Take It on the Run

About Take It on the Run

"Take It on the Run" is the fifth track on the REO Speedwagon album Hi Infidelity. It was released as a single in 1981 and reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also reached number 19 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was written by lead guitarist Gary Richrath. "Take It on the Run" was the follow-up single behind the group's number one hit, "Keep on Loving You". The single went gold on April 17, 1989. "Take It on the Run" has appeared on dozens of 'various artists' compilation albums, as well as several REO Speedwagon greatest hits albums. According to REO Speedwagon lead singer Kevin Cronin, the original title to the song was "Don't Let Me Down." Cronin says that he insisted that the title should be "Take It on the Run" and that he added the line to the refrain "You're under the gun / So you take it on the run," which he says "either makes sense or it doesn't, but it sure sung well and it sure rhymed, and it was a spur-of-the-moment thing that when I heard the rest of the song, that's what I felt."The song's music video was technically the ninth video played on MTV's first day, August 1, 1981. However, the video went to black just 12 seconds into the song and did not finish. This song was released as a downloadable add-on for the Rock Band video game franchise on April 21, 2009. The cover band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes covered this song as a punk version for their live album Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah. more »