run away runaway

[INTRO — ONE PIANO NOTE, REPEATING] [VERSE 1 — SPARSE, HALF-ASLEEP] Grand Central, floor's cold, Got no place to go, got no one to call. Woke up with a plan so clean, Like a brand-new life in a movie scene. I'll hitch out West, let the whole thing drop, Tell everybody I'm deaf and dumb, can't talk. No small talk, no phonies, no questions asked, No one digging around in my stupid past. [VERSE 2 — GROOVE SLOWLY EMERGES] I'll pump gas, keep my head down low, Get a little cabin where the pine trees grow. No school, no family, no goddamn rules, No one telling me what I ought to do. I'll build a fence, grow a little food, Never have to explain my lousy mood. They'll think I'm strange. Fine. Let them think. I'll be free as a bird with a padlock on its wings. [CHORUS — FULL MOVEMENT] Runaway, runaway, Get so far they can't find me. Runaway, runaway, Leave the whole damn world behind me. No more talking, no more lies, No more looking anybody in the eyes. Runaway, runaway— If I keep moving, I won't have to decide. [VERSE 3 — BEAT GETS HEAVIER] But I had to see her. Had to say goodbye. Couldn't just vanish. Couldn't tell her a lie. So I wrote her a note, slipped it in at school, Meet me at the museum. Don't be a fool. I figured I'd explain it, make it sound alright, Say I'm going somewhere, maybe just for the night. Then she showed up dragging a suitcase behind her, And every little excuse got harder to find. [VERSE 4 — ARRANGEMENT TIGHTENS] She packed her things. She was coming along. Said she'd go with me. Said it like a song. And I felt something crack right under my ribs— I wanted her there, but I couldn't let her live Inside that picture I'd been drawing for myself. A cabin, a silence, a life on a shelf. I said, “No, Phoebe.” She said, “Why not?” I said, “No.” Like that settled the whole damn lot. [CHORUS — BIG, DESPERATE] Runaway, runaway, Get so far they can't find me. Runaway, runaway, Leave the whole damn world behind me. No more talking, no more lies, No more looking anybody in the eyes. Runaway, runaway— If I keep moving, I won't have to decide. [BRIDGE — MUSIC DROPS TO PIANO] She wouldn't talk. Wouldn't look at me. Just walked ahead. I wanted to disappear. She was right there. I wanted to be alone. She wouldn't leave. I kept saying no. She kept walking. [VERSE 5 — BUILDING AGAIN] I thought I wanted nobody, Thought that was the deal. Thought if I cut the whole world off, I wouldn't have to feel. But she had a suitcase. She was ready to go. And suddenly my big idea Looked like something I couldn't let her know. I wasn't taking her West. I was taking her nowhere. I was calling it freedom So I wouldn't call it despair. [FINAL CHORUS — FRAGILE, THEN SWELLING] Runaway, runaway— I don't want you coming with me. Runaway, runaway— I don't want you turning into me. No more talking, no more lies, No more making little kids say goodbye. Runaway, runaway— I can't keep you safe if I don't stay alive. [OUTRO — PIANO NOTE RETURNS, SLOWLY FADING] She walked ahead. I followed behind. One note. One road. I didn't go.