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Pink Floyd — Run Like Hell
Album: The Wall
Avg rating:
8.2

Your rating:
Total ratings: 3361









Released: 1979
Length: 4:21
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Run, Run, Run, Run
Run, Run, Run, Run
Run, Run, Run, Run
Run, Run, Run, Run

You better make your face up in
Your favourite disguise
With your button down lips and your
Roller blind eyes
With your empty smile
And your hungry heart
Feel the bile rising from your guilty past
With your nerves in tatters
As the cockleshell shatters
And the hammers batter
Down the door
You better run like hell

Run, Run, Run, Run
Run, Run, Run, Run
Run, Run, Run, Run
Run, Run, Run, Run

You better run all day
And run all night
And keep your dirty feelings
Deep inside. And if you're
Taking your girlfriend
Out tonight,
You better park the car
Well out of sight
'Cos if they catch you in the back seat
Trying to pick her locks
They're gonna send you back to mother
In a cardboard box
You better run
Comments (159)add comment
60 people voted this "1".
21 people voted this "2".
39 people voted this "3".
 
Any of you people want to comment why so low?  I don't want to debate, I'm just genuinely curious.  I would expect votes like that from Lawrence Welk fans maybe.
 pixeldude1 wrote:

Not nearly as much as your post.


Actually these bimbos are hoping you write something, anything to end their boredom!
Best band ever, by far!!!
 memoryboxer wrote:

When this album came out this track freaked the hell out of me. The whole album hit too close to home, having just finished high school including a couple years in a British style private school, but Run Like Hell took it past 11, as I spent years as a kid having reoccurring nightmares of being chased through layers of underground garage by a car without a driver. Waters and Gilmour often penned songs that echoed my teen angst - me and thousands of other lads - but where the hell did *this* imagery come from?



I think the jury is still out as to if Roger Waters is a fascist or not. It mostly looks like he isn't, but I can't say that for sure. 
1?? 2?? 3?? 4??  I think exist a lot a people who  don't know nothing about music.
Billy Billy,  you touched my  heart.... super  song...what a memories.......
 ubuntourist wrote:

I "note" the RP lyrics text end with "[#Notes|1]]"

Any notes on said note?


They've disappeared.  (Or you were imagining them?  You'd better run!)
 Mark.spetter wrote:

Best album ever, for me, and this song is just another jewel on a long string of jewels on The Wall :-)


Well, nothing could be better than Wish you Were Here, unless it is Animals.
I remember in the 1980s the riff was used by local US TV stations everywhere to announce whatever sports event or monster truck rally was coming this weekend.
 On_The_Beach wrote:

This band is just fantastic (that is really what I think).



Oh and by the way, which one's pink?
Best album ever, for me, and this song is just another jewel on a long string of jewels on The Wall :-)

Can I please just comment on a few posts about the Wall? Anyone who saw PF play it live at Earls Court in (I think) 1980 (polystyrene bricks, aeroplane on a wire knocking down the wall, etc), would never never call this song boring.

I like PF, but this was not their best album.
I thnk the track Bill's playing here is from a live concert - the drumming sounds different to the album!!  Or is it my memory!! Well Bill and Rebecca?!
 nmb wrote:

I don´t get it... this song is boring. If it wasn´t Pink Floyd it probably would have an average rating of 5.

No such thing as a pink Floyd song that is boring 

 nmb wrote:

I don´t get it... this song is boring. If it wasn´t Pink Floyd it probably would have an average rating of 5.




I agree!!
I don´t get it... this song is boring. If it wasn´t Pink Floyd it probably would have an average rating of 5.
I never liked this album, it was severely overplayed! But, it sounds so much better in FLAC w/ great phones, amp & DAC!
 thewiseking wrote:

Boring


If you try really hard you can make your comments much more interesting.
It is to commercial time... 🙄
 ExploitingChaos wrote:

If this brings up such strong emotions...

Maybe you need to run like hell yourself...

Word to your Mother



Or maybe you embrace those emotions? 

