Runaway

## *Sky: Concert in the Light* chronology

"**Runaway**" is a song by AURORA. It is the lead single and the first track on her debut extended play, *Running with the Wolves* and debut studio album, *All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend*. It was written by herself and Magnus Skylstad, and produced by Skylstad and Odd Martin Skålnes.

On February 9, 2015, the single became available on select platforms and on February 16, 2015, it was officially released worldwide.

A guitar acoustic version was released on March 5, 2021, followed by a piano acoustic version on March 11, 2021. On May 7, 2021, "Runaway (Lvl.2)" was surprise-released because of the original version's virality thanks to a social media trend. "Runaway" was released as vinyl single for the first time on November 11, 2022.

## Background

Aurora wrote the song when she was 11-12 years old for a school assignment, originally the chorus had the "take me home" line only once.

The song was the first demo she recorded with co-writer and producer Magnus. It was made available to listen online late 2013.

The first known live performance of the song was 2/20/14 Nabovarsel Minifestival, Landmark Bar, Bergen. After signing a record deal, the song was recorded again in winter 2014 for Aurora's debut EP.

## About the song

The song is about escape and "realizing you want to get home again." In a 2016 interview she stated

> "For me now, that song is about my actual home where my parents are."
>
>

In an interview with *The 405* she said:

> "It's strange how this song fits my life better now that I could ever imagine when I wrote the song itself. It's about how important it is to have a soft place to fall."
>
>

Aurora has since noted that the song came to have various meanings to her over the years. An in-depth analysis Aurora did for *Song Exploder* can be listened here. Nordic folk music was an inspiration for the song.

## Lyrics

* Official version
* Demo version

I was listening to the ocean

I saw a face in the sand

But when I picked it up

Then it vanished away from my hands, dah

I had a dream I was seven

Climbing my way in a tree

I saw a piece of Heaven

Waiting, impatient, for me, dah

And I was running far away

Would I run off the world someday?

Nobody knows, nobody knows

I was dancing in the rain

I felt alive and I can't complain

But now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I can't take it anymore

I was painting a picture

The picture was a painting of you

And for a moment I thought you were here

But then again, it wasn't true, dah

And all this time I have been lying

Oh, lying in secret to myself

I've been putting sorrow on the farthest place on my shelf

And I was running far away

Would I run off the world someday?

Nobody knows, nobody knows

I was dancing in the rain

I felt alive and I can't complain

But now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I got no other place to go

Now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I got no other place to go

Now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I can't take it anymore

But I kept running

For a soft place to fall

And I kept running

For a soft place to fall

And I kept running

For a soft place to fall

And I kept running

For a soft place to fall

And I was running far away

Would I run off the world someday?

But now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I got no other place to go

Now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I got no other place to go

Now take me home

Home where I belong

No, no

Now take me home

Home where I belong

Ho, ho, ho

Now take me home

Home where I belong

No, no

Now take me home

Home where I belong

I can't take it anymore

I was listening to the ocean

I saw a face in the sand

But when I picked it up

Then it vanished away from my hand

I had a dream I was seven

Climbing my way in a tree

I saw a piece of heaven

Waiting, impatient, for me

And I was running far away

Would I run off the world someday?

Nobody knows, nobody knows

And I was dancing in the rain

I felt alive and I can't complain

But now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I can't take it anymore

I was painting a picture

The picture was a painting of you

And for a moment I thought you were here

But then again, it wasn't true

And all this time I have been lying

Oh, lying in secret to myself

I've been putting sorrow on the highest place on my shelf

And I was running far away

Would I run off the world someday?

Nobody knows, nobody knows

I was dancing in the rain

I felt alive and I can't complain

But now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I got no other place to go

Now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I got no other place to go

Now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I can't take it anymore

And I fell like rain is falling down

I fell like a stone against the ground

This emptiness inside my heart

Has been there from the start

I fell like rain is falling down

I fell like a stone against the ground

This emptiness inside my soul

Has been there all along

But I kept running

I kept running home

And I kept running

For a soft place to fall﻿

And I was running far away

Would I run off the world someday?

But now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I got no other place to go

Now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I got no other place to go

Now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I got no other place to go

Now take me home

Take me home where I belong

I can't take it anymore

## Music video

The music video for "Runaway" was shot during January 31 to February 2, 2015, in Bergen, Norway and released on February 26, 2015. It was directed by Kenny McCracken.

An article in Norwegian tabloid newspaper *Dagbladet* noted:

> "Today she releases her first music video. Aksnes, on the other hand, does not define the video as such. - It is intended as a promo, so it really has no major meaning. The whole point was that it should be nice and weird, and that people should get an impression of me as an artist. It probably gets weirder as I make a real music video, Aksnes tells Dagbladet by phone from Berlin."
>
>

In 2021, the video surpassed 100 million views on YouTube. It was Aurora's first song as a solo artist to reach that mark, after the video for Idina Menzel & AURORA's "Into the Unknown" did the same. *Runaway* ended 2021 with well over 300 million views.

## Commercial performance

"Runaway" was received positively by various press and online music blogs. Upon its single release, the song was streamed over a million times in 6 weeks on Spotify, a successful release for Aurora at the time.

