Run Baby Run (Garbage song)

The genesis of "Run Baby Run" was in place by the end of 2003 at the band's home base of Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin.{{cite book|title="2004 Preview: Albums; Garbage|publisher=Kerrang!|date=2004-01-10}} Duke Erikson had brought the idea for "Run Baby Run" into the sessions;{{cite web|url=http://garbage.gffn.com/downloads/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090202185957/http://garbage.gffn.com/downloads/|archive-date=2009-02-02|title=Bleed Like Me Electronic Press Kit|work=Geffen.com|access-date=August 17, 2007}} [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO8g3s2EzhM Alt URL] drummer Butch Vig later described it as a song that was "really labored over".{{cite book|title=The Trick Is To Keep Breathing|publisher=Rhythm|first=Jordan|last=Mclachlan|page=40|date=2005-06-01}} The song originally began with a heavy metal riff which ended up turning into a Cure-like verse part. Garbage tried speeding up the tempo, changing the groove, rewriting the vocal melodies and verse lyrics to support the chorus, which they were happy with. By the end of 2004, the band had essentially re-written the song, scrapping all the original verses. Bass guitar parts were performed by Justin Meldal-Johnson, while drums were performed by Matt Walker, as Vig wanted to control the sound of some of the songs from "behind the glass" during the album sessions, which were engineered by Billy Bush. The final recording was mixed by Vig at Smart Studios and mastered by Emily Lazar at The Lodge in New York City.{{cite web|url=https://www.mixonline.com/recording/garbage-cleans-new-album-lodge-365516|title=Garbage Cleans Up New Album at The Lodge|publisher=Mix Online|first=Heather|last=Johnson|date=2005-05-01}}

On the song's lyrical subject matter, Shirley Manson explained, ""Run Baby Run" is about trying to engineer your own peace of mind and being unafraid to make changes in your life in order to try and facilitate that." In a separate piece she added, "[It's] about escape and engineering your own path in life. We're all too guilty of thinking that peace, love and healthiness are things that we're all just given".{{cite book|title=Speed Dial: Garbage|publisher=Rip & Burn|date=2005-05-01}}

On April 17, 2005, during the first North American run of Bleed Like Me tourdates, Garbage debuted "Run Baby Run" live onstage at the Avalon in Boston.

Warner Music serviced "Run Baby Run" to European radio stations from May 15, and confirmed the physical single release on May 20. The initial European release date was scheduled for June 20 to sync with local tourdates.{{cite web|url=http://www.garbagediscobox.com/news/?p=239|title=Run Baby Run release details|work=GarbageDiscoBox.com|date=21 May 2005 |access-date=July 2, 2007}} On June 25, Garbage performed "Run Baby Run" as part of a six-song set for the Isle of MTV festival, broadcast Europe-wide from Trieste, Italy ,{{cite web|url=http://www.garbage.com/news/news.php?uid=294 |title=Garbage on MTV Europe |work=Garbage.com |access-date=June 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615053552/http://www.garbage.com/news/news.php?uid=294 |archive-date=June 15, 2007 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.garbagebase.com/g2005.html |title=2005 Setlists |work=Garbagebase.com |access-date=June 25, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711072356/http://www.garbagebase.com/g2005.html |archive-date=July 11, 2011 }} The eventual release date fell back to August 1, when a CD maxi was made available in stores. In Germany, "Run Baby Run" peaked at number 97.

