REO Speedwagon: "Take It on the Run" (1981)

"Take It on the Run" is the fifth track on the REO Speedwagon album Hi Infidelity. It was released as a single in 1981 and reached #5 on the Billboard charts. The song was written by guitarist Gary Richrath. "Take It on the Run" was the follow-up single behind the group’s #1 hit, “Keep On Loving You”. The cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes has punk-covered this song for their live album Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah.

This song, unlike "Keep On Loving You" and REO Speedwagon’s eventual second #1 hit, "Can't Fight This Feeling", is not a power ballad. It is faster in tempo and has a forty-seven second guitar solo. It is in the key of G major or Ionian, established by the melody and the verse's G-C-D-G (I-IV-V-I) chord progression.[1]

This song was released as a downloadable add-on for the Rock Band video game franchise on April 21, 2009.


- Lyrics:

Heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who
Heard it from another you been messin' around
They say you got a boyfriend, you're out late every weekend
They're talkin' about you and it's bringin' me down

But I know the neighborhood
And talk is cheap when the story is good
And the tales grow taller on down the line
But I'm telling you, babe, that I don't think it's true, babe
And even if it is keep this in mind

You take it on the run baby
If that's the way you want it baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it, not for a minute
You're under the gun so you take it on the run

You're thinking up your white lies
You're puttin' on your bedroom eyes
You say you're coming home but you won't say when

But I can feel it coming if you leave tonight keep running
And you need never look back again

You take it on the run baby
If that's the way you want it baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it, not for a minute
You're under the gun so you take it on the run

You take it on the run baby
If that's the way you want it baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it not for a minute
You're under the gun so you take it on the run

Take it on the run baby
If that's the way you want it baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it, not for a minute
You're under the gun so you take it on the run

Heard it from a friend who, heard it from a friend who
Heard it from another you been messin' around