In 2021, six years after its release and after the song went viral on social media, "Runaway" debuted in the official Singles charts in Ireland and in the UK. In Ireland, the song peaked at 80 during the week March 19-26, 2021. In the UK it entered the Singles chart at 100 for the week March 26-April 1, 2021. Its current peak is 25 (as of May 19, 2021).

## Trivia

* Aurora won a *NOPA* grant for this song in 2014 (still a demo at that point), awarded to her on by:Larm festival.
* Shortly after the music video released, pop star Katy Perry linked to it in a Tweet saying: "Finally. New music that makes my [heart] a flutter."
* The fur ruff on the coat seen in the cover photo and music video is made from synthetic fur.
* Singer and songwriter Billie Eilish credits this song as one of the reasons she began working on music.
	+ Aurora and Billie have since met on two occasions, and both are fans of each other.
* The song's 2021 resurgence can mostly be credited to a viral trend on social media. A user made a filter titled "Runaway Aurora". This *augmented reality* filter makes silhouette photos and videos, soundtracked and timed on the beat of *Runaway*.
	+ 1.6 million TikTok videos using "Runaway" were created, as of June 2022.
* To celebrate the song hitting 100 million streams on Spotify, AURORA released *For the Humans Who Take Long Walks in the Forest* and did a YouTube livestream.
* A shorter version (*Radio Edit*) was released on a compilation in 2021.
* The song was featured on episode 15, season 3 (2015, series finale) of American thriller TV series *The Following*.
* It was also featured on the trailer and teaser of Norwegian drama film *Hva Vil Folk Si* (2017).
* The instrumental version of the song is featured on episode 10, season 3 (2022) of American TV comedy/drama series *Never Have I Ever*.

## References

1. ↑ https://soundcloud.com/auroraaksnes/runawaysingle
2. ↑ https://aurora.lnk.to/runaway1 (promotional link, ca 2021)
3. ↑ https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/shop/uo-exclusive-singles-day-limited-lp-37
4. ↑ https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/aurora-enya-has-been-medicine-to-me-my-whole-life-1.4779466
5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiLQ9Ebe1vI&t=24s
6. ↑ https://twitter.com/magnusskylstad/status/668511431680241667
7. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140209074148/http://bylarm.no/nor/artists/14124;Aurora-Aksnes
8. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140807202056/http://nordicplaylist.com/playlists/up-and-coming-12/ (published March 2014)
9. ↑ https://songexploder.net/aurora (timestamp 10:10)
10. ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/aurora-on-her-debut-album-john-lewis-christmas-advert-and-remote-upbringing-a6930691.html
11. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20180623004709/https://www.thefourohfive.com/music/article/aurora-track-by-track-145
12. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/pro/aurora-frozen-2-into-the-unknown-emerging-artists-spotlight/
13. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20211104072854/https://www.creative-commission.com/project/aurora/runaway/music-video/otherfinger
14. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/yguHhztmj5/
15. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/ymTHVjNmmR/
16. ↑ https://diymag.com/2015/02/26/aurora-shares-video-for-runaway
17. ↑ https://indie-mag.com/2015/02/indie-presents-exclusive-video-premiere-of-runaway-by-aurora/
18. ↑ https://www.dagbladet.no/kultur/sosteren-designet-antrekk-til-musikkvideo-debuten/60847066 (translated from Norwegian)
19. ↑ https://hypem.com/track/29hae/AURORA+-+Runaway
20. ↑ https://kultura.onet.pl/muzyka/koncerty/aurora-to-swietne-uczucie-wiedziec-ze-katy-perry-jest-moja-fanka/d8bghn9
21. ↑ https://www.irma.ie/singles (week 18, 2021)
22. ↑ https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/31723/aurora/
23. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/canadian-hot-100/2021-05-08/
24. ↑ https://acharts.co/france\_singles\_top\_100/2021/16
25. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-global-200/2021-05-08/
26. ↑ https://hitparade.ch/charts/singles/25-04-2021
27. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/bubbling-under-hot-100-singles/2021-05-08/
28. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/charts/bubbling-under-hot-100-singles/2021-05-15/
29. ↑ https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/single/for-date-1619128800000
30. ↑ https://acharts.co/norway\_singles\_top\_20/2021/17
31. ↑ https://www.aria.com.au/charts/singles-chart/2021-05-10
32. ↑ https://nopa.no/utmerkelser/nopa-stipendet/
33. ↑ https://twitter.com/katyperry/status/573250516123324416
34. ↑ https://twitter.com/AURORAmusic/status/575380543199645697
35. ↑ https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/05/billie-eilish-the-young-upstart-with-co-signs-from-lorde-and-halsey
36. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9tyECALPps&t=133s
37. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AWs8tPkQqwk (copy from Snapchat, 04/28/2019)
38. ↑ https://radio.nrk.no/podkast/oppdatert/sesong/202105/l\_5f308ef6-24b2-4a07-b08e-f624b28a0713
39. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJSiidpwbuw
40. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/renaldfadli/
41. ↑ https://www.tiktok.com/music/Runaway-6604064037363780357
42. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX1gQQyAm68
43. ↑ https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/now-thats-what-i-call-music-109-tracklisting-revealed\_\_33472/
44. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVnAbGnZLYA
45. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HY3fFuRJd8
46. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hwweg03aR8
47. ↑ https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a40863751/never-have-i-ever-season-3-soundtrack/