Running Scared (Roy Orbison song)
| "Running Scared" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Roy Orbison | ||||
| B-side | "Love Hurts" | |||
| Released | March 1961 | |||
| Format | 45 RPM | |||
| Genre | Rock & Roll | |||
| Length | 2:10 | |||
| Label | Monument 438 | |||
| Writer(s) |
"Running Scared": Roy Orbison, Joe Melson "Love Hurts": Boudleaux Bryant | |||
| Producer(s) | Fred Foster | |||
| Roy Orbison singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Running Scared" is a 1961 American pop song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson and sung by Orbison. An operatic rock ballad,[1] the song was released as a 45rpm single by Monument Records in March 1961 and went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Running Scared" also reached #9 in the UK chart. The song was included on Roy's 1962 album "Crying" as the final track on the album.
Noted for being a song written without a chorus, the song builds in the lyrics, the arrangement and vocals to a climax that, without vibrato, demonstrates the power of Orbison's clear, full voice. It is written in the bolero style; Orbison is credited with bringing this to the rock genre. Fred Foster producer of the session and of Monument Records did not want the powerful high note that ends the song to end in falsetto but in full or natural voice. According to Foster (quoted on website Clevelandmagazine.com November 2006), the last note that ends the song is actually G above High C in full natural voice. Few female sopranos can even hit High C in natural voice! [2] This note has even been noted as A over High C. [3]
While "Running Scared" was an international hit, the B-side "Love Hurts" also picked up significant airplay in Australia. Consequently, chart figures for Australia show "Running Scared"/"Love Hurts" as a double A-side, both sides peaking at number five. This makes Orbison's recording of "Love Hurts" the first version to be a hit. "Love Hurts" later became better known in a version by rock band Nazareth, who had an international hit with it in 1975.
Covers and popular culture
- Jack Scott, a Canadian born rockabilly singer from the same era, also had a minor 1962 hit with "Running Scared"
- The Fools on their 1981 album Heavy Mental, reaching #50 on the Billboard Hot 100
- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds on their 1986 album Kicking Against the Pricks
- Brokeback on their 2001 album Morse Code in the Modern Age: Across the Americas
- John Peel, the famous British BBC Radio DJ who died in 2004, listed "Running Scared" by Roy Orbison as one of the songs to be played at his memorial service
- Jeff Lynne on his 2012 album Long Wave
- Del Shannon recorded the song in the early 1960s and sang the finale "with me" just as Orbison had, in full voice, not falsetto
- The song features heavily in the trailer for the upcoming Tom Hardy film Legend, a biopic of the Kray Twins.
- Soundtrack of the 2015 short film Outlaws starring David Beckham.
Don't forget Bennie Mardones singing Running Scared on Showtime tribute to Roy Orbison.
See also
Sources
External links
References
- ↑ Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 11 - Tennessee Firebird. [Part 3], Big Rock Candy Mountain. [Part 1]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. Digital.library.unt.edu.
- ↑ Website Clevelandmagazine.com
- ↑ The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll, Random House. DeCurtis, Anthony; Henke, James (eds.) (1992).
| Preceded by "Travelin' Man" by Ricky Nelson |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single June 5, 1961 (one week) |
Succeeded by "Travelin' Man" by Ricky Nelson |
