"Run-Around" | ||||
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The artwork depicts a maze superimposed on a smoking cat
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Single by Blues Traveler | ||||
from the album Four | ||||
Released | February 28, 1995 | |||
Format | CD | |||
Recorded | Spring 1994 | |||
Genre | Blues rock, jazz rock | |||
Length |
4:40 (Album version) 4:12 (Single edit) |
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Label | A&M | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Popper | |||
Blues Traveler singles chronology | ||||
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"Run-Around" is a song by American jam band Blues Traveler, featured on the 1994 album Four. It won the band's first Grammy Award in 1995, for "Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group." The song was the band's breakthrough hit, peaking at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Run-Around" debuted on June 24, 1993, during a solo show featuring Blues Traveler frontman John Popper. The first full band performance of the song took place the next time it was played, February 21, 1994. The 1994 show was significant because it took place at the famous CBGB and the show introduced a number of songs that were to be on their next album, Four.
The song tells of the relationship Popper had with original bass player Felica. Popper had a crush on her, but also was worried because they also shared a close friendship. According to Guitarist Chan Kinchila the two still remained close friends after the events of the songs. She was also the subject of a later song, "Felicia".
The video for the song has a Wizard of Oz motif, with Blues Traveler playing behind a curtain in a nightclub while a young, "hip" and more "photogenic" group appears to be playing the song. Dorothy Gale (Diana Marquis), the main character of the story, tries to get into the club. She is turned away by the doorman, as are three other people whose appearances resemble the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and Tin Woodsman characters. They rush to the locked back door, where they catch a glimpse of the show. Finding a club-goer passed out nearby, Dorothy transfers the stamp on his hand to her own and to the hands of her three companions, and they are able to get inside.
By this time, several brief shots of the actual band have been seen; they are playing the song in a darkened back area, with several bouncers guarding the entrance, and the onstage group is only lip-synching and miming in time. As Dorothy begins to realize something is amiss, her dog Toto slips past the bouncers and pulls open a curtain to expose the band. She and the other three are quickly whisked away and the curtain is yanked shut as the song ends.