At the start of June, Garbage's Australian label Festival Mushroom serviced "Run Baby Run" to their radio stations, where it was the number-two most added track.{{cite web|url=http://fmrecords.com.au/news.cfm?NewsId=583|title=Run Baby Run to be next Australian single from Bleed Like Me|work=FMRecords.com.au|access-date=July 2, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050617141513/http://fmrecords.com.au/news.cfm?NewsId=583 |archive-date=June 17, 2005}} The retail single was released on 10 July as a CD maxi.{{cite web|url=http://www.garbage-discography.co.uk/rbr_eu_cd2.php|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060304183241/http://www.garbage-discography.co.uk/rbr_eu_cd2.php|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 4, 2006|title=Run Baby Run EU CD2|work=Garbage-Discography.co.uk|access-date=August 18, 2007}} Despite the top twenty placing of the prior single, "Run Baby Run" debuted at number 47,{{cite web|url=http://www.aria.com.au/issue803.pdf|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20080222222429/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20050720-0000/issue803.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-02-22|title=The ARIA Report; Issue #803|publisher=ARIA|date=2005-07-18}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} spending six non-consecutive weeks in the chart.{{cite web|url=http://www.aria.com.au/issue810.pdf|archive-url=https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20080222222438/http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/23790/20050820-0000/issue810.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2008-02-22|title=The ARIA Report; Issue #810|publisher=ARIA|date=2005-09-05}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In the United Kingdom, "Run Baby Run" was fancied to follow "Sex Is Not The Enemy" and thus by the end of June had received a number of adds to UK radio and TV playlists; and a tentative September 12 retail date.{{cite web|url=http://www.garbagediscobox.com/news/?p=110|title=Run Baby Run: next UK single|work=GarbageDiscoBox.com|date=30 June 2005 |access-date=July 2, 2007}} On August 25, Garbage cancelled their UK tour and announced their intent to go "on hiatus"; the October 24 single release for "Run Baby Run" was quietly postponed and then cancelled.{{cite journal |title=Garbage Binned |journal=Daily Record |date=August 2005}} The music video was pulled from television."Q magazine October 2005 issue" In North America, Shirley indicated to that "Run Baby Run" or "It's All Over But the Crying" were still being considered by Geffen for single release in the United States. A rumour surfaced in at the end of the year that a reworked version of "Run Baby Run" would be released on March 20, 2006, upfront of Absolute Garbage greatest hits compilation, but did not happen.{{cite web|url=http://www.garbage-discography.co.uk/news_archive_3.php|title=Is Run Baby Run to resurface for a March 2006 release?|work=Garbage-discography.co.uk|access-date=July 2, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817123428/http://www.garbage-discography.co.uk/news_archive_3.php|archive-date=August 17, 2007}}

File:Vlcsnap-2020-06-14-00h38m54s599.png walking the streets of Istanbul in the "Run Baby Run" video.]] Over the weekend of May 31, 2005,{{cite web|url=http://www.videostatic.com/vs/2005/week22/index.html|title=Music Video News May 29-June 4|work=Videostatic.com|access-date=June 25, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001155851/http://www.videostatic.com/vs/2005/week22/index.html|archive-date=October 1, 2012}} Shirley Manson and Sophie Muller filmed the music video for "Run Baby Run" in London, Paris, Berlin and Istanbul.{{cite web|url=http://www.garbage.com/news/journal.php?id=20051019|title=Journal October 19, 2005|work=Garbage.com|access-date=June 25, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606090511/http://www.garbage.com/news/journal.html?id=20051019|archive-date=June 6, 2011}} By June 8, the video was ready to air.{{cite web|url=http://www.garbagediscobox.com/news/?p=162|title='Run Baby Run' video stills: GarbageBox exclusive|work=Garbagediscobox.com|date=8 June 2005 |access-date=August 18, 2007}} Locations the pair filmed in include within Charles de Gaulle International Airport, on the streets of Pigalle and on Line 5 of the Paris Métro Viaduc d'Austerlitz crossing over the Seine (France); outside the Olympiastadion, DIW and Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte buildings, and on the platforms of the Mohrenstraße and Neu-Westend stations on the Berlin U-Bahn (Germany); and inside Istanbul's Hotel Pera Palas, Haydarpaşa Terminal train station, the Çemberlitaş Hamamı Turkish baths, throughout the Beyoğlu district, around the Blue Mosque and looking towards the Galata Tower over the Bosphorus strait from the Golden Horn ferry terminals. (Turkey).{{cite web|url=http://www.lickthepavement.com/news.html|title=Garbage news|work=LickThePavement.com|access-date=July 3, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050208004255/http://www.lickthepavement.com/news.html |archive-date = February 8, 2005}}

