstream Rock
chart and #8 on the Hot Dance Club Play
chart. Subsequently the album reached number 10 on the Billboard 200
.
Despite success in the States and Australia, the single did not enjoy similar success in the band's home country (United Kingdom
), failing to make the top 40.
In an interview on the VH1
special 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s, Mike Score
said that he resents the song, but plays it live because people enjoy it. "I Ran" was listed at #55 on the countdown. In VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s, the song was listed at #2, with Mike Score's interview played again.
Although considered an '80s New Wave classic, the song experienced somewhat of a revival in 2002 as the signature theme for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
; being played during the game's television commercials and during gameplay as one of the songs in the playlist for radio station Wave 103.
Along with the Bowling for Soup
cover, it was also used as the theme song for the English dub of the anime series Knights of the Zodiac which was later removed from the air during its first season.
The song briefly featured in the Dead Zone Season 2 episode 'Playing God', heard during a party scene. It can also be heard during a nightclub scene in the 2005 Nick Love film The Business
.
The master recording is available as a playable song in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
as well as the rebooted version of Karaoke Revolution
.
The song was from the TV show Everybody Hates Chris
entitled Everybody Hates the Last Day
It was performed by the Ska Rangers in the film The Hangover: Part II during the closing scene.
Also, Fez sung a verse in That 70's Show during one of the "Circles" in the fourth season's opener.
by a number of artists:
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
band A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls are an English New Wave band originally formed by brothers Michael "Mike" Score and Alister "Ali" James Score , with Frank Maudsley , Michael Kuby , H.J...
. It was released on their debut album A Flock of Seagulls
A Flock of Seagulls (album)
A Flock of Seagulls is the eponymous debut album by the Liverpudlian New Wave band A Flock of Seagulls. It was released in 1982 on Jive , and featured the international hit single "I Ran ," which reached the Top 10 in the U.S. and New Zealand, as well as #1 in Australia. The song "Space Age Love...
in 1982 and was its most successful single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, reaching number 9 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and number 1 in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Single
The single was promoted by a distinctive music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
in which the band members performed in a room covered in aluminum foil and mirrors. The video is a homage to Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp is an English guitarist, composer and record producer. He was ranked 42nd on Rolling Stone magazine's 2003 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and #47 on Gibson.com’s "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". Among rock guitarists, Fripp is a master of crosspicking, a technique...
's (No Pussyfooting)
(No Pussyfooting)
is a 1973 ambient music album by the British musicians Robert Fripp and Brian Eno. was the first of three major collaborations between the musicians, growing out of Eno's early tape recording loop experiments and Fripp's electric guitar playing. was recorded in three days over the course of a year...
album cover, which was also respectively portrayed by The Strokes
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American indie rock band formed in 1999 in New York City. Consisting of Julian Casablancas , Nick Valensi , Albert Hammond, Jr. , Nikolai Fraiture and Fabrizio Moretti ....
for their single, "The End Has No End
The End Has No End
"The End Has No End" is a song by the indie rock band The Strokes, and the third single from Room on Fire. The B-side to the single is a cover of the Clash song "Clampdown", recorded from a live performance at London's Alexandra Palace...
" two decades later. The video received heavy rotation on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
in the summer of 1982, and helped the single to become a hit. The video features a different edit of "I Ran" than the album version; the introduction was greatly shortened.
The band toured the United States extensively to promote the single, supporting Squeeze on their 1982 tour. As well as reaching #9 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, "I Ran" peaked at #3 on the Mainstream Rock
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart and #8 on the Hot Dance Club Play
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart. Subsequently the album reached number 10 on the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
.
Despite success in the States and Australia, the single did not enjoy similar success in the band's home country (United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
), failing to make the top 40.
In an interview on the VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
special 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s, Mike Score
Mike Score
Mike Score is the keyboardist, guitarist, and lead singer for the New Wave band, A Flock of Seagulls.-Career:...
said that he resents the song, but plays it live because people enjoy it. "I Ran" was listed at #55 on the countdown. In VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s, the song was listed at #2, with Mike Score's interview played again.
Although considered an '80s New Wave classic, the song experienced somewhat of a revival in 2002 as the signature theme for the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 open world action computer and video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the second 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise and sixth original title overall...
; being played during the game's television commercials and during gameplay as one of the songs in the playlist for radio station Wave 103.
Along with the Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup
Bowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
cover, it was also used as the theme song for the English dub of the anime series Knights of the Zodiac which was later removed from the air during its first season.
The song briefly featured in the Dead Zone Season 2 episode 'Playing God', heard during a party scene. It can also be heard during a nightclub scene in the 2005 Nick Love film The Business
The Business (film)
The Business is a 2005 British drama/crime/gangster film written and directed by Nick Love. The film stars Danny Dyer, Tamer Hassan and Roland Manookian all of which were in Love's previous film The Football Factory. It also stars Geoff Bell and Georgina Chapman...
.