Word to your Pops
 yagermeister wrote:
The movie will mess you up
 
Why? It's quite poignant in it's portrayal of a breakdown. Saw it when it first came out in theatres. Did a J of course. But I appreciated it's complexity much later in my wiser, seasoned and  "older" disposition. 
 Skydog wrote:

I think 1967 or '68 was the first time for me
 
First time I saw them I was about 16 years old, they performed at a local school dance.

Also saw them a couple of times at 'Mothers' in Birmingham 'Mothers day at Mothers' and the recording of 'Ummagumma'.
The movie will mess you up
I "note" the RP lyrics text end with "[#Notes|1]]"

Any notes on said note?
 teabag wrote:
I was on the lighting crew for 'the  wall' in Berlin, still gives me goosebumps
 
I am ready to hear more of this story, please!
 teabag wrote:
I was on the lighting crew for 'the  wall' in Berlin, still gives me goosebumps
 
Wow!  What an experience to look back on the rest of your life. I bet it was incredible!
I was on the lighting crew for 'the  wall' in Berlin, still gives me goosebumps
I love the layering of the guitars and delays...

Funny, I've always thought of this as a short transition piece in the whole scheme of the album, I didn't realize it was almost four and a half minutes  (and longer than BOTH the prior and later songs that I thought it was transitioning from/to).
 On_The_Beach wrote:
This band is just fantastic (that is really what I think).
 Oh, by the way: Which one's Pink?

Not my fav by PF.
That's why it's just a Nine for me...

These last three track have been nicely segued.
This band is just fantastic (that is really what I think).
I still remember being 5 yrs old and my mother, father and siblings loving this album.
What an upbringing :) 
When this album came out this track freaked the hell out of me. The whole album hit too close to home, having just finished high school including a couple years in a British style private school, but Run Like Hell took it past 11, as I spent years as a kid having reoccurring nightmares of being chased through layers of underground garage by a car without a driver. Waters and Gilmour often penned songs that echoed my teen angst - me and thousands of other lads - but where the hell did *this* imagery come from?
Long Live      Radio Paradise 


Rating to me stays at 8 - Most Excellent   but sadly not more    I Skip 
40 years since the first time I heard this song and still the only part of it that resonates for me is Gilmour's incredibly ringing guitar licks which, all by themselves, make this one worth listening to IMO. 
If this brings up such strong emotions...

Maybe you need to run like hell yourself...

Word to your Mother
The Wall is rather actual: exaggerated en somtimes irritating noise...
 AKMacAddict wrote:
May 31, 1994... Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium.  One of the best concerts ever!

Not the show, but the same tour and theatrics...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dB6MQlFLu8

 
I've just taken a look at that link - I CAN NOT believe that was 1994 - I went to that concert with some friends - it was something else - but then all PF concerts were special - from The Wall via The Division Bell - we left Earls Court with a huge smile, our ears ringing and eyes flashing.
 thewiseking wrote:
Boring
 
Not nearly as much as your post.
Boring
 we are giving our feedback, isn't that the idea?    Pjesnik wrote:
Those who PSD particular song don't need to inform us who didn't. Where there is a wall there are the doors too. It's up to each of us to find it.   

 

 AKMacAddict wrote:
May 31, 1994... Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium.  One of the best concerts ever!

Not the show, but the same tour and theatrics...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dB6MQlFLu8

 
Saw this tour a few days earlier in good ole Cleveland Muni Stadium the first night.  My 6th show starting back in 1973 at the Kent State gym.
Too much The Wall. Yes it's good, but it's not The Greatest Album Ever. Too self-serious, IMO
Dark Side, Animals, Wish You Were Here - all better albums musically and conceptually, and all more fun.
To me  8 - Most Excellent
 BCarn wrote:

So music opinions should be left to the musicians and the rest of us should just shut up about it. Brilliant. And think of the implications for politics and sports. Dimwit.

Well Skyhog, why don't you give it a shot and post it here so we can see how well you perform. Come on! Do it! Chicken shit.
But you did a good job baiting those of us who bothered to even comment on your ridiculous and irrelevant comment. (I spared 2 minutes of my day to write this whilst on the throne.) 

