David Pirner reveals why he wrote his ‘metaphor for depression’, while Tony Kaye recalls what inspired the video – which showed the faces of missing children and became a phenomenon
Dave Pirner, singer, songwriter
We were a garage punk band who recorded for an independent label and travelled in a van. Then I thought I was losing my hearing. I was having a sort of nervous breakdown and needed to get away from the noise. I started playing an acoustic guitar and ended up writing songs on it, one of which was Runaway Train. Initially it went “two souls laughing at the rain, one’s crazy and the other’s insane”. But once I started writing about what was going on with me, the proper words came in one sitting.
The first line, “Call you up in the middle of the night”, refers to a friend in New York who was kind enough to answer the phone whenever I called, no matter what time it was. I’d been fascinated by trains ever since I watched a TV show called Casey Jones when I was a kid, so I used a runaway train as a metaphor for depression that was spinning out of control. When we first played the song live at the University of Minnesota people loved it.
I took a practice-room tape to various labels in New York, and Columbia Records wanted us the most. We recorded Runaway Train with Michael Beinhorn, a great producer but highly demanding. If the vocal on it sounds world-weary, it’s because he made me sing it 100 times. He still hadn’t got what he wanted so he got Danny Murphy, our guitarist, to oversee the vocal session because he felt, correctly, I’d be more comfortable singing with a friend in there with me.
Replacing our drummer Grant Young during the session was an awful experience, but Sterling Campbell came in and I loved the way he played, so we asked him to play on Runaway Train and some other tracks. Then we went to a studio in LA and Booker T from the MGs put perfect keyboards on it. It was so cool having someone of that stature playing on my songs.
Runaway Train came out as the third single from our album Grave Dancers Union and just grew legs. It overshadowed everything else we did, but I’m pleased that the song has a resonance that is not about partying and screwing. It’s a sad and reflective song that reminds people that it’s not all candy out there, but that they’re not alone.
FULL ARTICLE: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/oct/31/missing-kids-soul-asylum-runaway-train-tony-kaye-david-pirner
