‘Run to You’ is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. It was released in 1984 as the lead single from his fourth album, Reckless (1984). The track deals with the subject of infidelity, and is sung from the perspective of a man who declares that he will continue to "run to" his seductive mistress over his faithful partner; critic Ira Robbins for CMJ called it a "cheating classic". In the accompanying music video, however, Adams portrays his guitar as the object of desire. The song topped the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart and peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100. It has appeared on all of his compilation albums. The single was certified Gold in Canada in 1985.
Adams wrote this in 1983 with his songwriting partner Jim Vallance. They wrote the song for Blue Oyster Cult. Blue Oyster Cult turned down the song, as did .38 Special. Adams didn't think it was right for him either, but when producer Bob Clearmountain asked Adams if he had another song they could use on Reckless, Bryan played him the demo and they turned the song into a hit. It was the first single from the album.
‘Run to You’ was released worldwide on October 18, 1984, and became one of the most successful songs from Reckless on the American rock charts and arguably one of Bryan Adams's most recognizable and popular songs. It was his first number one song on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart, a position it held for four weeks, and it spent an additional five weeks at number two (all behind Don Henley's ‘Boys of Summer’). It also reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100. ‘Run to You’ reached the top 20 on the Canadian singles chart and remained there for seven weeks, peaking at number four. It held the highest Canadian chart position Adams had attained at the time of release and became his third top-20 single in Canada. It was nominated for a Juno award for song of the year in Canada. ‘Run to You’ was released the following month in Ireland and peaked at number eight and reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. It was his second single to chart in Europe.
The video was directed by Steve Barron, who worked on most of Adams' clips from the era. Barron directed Michael Jackson's video for ‘Billie Jean,’ and his other clients included Culture Club and Tears For Fears. In ‘Run To You,’ we see Adams in the rain, in the snow, and pulling a guitar from the leaves. We also see a girl running and some performance footage. The highlight of the video was supposed to be the tree that gets hit by lightning, which was going to trigger a scene with a lightning storm. After blowing a lot of their budget building the tree, the lightning strike looked more like a transformer explosion - it was nothing that would trigger anything more than a phone call to the electric company. Adams explained in the book I Want My MTV: "Imagine the shock and horror on set when the f--king thing burns in about a minute. We stood there, looking at this tree up in flames. And Steve Barron's going, 'Oh S--t.' That is probably my worst video." Adams might not like it, but MTV did. The video was nominated for MTV Video Music Awards in five categories, including Best Special Effects and Best Direction.
Label – A&M
Songwriters – Bryan Adams, Jim Vallance
Producers – Bob Clearmountain, Bryan Adams
SONG LYRICS
She says her love for me could never dieBut that'd change if she ever found out about you and I
Oh, but her love is cold
Wouldn't hurt her if she didn't know, 'cause
When it gets too much
I need to feel your touch
I'm gonna run to you
I'm gonna run to you
'Cause when the feeling's right, I'm gonna run all night
I'm gonna run to you
She's got a heart of gold, she'd never let me down
But you're the one that always turns me on, you keep me comin' 'round
When it gets too much
I need to feel your touch
I'm gonna run to you
I'm gonna run to you
'Cause when the feeling's right, I'm gonna run all night
I'm gonna run to you
Yeah, I'm gonna run to you
Yeah, I'm gonna run to you
Ay, when the feeling's right, I'm gonna stay all night
Yeah, the feeling's right now
Well, the feeling's right now
Oh
Oh
Oh, I'm gonna run to you
Babe, I'm gonna run to you
'Cause when the feeling's right, I'm gonna stay all night
I'm gonna run to you
Yeah, I'm gonna run to you
Yeah, I'm gonna run to you
Ay, when the feeling's right I'm gonna stay all night
Yeah, the feeling's right now