 


Like many PF tracks this one is identifiable from the first bar - how many songs and artists can you say that about? For that reason alone it merits at least a 7 and of course just because a track of an album was played to death does not diminish its merit so I forgive the familiarity and rate on quality (my subjective interpretation of course) .  A solid 8 from me.
May 31, 1994... Pittsburgh Three Rivers Stadium.  One of the best concerts ever!

Not the show, but the same tour and theatrics...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dB6MQlFLu8


 deepwoodskev wrote:
So overplayed on commercial classic rock stations. Don't even enjoy it anymore.
 

 
Yeah, if I never hear this or "Hey You" again...I'll be OK!
 Skydog wrote:

floyd's stuff is real simple (and lame), anyone can sound like them but the good ones choose not to

 
Well Skyhog, why don't you give it a shot and post it here so we can see how well you perform. Come on! Do it! Chicken shit.
But you did a good job baiting those of us who bothered to even comment on your ridiculous and irrelevant comment. (I spared 2 minutes of my day to write this whilst on the throne.) 
December of 1979...I recall how it sounded coming over the radio for the first time, and it confirmed what I already knew about Pink Floyd: this was one of the bands that SPOKE TO ME in my senior year in High School; it was personal pain made into digable Art...

Still love it, and the rest of the album, after all of these years.  Haters be damned.


 ..not me...I've heard it far too many times..Quite stale at this point in time    jlind wrote:
It's been so long since I heard this track I forgot it existed.

 

 jagdriver wrote:
Not musical and I've had enough of Roger's shouting, thanks.

I much prefer the melodic PF led by David Gilmour and (the WAY-underrated) Rick Wright. 

PSD 

 
I think I kinda agree with that after nearly 50 years of listening to them.  And having seen them live many times from 73 through 94, I didn't miss Roger in the incarnations after he left.  Still love em, but yeah.
It's been so long since I heard this track I forgot it existed.
 VH1 wrote:

This statement is beyond comment. Shows your total lack of muscial knowledge, thank you! 

Leave the classroom, you are dismissed! {#Iamwithstupid} 

 
Apparently, that statement was not actually "beyond comment".
 Skydog wrote:

floyd's stuff is real simple (and lame), anyone can sound like them but the good ones choose not to

 
This statement is almost ({#Lol}) beyond comment. Shows your total lack of muscial knowledge, thank you! 

Leave the classroom, you are dismissed! {#Iamwithstupid} 
Definitely overplayed. After DSOTM, prefer Animals & WYWH
So overplayed on commercial classic rock stations. Don't even enjoy it anymore.
 
This was the beginning of me not really liking the Floyd at all.
The cluster of Meddle/Dark Side/Wish/Animals is the way I choose to remember them..

Fun fact: my punk band was supposed to have a gig the day this record was due to hit the record stores and I regret to this day that we didn't huddle over "Comfortably Numb" and play it that night. No one would've been familiar with it to realize how bad our version would've been, but there would've been some fun bragging rights. 
 CHuLoYo wrote:

For sure, you didn't listen to Pink Floyd before '90s.

 
I think 1967 or '68 was the first time for me
 Skydog wrote:

floyd's stuff is real simple (and lame), anyone can sound like them but the good ones choose not to

 
For sure, you didn't listen to Pink Floyd before '90s.
 below72 wrote:
you music O-FISH-E-AN-A-DO's
Ya' all crack me up
....let me guess - Berklee graduates?
 

At least we can probably assume most are not graduates of, say, The School of Regressive Right-Wingnuts. Thank dawg.


 torino390 wrote:
watched the Australian Pink Floyd cover this in Liverpool earlier in the year. must say, they were pretty darn good!!

 
floyd's stuff is real simple (and lame), anyone can sound like them but the good ones choose not to
you music O-FISH-E-AN-A-DO's
Ya' all crack me up
....let me guess - Berklee graduates?



My personal least favorite Floyd song. By a very wide margin. I was happy when I bought the wall on CD so I could easily hit the next button. That was then, now there's PSD. What a wondrous age we live in. 
 jagdriver wrote:
Not musical and I've had enough of Roger's shouting, thanks.

