“Run to You” by Bryan Adams

While Bryan Adams may be the master of the quintessential late-20^th century hit love songs, on this particular track he takes a different approach. For who he is actually singing about ‘running to’ is his mistress, i.e. his illicit lover.

The background of the situation is that the singer has a significant other alright, one that he knows truly cares for him. In other words, he does not have any complaints about her – except that “her love is cold”. That is to say that he is not satisfied with the physical aspect of their relationship. But when it comes to the other woman, he finds it “damn easy making lover to” her.

So as it stands he doesn’t have any issues per se. Rather he wants to maintain things as they are. And that is in the late nights, when he’s actually in that kind of mood, he’ll keep ‘running to’ his sidechick as opposed to the main one.

Facts about “Run to You”

Bryan wrote this track alongside one of his early-regular collaborators, Jim Vallance.  They had actually penned it to be used by an American rock band called the Blue Öyster Cult. However, said crew turned the track down.

Additionally Bryan himself wasn’t overly fond of the tune, as in not having the inclination to record it himself. But it was the track’s other co-producer, Bob Clearmountain, who ultimately convinced him to do so.

This track is part of Bryan’s fourth-studio album, “Reckless”. In fact A&M Records released “Run to You” as the lead single from that project on 18 October 1984.

“Run to You” marked one of the early major successes in Bryan Adams’ career. For instance, it was the first time he topped Billboard’s Top Rock Tracks listing. And the tune also fared impressively on the Billboard Hot 100 (6), UK Singles Chart (11) and Canada Top Singles (4), in the latter case being the highest Adams charted in his homeland up until that point.

In 1992 this track was also covered by a English group called Rage. There’s a long story behind it, but at the end of the day after re-releasing “Run to You” their version fared better than Bryan Adams’ original, at least in their European homeland where for instance it peaked at number three in the UK.

It has also been covered by other artists throughout the years, including Bananarama in 2009. And interesting to note is that “Run to You” is featured on the hit video game “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” (2002).

The official visual to this song had Steve Barron, one of the top music-video creators of the 1980s, as its director. And it features an actress by the name of Lysette Anthony. It went on to be nominated for five different MTV VMAs though interestingly enough didn’t take home any.