Runaway Train (Soul Asylum song)

"Runaway Train"
Single by Soul Asylum
from the album Grave Dancers Union
ReleasedMay 1993
Genre
Length4:26
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Dave Pirner
Producer(s)Michael Beinhorn
Soul Asylum singles chronology
"Black Gold"
(1993)
"Runaway Train"
(1993)
"Sexual Healing"
(1993)
Music video
"Runaway Train" on YouTube

"Runaway Train" is a song by American alternative rock band Soul Asylum, released in May 1993 by Columbia Records as the third single from their sixth album, Grave Dancers Union (1992). The power ballad became a success around the world, reaching numbers five and four on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box Top 100, and climbing to the top position on the Canadian RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart. The single earned a gold sales certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) after selling 600,000 copies in the US. Outside North America, it reached number two in New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland and peaked within the top five on the charts on several other European countries.

"Runaway Train" helped bring Grave Dancers Union to a multi-platinum level and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song in 1994. Its accompanying music video, directed by Tony Kaye, is notable for featuring images of missing people, most of them young children and teenagers. Lead singer Dave Pirner has stated that the lyrics originally described his experience of depression.