I much prefer the melodic PF led by David Gilmour and (the WAY-underrated) Rick Wright. 

PSD 

 
Seriously? You preffer the last commercial pink floyd albums than the first magic and creativity pink floyd albums? You should be crazy.
when I owned the wall on tape I wore it out I played it so often
I figure when you wear a tape out, you have heard it enough, so no more for me please 
 konakid wrote:
Always happy when FLOYD comes on!! Nay sayers get a life! Thanks Bill and Rebecca!{#Bananajam}

 
Absolutely! 
Always happy when FLOYD comes on!! Nay sayers get a life! Thanks Bill and Rebecca!{#Bananajam}
I'm so sick of this awful tune.  Please, Bill, Rebecca, please play something different.  Thank you.
yesyes twölf Points from Limeshain
Not musical and I've had enough of Roger's shouting, thanks.

I much prefer the melodic PF led by David Gilmour and (the WAY-underrated) Rick Wright. 

PSD 
 kcar wrote:
this album came out thirty-six years ago.
 
I am constantly amazed at how old some of this stuff is, sometimes it seems as only yesterday (well, perhaps a few years) since I first heard this and other great music from the 60s and 70s. OK, a bit from the 80s as well!
 colt4x5 wrote:

The "in" thing? As in, it's trendy to trash The Wall the way lesser people jealously diss the popular girl in class, but secretly wish she would smile at them?
Really, I think Pink Floyd (and its solo personnel) generated some pretty stellar music.
I also think they generated some real clunkers.
Not only do I believe "Run Like Hell" is a not highlight of The Wall — I firmly believe it's a clunker.
Tedious, contrived, overwrought.
But maybe I'm just jealous, and wish she would smile at me.
 
Actually, this is one of my favorite tracks from the album and I'm a whiner about "The Wall." 

The "in" thing to trash "The Wall"? Stegokitty, this album came out thirty-six years ago.  Mozart was already dead by that age. This album isn't trend-inspiring even on oldies stations. 
Those who PSD particular song don't need to inform us who didn't. Where there is a wall there are the doors too. It's up to each of us to find it.   
 sirtezza wrote:
less PF please!!

 
No, that's wrong.
 sirtezza wrote:
less PF please!!

 
Seconded.  PSD.
 
less PF please!!
kind of hoping for Genesis........(really?)  (afraid so)
watched the Australian Pink Floyd cover this in Liverpool earlier in the year. must say, they were pretty darn good!!
RuN, rUn, RUN, run, rUN, RUn, Run, ruN {#Bananajam}{#Bananajumprope}
It's Floyd's world, we're just living in it.
Keep your guilty feelings deep inside.


Groan....PSD!!
 stegokitty wrote:
I have to smirk a bit when meeting the haters, or the "overplayed" whiners complaining about The Wall.
Sometimes I think it's just the "in" thing to do.
The Wall is a fabulous album, and this is one of its highlights.
It kicks ass.
Maybe that's why it might seem out of place on Radio Paradise.

 
The "in" thing? As in, it's trendy to trash The Wall the way lesser people jealously diss the popular girl in class, but secretly wish she would smile at them?
Really, I think Pink Floyd (and its solo personnel) generated some pretty stellar music.
I also think they generated some real clunkers.
Not only do I believe "Run Like Hell" is a not highlight of The Wall — I firmly believe it's a clunker.
Tedious, contrived, overwrought.
But maybe I'm just jealous, and wish she would smile at me.

Turn up the volume with this song! And better run!
I have to smirk a bit when meeting the haters, or the "overplayed" whiners complaining about The Wall.
Sometimes I think it's just the "in" thing to do.
The Wall is a fabulous album, and this is one of its highlights.
It kicks ass.
Maybe that's why it might seem out of place on Radio Paradise.
A beautiful day - sun is shining - but todays playlist depresses me once again!!! 
 btt wrote:

It might have just been a right time and place type of thing , but this is the one album , above all others , that changed my life forever .