The master recording is available as a playable song in Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s
Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s is a music video game and the third installment in the popular Guitar Hero series...
as well as the rebooted version of Karaoke Revolution
Karaoke Revolution
Karaoke Revolution and its many sequels are video games for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo GameCube, Wii, Xbox, and Xbox 360, developed by Harmonix Music Systems and Blitz Games and published by Konami in its Bemani line of music games. The Original Concept for Karaoke Revolution was...
.
The song was from the TV show Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris
Everybody Hates Chris is an African American television period sitcom inspired by the teenage experiences of comedian Chris Rock , while growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York . The show is set from 1982 to 1987; however, Rock himself was a teenager during years...
entitled Everybody Hates the Last Day
It was performed by the Ska Rangers in the film The Hangover: Part II during the closing scene.
Also, Fez sung a verse in That 70's Show during one of the "Circles" in the fourth season's opener.
Cover versions
"I Ran" has been coveredCover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by a number of artists:
- Tori AmosTori AmosTori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
covered the song on her Original Sinsuality/Summer Of Sin Tour in Denver, during Piano Bar Time. Her version was released with the rest of the show in the 3rd CD of The Original BootlegsThe Original BootlegsThe Original Bootlegs is a series of six Tori Amos live albums, recorded during the Original Sinsuality and Summer of Sin tours, both of which were in support of her 2005 album, The Beekeeper. Double-disc sets were released for each complete show, which were initially released in pairs and sold...
. - Assemblage 23Assemblage 23Assemblage 23 is an electronic act from the United States, currently based in Seattle. It was founded in 1988 by Tom Shear who writes the music and lyrics and does the recording himself.-1980s–1990s :...
recorded the song for the 1997 compilation Newer Wave. - Cranial ScrewtopCranial ScrewtopCranial Screwtop are an English punk-influenced rock band which plays 1980s pop songs in a punk style, the only specialist covers band of its type currently in the UK. The band's sound is distinguished by their use of kazoos...
recorded a version of the song for their 2006 album "Too Fast for Technology". - Terminal ChoiceTerminal ChoiceTerminal Choice is a German electronic rock band. It was formed by singer Chris Pohl in 1993.- History :Their lyrics are sung in German and English...
's cover of the song is included on the bonus disk of their 2006 album New Born Enemies. - Bowling for SoupBowling for SoupBowling for Soup is an American pop-punk band which originally formed in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1994...
covered the song for the 2003 re-release of their album Drunk Enough to DanceDrunk Enough to DanceEach version of the album has a number tracks that are five-to-six seconds of complete silence, titled "[Blank]," between the last song and "Belgium." The number of blank tracks varies upon the version, but "Belgium" is track 28 on all versions except for the Japanese Edition, where it is on track...
and their "Punk Rock 101Punk Rock 101"Punk Rock 101" is a song by Texas pop-punk band Bowling for Soup. It appeared on the second release of their 2002 album Drunk Enough to Dance. The single peaked at #43 on the UK Singles Chart....
" single. Both the original and the punk cover are the theme song of the American version of Saint SeiyaSaint Seiya, also known as Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac or simply Knights of the Zodiac, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masami Kurumada and serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1986 to 1991, and adapted into an anime TV series by Toei Animation from 1986 to 1989.The story follows...
, also known as Knights of the Zodiac. - Hidden in Plain ViewHidden in Plain ViewHidden in Plain View was a five-piece Pop Punk band from northern New Jersey. They formed in 2000 and disbanded in 2007. During their six and a half year run, the group released records with four different record labels , including two full-length albums and three EPs...
recorded the song on the covers compilation album Punk Goes 80s. - In Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 2, Spacebar vs Naughty G covered this song.
- DarudeDarudeVille Virtanen , better known by his stage name Darude is a trance producer and DJ from Eura, Hinnerjoki, Finland. Debuting in 1995, he released the hit single "Sandstorm" in late 1999 and subsequent album Before the Storm...
and Blake LewisBlake LewisBlake Colin Lewis is an American singer-songwriter and beatboxer who was the runner-up on the sixth season of American Idol. His major label debut album A.D.D. was released on December 4, 2007 through 19 Recordings/Arista Records. On October 30, 2007, his first single "Break Anotha" was released....
released a cover in 2008. - NickelbackNickelbackNickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....
covered the song during their Dark Horse Tour in 2010. It was sung by guitarist/vocalist Ryan Peake. - Slim ThugSlim ThugStayve Jerome Thomas , better known as Slim Thug, Boss Hogg or Thug Boss, is an American rapper. He gained mainstream attention for his contribution to the popular single from rapper Mike Jones, "Still Tippin'"....
also took the bass line of this song to produce his single "I Run" - Umphrey's McgeeUmphrey's McGeeUmphrey's McGee is an American progressive rock jam band based in Chicago whose music is often referred to as "progressive improvisation", or "improg" ....
covered the song during a performance at the Birmingham Southern College on 4/9/05, however they have played it many times before. - Ska Rangers covered the song which featured on the film and soundtrack of The Hangover: Part II.
Chart positions
| Charts | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
1 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
43 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
9 |
| U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock Tracks Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue... |
3 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Hot Dance Club Play The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... |
9 |
| Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... Singles Chart |
31 |