Soul Asylum - Runaway Train Lyrics

"Runaway Train" is a song by American alternative rock band Soul Asylum, released in June 1993 by Columbia Records as the third single from their sixth album, Grave Dancers Union (1992). The power ballad became a success around the world, reaching numbers five and four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and climbing to the top position on the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart.

Pirner suffered from a nervous breakdown after he thought he was losing his hearing. He started playing an acoustic guitar, and one of the songs that came out of this was "Runaway Train". Pirner had been fascinated by trains since he was a kid, having watched Casey Jones, the American Western series about the adventures of railroad engineer Casey Jones and the crew of the Cannonball Express steam locomotive. Pirner would use a runaway train as a metaphor for the depression that was spinning out of control.

The first line, "Call you up in the middle of the night" would refer to a friend of Pirner who lived in New York and was kind enough to answer him on the phone, no matter what time it was. After a practice-room tape was presented to various labels in New York, Columbia Records was most interested.

The song was then recorded with producer Michael Beinhorn. Pirner told in an interview with The Guardian, "If the vocal on it sounds world-weary, it's because he made me sing it 100 times." The band's drummer, Grant Young, was replaced during the session by Sterling Campbell. Then keyboards were put on the track in a studio in LA by Booker T from the MGs. "Runaway Train" was released as the third single of the Grave Dancers Union album on June 1, 1993.

The single earned a gold sales certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after selling 600,000 copies in the US. Outside North America, it reached number two in New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland and peaked within the top five on the charts on several other European countries.


"Runaway Train" helped bring Grave Dancers Union to a multi-platinum level and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1994. Its accompanying music video, directed by Tony Kaye, is notable for featuring images of missing people, most of them young children and teenagers. Lead singer Dave Pirner has stated that the lyrics originally described his experience of depression.