 
Well said. For me, in my era, that was DSOTM. Changed forever indeed. I need their music in a way I can't quite explain- it's more than simple musical appreciation.
if only this song had been background music in "forrest gump." Run, forrest, run like hell!
I like this song. It's a classic. But it seems to getting very heavy rotation these days. Maybe time to switch it up.
I was blasting this song last night after Cory Garner won Colorado's senate seat. {#Wall}
 unclehud wrote:

Can't quite go that far, but this is a stale tune from, perhaps, their least-visionary album.

 
It might have just been a right time and place type of thing , but this is the one album , above all others , that changed my life forever .
Ick
 hschlossberg wrote:
My god -- I love Pink Floyd -- but this song from this overplayed, over-rated album is driving me f'ing crazy today!!!
 
Can't quite go that far, but this is a stale tune from, perhaps, their least-visionary album.
My god -- I love Pink Floyd -- but this song from this overplayed, over-rated album is driving me f'ing crazy today!!!
music is the physical embodiment of emotion
 Relayer wrote:
Gilmour.  I say, Gilmour.  Damn, he is "THE PF SOUND".    Waters is so talented, but without Gilmour, it would just be a spoken word album of roger bitching and moaning. 

And I have to say, this was a great movie.  Just amazing to watch.

 
I've bleated my thoughts on this topic long and hard already...never thought the album or the movie made any sense as a story about an alienated rock star. Waters as far as I can tell contributed the young man's anger and denunciation of society in PF songs, but I agree with your statement that there wouldn't have been much music without Gilmour. Maybe there's more to it than that, I don't know...

 phlattop wrote:
When I think of this album, I think of "Comfortably Numb", "Young Lust", Mother, Goodbye Cruel sky, this song and Another Brick. The rest is filler. Likeable filler but filler still. Dark Side is the opposite: one continuous masterpiece. More of a group effort. The Wall is really Water's show. I'm still glad that PF did put out this sprawling effort as it's a landmark of some sort and took some balls to put out in the time of punk and disco. I was thrilled with it when it came out but I haven't listened to it all the way through in 12-15 years and another 10 before that.

In a way, it's like their Sgt Pepper with Dark Side being Abbey Road (or Revolver). Not the overall strongest group of songs with a couple of amazing standouts (Numb being like "A Day in the Life"). Like it or not, a definite statement on the whole. 

Thumbs up for the Alan Parker film.

   
After a few years of listening to The Wall all the way through and then piecemeal, I got a similar feeling although you'd have to clue me in on that "definite statement on the whole." It's as if Waters had a good start to a story and some great songs to advance it, but then flaked out and really couldn't put it all together. If there's a conflict or resolution to The Wall's story, I've forgotten it. The star is alienated from his fans and longing for something lost in his childhood, largely due to his repressive and hateful mother. His wife leaves him and he goes into a sort of manic rage, inciting violence at a concert. I can't forget how the whole mess ends or what the message is. The Who's "Tommy" may seem dated now, but at least you could get a handle on what the hell was going on. 

But you're right, phlattop, The Wall was a great antidote to disco and corporate rock. Pop culture was tired and flabby and not terribly reflective of people's dissatisfaction with their lives and society. Punk came out of that dissatisfaction. As I've elsewhere on RP, the film "Ordinary People" had the same bomb-blast effect, showing sterile lives and repressed pain in the suburbs.

The Wall had the same rage and denunciation of being slowly ground down emotionally and pigeonholed into a pre-assigned life. It was a double-album primal scream that didn't have any answers. You're right, it did take balls. You have to wonder whether PF's record label was scared of fans rejecting the whole angry mess.

But anger and alienation sell lots of pop music--then, now and likely always. It's pretty funny that Waters has mellowed a lot and performs The Wall concerts almost as a nostalgia act (and a very profitable one, too). 
When I think of this album, I think of "Comfortably Numb", "Young Lust", Mother, Goodbye Cruel sky, this song and Another Brick. The rest is filler. Likeable filler but filler still. Dark Side is the opposite: one continuous masterpiece. More of a group effort. The Wall is really Water's show. I'm still glad that PF did put out this sprawling effort as it's a landmark of some sort and took some balls to put out in the time of punk and disco. I was thrilled with it when it came out but I haven't listened to it all the way through in 12-15 years and another 10 before that.

