“Run Away High” by Sam Barber
Sam Barber, though having a notable social-media presence, is sort of an enigma as of this writing. For instance, background information on this song is woefully scant. But via information provided by Spotify, we are able to gather that this track (“Run Away High”) came out in 2021, thus making it one of Barber’s earliest releases.
“RUN AWAY HIGH” TELLS THE TALE OF AN OUTLAW
On this song, Barber takes on the role of an outlaw, someone who is on the run apparently for murdering some innocent guy. So as inferred, the “runaway high” is a metaphor pointing to the thrill the vocalist derives from the experience.
In other words, this character comes off as the self-destructive type who’s loving every minute of it, living a life of barhopping, smoking “cheap cigars” and, as noted earlier, committing violent felonies. Indeed, under his own estimation he “ought [to] be dead by now”. But as also put forth, even upon being pursued by the police he “don’t’ really mind”, under the acknowledgment that any moment can be his last.
So on one hand, the narrator understands that the path he has chosen is one that will likely lead to an untimely end or long-term incarceration. But what’s being implied is that he enjoys the rush of being a bad boy too much to give this lifestyle up.