The "Run Baby Run" video was exclusively streamed online at the band's website from June 10,{{cite web|url=http://www.garbage.com/news/news.php?uid=274|title=Run Baby Run video online!|work=Garbage.com|access-date=July 2, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019223851/http://www.garbage.com/news/news.php?uid=274|archive-date=October 19, 2006}} before being serviced to music channels on June 15.{{cite web|url=http://www.garbage-discography.co.uk/news_0403_0515_2005.php|title=Run Baby Run promos surface|work=Garbage-Discography.co.uk|access-date=July 2, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060220181942/http://www.garbage-discography.co.uk/news_0403_0515_2005.php|archive-date=February 20, 2006}} The "Run Baby Run" video was uploaded to VEVO in 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEBSr_ZaewY| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/DEBSr_ZaewY| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|title=Garbage - Run Baby Run|publisher=PIAS, UMG, Liberation Music|date=2015-09-25}}{{cbignore}}

The "Run Baby Run" single release was backed with b-sides "Honeybee" and "Never Be Free", both recorded during the album sessions for Bleed Like Me. Butch Vig described "Honeybee" as "Neil Young-esque, with a druggy feel","Q magazine March 2004 issue" while Manson described it as "pretty dark and twisted. It's a lusty, yearning moan".{{cite web|url=http://www.garbage.com/news/journal.php?id=20030818|title=08.18.03 Studio Diary #3|work=Garbage.com|access-date=August 18, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217135330/http://garbage.com/news/journala2aa.html?uid=155|archive-date=December 17, 2010}} "Honeybee" featured drums performed by Matt Walker, while "Never Be Free" credited John5 with guitar. All three tracks were written and produced by Garbage, although "Never Be Free" may have originally been a John Lowery co-write. Producer James Michael may have also worked on the track at one point.{{cite web|url=http://www.garbagediscobox.com/news/?p=372|title=Marilyn Manson's John 5 to participate on Garbage's next album|work=Garbagediscobox.com|date=June 2003 |access-date=August 18, 2007}} An acetate of an early version of "Never Be Free" leaked from Chrysalis Music Group in 2003, but the track did not end up on the internet.{{cite web|url=http://www.garbage-discography.co.uk/blm_nbf_cd1.php|title=Bleed Like Me: Never Be Free CDR|work=Garbage-Discography.co.uk|access-date=August 18, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004445/http://www.garbage-discography.co.uk/blm_nbf_cd1.php|archive-date=September 27, 2007}} The "Run Baby Run" maxi-single also featured a demo version of "Badass" (once titled "Teach Me Tonight"{{cite web |url=http://www.garbage.com/news/journal.php?uid=154|title=08.25.03 Studio Diary #4|work=Garbage.com|access-date=August 18, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606090630/http://www.garbage.com/news/journal.html?uid=154|archive-date=June 6, 2011}}), that had been left unfinished from abandoned album sessions in October 2003. Exclusive to the "Run Baby Run", "Badass" leaked onto the Internet a month before the single was issued.{{cite web|url=http://garbage.proboards60.com/index.cgi?board=talk&action=display&thread=1118654738&page=1|title=Anyone heard the new b-sides yet?|work=GarbageProboards60.com|access-date=August 18, 2007}}

• Australia CD maxi single{{cite AV media notes|title=Run Baby Run|others=Garbage|date=2005-07-10|type=Australian CD maxi liner notes|publisher=Festival Mushroom Records, licensed from A&E Records|id=5046790012}}
• European CD maxi single{{cite AV media notes|title=Run Baby Run|others=Garbage|date=2005-08-01|type=European CD maxi liner notes|publisher=WEA International, licensed from A&E Records|id=5050467-9001-2-7}}

