Run

Lightbody conceived it in 2000 and developed it in his Glasgow bedsit over a couple of years. He told Q in 2007 that there had to be a light at the end of a tunnel, and about its meaning that he did not want to spoil it for people because it has its own meaning for them. American Songwriter's account says an unpaid electricity bill, when the meter ran out halfway through writing, inspired the chorus, and quotes him calling it a song about protecting his family; the accounts differ and we do not reconcile them. Jacknife Lee told him he had written a big song and should just let it be a big song. It was recorded in 2003 at Britannia Row and the Diving Bell Lounge in Glasgow with cello, viola and violins, in C major at 72 beats per minute, and at full length, about six minutes; Jo Whiley played that on Radio 1 in December 2003 and a four-minute edit followed in January 2004.

Released in early 2004 (January 26 per the infobox, February 26 per the lead), with "Post Punk Progression" on the B-side, it entered the UK chart at 5 on February 7, 2004; Lightbody said about 50 friends gathered in Glasgow to watch the countdown. It reached 25 in Ireland and 15 on US Modern Rock, is UK double platinum, and re-entered at 28 in the UK in 2008. Paul Gore directed the video, filmed in September 2003 in rural Kent with distress flares and motorcycles at night; police were called by locals. Pitchfork's Stephen M. Deusner called it unapologetically anthemic and Hot Press's Paul Nolan the perfect modern hymn to broken relationships.

Leona Lewis recorded it in September 2008 after first singing it in Radio 1's Live Lounge; her version was UK number one for two weeks from December 7, 2008 and the fastest-selling UK digital-only single at the time. Josh Groban with Sarah McLachlan (2018), Cold (2019), Katharine McPhee and Sinead O'Connor (2020) also covered it. It has been used in One Tree Hill, Cold Case, Rescue Me, Jericho and Bates Motel. Setlist.fm lists 679 setlists with it, behind none but "Chasing Cars" at 628 ahead of it, and it is track 12 on the DVD Live at Somerset House, filmed on August 8, 2004. Our upload is presumably the album version.