Runaway [Damn Yankees, featuring Tommy Shaw]

Runaway
Written by Tommy Shaw, Jack Blades, Ted Nugent
Lead Vocals by Tommy Shaw

Summer night, moonlit sky
Tearing pages from a magazine, she cries
I don't want to be the lonely one tonight
She said, I came to this place, full of dreams
Young and innocent and only 16
Now I wonder if it's too late to turn back

So she runs, and she hides
And she dries the tears from her eyes
And the night goes on and on and on

Twilight zone, yeah, you gotta run, run, run away
(It's such a long way home)
When it hurts so bad you gotta run, run, run away

Perfect day, feels like spring
Can see forever but you can't see anything
Now I wonder why they call it paradise

It's a crime, it's a shame
And they won't remember your name
And your life goes on and on and on

Twilight zone, yeah, you gotta run, run, run away
(But she won't go home)
So she's gotta run, run, run away

She came from a small town
So tired of getting pushed around
In the dark of the night, no one around
She'll run from this shabby town, yeah, yeah, yeah

It's a laugh, it's a game
Don't you let it drive you insane
'Cause your life goes on and on and on

Twilight zone, yeah, you gotta run, run, run away
(But she won't go home)
When it hurts so bad you gotta run, run, run away, yeah, yeah, yeah

Twilight zone, yeah, you gotta run, run, run away
All you got is to run away
(It's why she runs home)
You gotta run, run, run away
Run, run, run away

Twilight zone, don't you know you gotta run, run, run away
Don't you know you gotta run
(But she won't go home, when it hurts so bad)
You gotta run, run, run away
(She's in the twilight zone)
Twilight zone, don't you know you gotta run, run, run away

Interpretation

A small town girl runs away to the city at age 16 looking for love and full of dreams. It isn't long before she feels like she's in the Twilight Zone. It started well enough, a perfect day and a city the seems like paradise, but when night falls, she sees the darker side.