In a way, it's like their Sgt Pepper with Dark Side being Abbey Road (or Revolver). Not the overall strongest group of songs with a couple of amazing standouts (Numb being like "A Day in the Life"). Like it or not, a definite statement on the whole.

Thumbs up for the Alan Parker film.
Gilmour.  I say, Gilmour.  Damn, he is "THE PF SOUND".    Waters is so talented, but without Gilmour, it would just be a spoken word album of roger bitching and moaning. 

And I have to say, this was a great movie.  Just amazing to watch.
 dragancvetkovic wrote:
From my 10 age Pink Floyd is my legend!This song?10.000 wats clear power!!!
 
Were you using the beta version of Google translate when you wrote this?

Some nerd humor for y'all. 
One of my favorite songs of all time. 
David bought a guitar to punish his ma.....
 bigbitty wrote:
Pink Floyd does disco!

 
 NeuroGeek wrote:

Wow. 

I would love to see Proclivities comment on this.

 
I have taught myself to generally refrain from commenting on Pink Floyd's post-1971 material, particularly anything from this album.  Bigbitty's comment is pretty funny and provocative at the same time, however.
 bigbitty wrote:
Pink Floyd does disco!

 
Wow. 

I would love to see Proclivities comment on this.
 I consider The Wall far superior to Darkside. Amongst other things (like perfect segues, effects, tone) the song count is like 20 to 4 and every one of them is amazing. Add on the refrain of the pedal effect that sounds like humpback whale song from Echoes and this is easily their best album. Money and Run Like Hell are both kind of oddball poppy Floyd tunes but they're both still good so take 'em or leave 'em out of the count. My personal favorite is Meddle but the poetry, flow and substance of The Wall is unmatched in their catalog. I didn't even get into Great Gig in the Sky but that's a whole other conundrum in and of itself.

 
MassivRuss wrote:
Doobie cruises with this cranked on the tape-deck, the memories, mmm, hmm.

But, y'know what? This is one of the most over-rated albums of all time. They just did better work, in every way, on "Wish You Were Here", "Dark Side of the Moon", and "Animals".

 


Commentary on the hegemonic modern political state well before its time if only the Yanks listened
Pink Floyd does disco!
Pink Floyd is one of those bands I really disliked growing up, considered them way overrated, but now that I have matured and given their music a chance, I've fallen in love with their whole body of work. I'll agree this song isn't one of their best, but its still a damn fine tune.
 dziebell wrote:
I did a masters project on this album while studying educational psychology in 1981.  The faculty was not amused.  

 
Hopefully the schoolmaster was merciful.
 MassivRuss wrote:
Doobie cruises with this cranked on the tape-deck, the memories, mmm, hmm.

But, y'know what? This is one of the most over-rated albums of all time. They just did better work, in every way, on "Wish You Were Here", "Dark Side of the Moon", and "Animals".

 

"...in every way..."??

Debatable.
Doobie cruises with this cranked on the tape-deck, the memories, mmm, hmm.

But, y'know what? This is one of the most over-rated albums of all time. They just did better work, in every way, on "Wish You Were Here", "Dark Side of the Moon", and "Animals".
I did a masters project on this album while studying educational psychology in 1981.  The faculty was not amused.  
 scrubbrush wrote:


I'm pretty sure i agree with this post.

 
Almost positive I concur.  
 Pedro1874 wrote:

Welcome back {#Clap}  Great username!
 

Thank you!

Everybody in my mushrooming multitude of churches be dancing buck ass naked all across the world like bowlegged gypsy muleskinners...  we love this song... love this great album...  love sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll... 
 dragancvetkovic wrote:
From my 10 age Pink Floyd is my legend!This song?10.000 wats clear power!!!
 

I'm pretty sure i agree with this post.
From my 10 age Pink Floyd is my legend!This song?10.000 wats clear power!!!
Hard to imagine but the  film based on this album was even worse.
Pink Floyd mawking rawk and kinda rawkin as they do. 
Pump up the volume... max it out!!!
close your eyes
enjoy