Runnin' Away

Album: There's a Riot Goin' On (1971)
Charted: 17 23
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Songfacts®:

  • In an interview with Willem Alkema featured in Mojo magazine March 2010, Sly Stone was asked about the meaning of this track. He replied: "In those days it was the hippies who cut their hair and ran away from the hippy feeling. It's about how, at a certain time, everybody runs away from something."
  • This was the second single from Sly & the Family Stone's fifth album, There's a Riot Goin' On, following the #1 hit "Family Affair." The album title is a reference to a free concert in Chicago when fans rioted before the band had a chance to take the stage.

Comments: 2

  • Tommy Gaston from Rockford IllinoisLearning to play the trumpet way back in 1971, Sly and The Family and this song Runnin' Away was one song I played over and over on my record player. Dug it then and thanks to the internet, am digging it again :-)
  • Howard from St. Louis Park, MnI remember this song from my days growing up in New Jersey and to me it's a great combination of soul and jazz.
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