1. "Run Baby Run" – 3:58
2. "Honeybee" – 4:02
3. "Never Be Free" – 4:28
4. "Badass (October 2003 Ruff Demo)" – 3:15

"Run Baby Run" was generally very well received by contemporary pop music critics, a number of whom, including Dan Martin of NME, who commented Bleed Like Me's strong opening half: "A spleen-tingling big rock rollercoaster" while singling out "Run Baby Run".{{cite book|title=Blood on the Tracks|publisher=NME|first=Dan|last=Martin|date=2005-04-08}} A number of reviewers picked up on The Cure influence on "Run Baby Run": in an album preview, Rolling Stone felt that song's "tender, dreamy verses" brought to mind "Just Like Heaven",{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/garbage/articles/story/6843300/garbage_survive_bleed|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930215817/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/garbage/articles/story/6843300/garbage_survive_bleed|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 30, 2007|title=Garbage Survive "Bleed"|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=July 3, 2007}} while Chuck Arnold of People wrote "Garbage smooths out the rough stuff with the melodic pop appeal of "Run Baby Run", an exhilirating rush that brings to mind The Cure".{{cite book|title=Music Reviews: Garbage - Bleed Like Me (Critic's Choice)|publisher=People|first=Chuck|last=Arnold|date=2005-04-08}} In the Rolling Stone album review, felt the song recreated the 80s new wave sound better than efforts from bands like Kasabian and Bloc Party: "Surrounded by a black forest of power-chord distortion, Manson pleads and prays like Deborah Harry atop a bouncing, throaty guitar riff that New Order would envy."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/garbage/albums/album/7237632/review/7234703|title=Album reviews: Garbage - Bleed Like Me|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=July 3, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050410021338/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/7237632/garbage|archive-date=April 10, 2005}} The New York Daily News also picked up on the New Order sound, commenting that the band had given the bass guitar "the best hook".{{cite web|url=http://community.livejournal.com/garbage_fans/239933.html#cutid1|title=If you are interested in keeping up with Garbage reviews|work=Livejournal.com|access-date=July 3, 2007}} Leander Williams, of Time Out New York, wrote "Garbage's adventures in Wall of Sound multi-tracking make what's been called a return to basics impossible. What's interesting is how the band tops the guitar and explosive glitches of present day rock with the Blondie-tronic keyboard riffs of new wave pop on "Run Baby Run"... amongst others".{{cite book|title=Album Reviews: Garbage; Bleed Like Me|publisher=Time Out New York|first=Leander|last=Williams|date=2005-04-11}} Peter Murphy, of Hot Press, described "Run Baby Run" as one of the band's most positive songs; "[It] glows with compassion, forgiveness and self-acceptance."{{cite web|url=http://www.laurahird.com/newreview/garbage1.html|title=Blood On The Tracks|work=Hot Press|access-date=July 3, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025062400/http://www.laurahird.com/newreview/garbage1.html|archive-date=October 25, 2007}}

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; Production

• Recorded and produced by Garbage
• Recorded at Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin
• Engineer: Billy Bush
• Mixed by Butch Vig at Smart Studios
• Mastered: Emily Lazar (The Lodge, New York City)
• Mastering assistant: Sarah Register (The Lodge)

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;Additional musicians

• Justin Meldal-Johnsen – bass guitar
• Matt Walker – drums

;Other personnel

• Art direction: Big Active
• Design and montage: Mat Maitland at Big Active

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{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Wikiquote|Bleed Like Me}}

• {{YouTube|xrZn_mk1Hp8|"Run Baby Run" music video}}

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Category:2005 singles

Category:2005 songs

Category:Garbage (band) songs

Category:Music videos directed by Sophie Muller

Category:Song recordings produced by Butch Vig

Category:Songs written by Shirley Manson

Category:Songs written by Duke Erikson

Category:Songs written by Steve Marker

Category:Songs written by Butch Vig