Running Running From Home
Bert Jansch Lyrics


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Runnin' runnin' from home
Breakin' ties that you'd grown
Catchin' dreams from the clouds

The city sounds burn your soul
Turn your head to the cries
Of loneliness in the night
Just like a fly when it's caught
The spider soon takes it's prey
Spins a dance round your heart

Give me your beauty and age
A pleasure pleasing my mind
Your heart will shatter and fall

Step on pavements so old
Cast a glance at the young
Girls a-making their way

The passing image of you
Reflects a pain to my heart
And disappears in a crowd

Runnin' runnin' from home




Breakin' ties that you'd grown
Catchin' dreams from the clouds

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Bert Jansch's song "Running From Home" tells the story of a person who is trying to escape the monotony of their life by running away from home. The person is filled with a yearning to catch their dreams and break the ties that they have grown, which eventually leads them to the city. However, upon reaching the city, the person finds that it is not the paradise they imagined it to be. Instead, the city sounds burn their soul and the loneliness of the night turns their head towards the cries of other lonely people.


In this city, the person is just like a fly caught in a spider's web. The person meets someone who they find beautiful and pleasurable, but this newfound beauty and age ultimately shatter their heart. As they walk the old pavements of the city and see young girls making their way in life, the person’s pain and loneliness are reflected back at them. The song ends with the person still running, still trying to catch their dreams from the clouds, and still lost in the city.


Overall, "Running From Home" is a song that captures the restlessness and yearning for something more that many people feel in their everyday lives. The song is a commentary on the human condition and how we all struggle to find meaning and purpose, and often fall short in our pursuit of happiness.


Line by Line Meaning

Runnin' runnin' from home
Fleeing away from one's home, trying to escape something.


Breakin' ties that you'd grown
Ending connections and attachments that have been built up over time.


Catchin' dreams from the clouds
Chasing after goals or aspirations that are lofty or unrealistic.


The city sounds burn your soul
The noise and stress of urban life has a negative impact on one's mental and emotional well-being.


Turn your head to the cries
Paying attention to the suffering or grievances of others.


Of loneliness in the night
Feeling isolated and disconnected from others during the dark hours.


Just like a fly when it's caught
Being trapped or ensnared in a situation or relationship against one's will.


The spider soon takes it's prey
Someone or something that is predatory and seeks to take advantage of others.


Spins a dance round your heart
Manipulating or enticing someone in a way that is deceptive or harmful.


Give me your beauty and age
Asking for something valuable from someone else, such as youth and attractiveness.


A pleasure pleasing my mind
Enjoying something that brings pleasure or satisfaction to oneself.


Your heart will shatter and fall
Causing emotional pain or distress to the other person.


Step on pavements so old
Walking on ancient or worn-out streets.


Cast a glance at the young
Noticing or admiring youthful and attractive people.


Girls a-making their way
Young women who are trying to establish themselves and make progress in their lives.


The passing image of you
Seeing a brief glimpse of someone who was once important to you.


Reflects a pain to my heart
Stirring up emotions of sadness or regret in oneself.


And disappears in a crowd
Vanishing into a throng of people, making it difficult to find or reconnect with that person.




Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BERT JANSCH

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@conysalvo

"Runnin' runnin' from home,
Breakin' ties that you'd grown
Catchin' dreams from the clouds

The city sounds burn your soul
Turn your head to the cries
Of loneliness in the night

Just like a fly when it's caught
The spider soon takes it's prey
Spins a dance round your heart

Give me your beauty and age
A pleasure pleasing my mind
Your heart will shatter and fall

Step on pavements so old
Cast a glance at the young 
Girls a-making their way

The passing image of you
Reflects a pain to my heart
And disappears in a crowd

Runnin' runnin' from home
Breakin' ties that you'd grown
Catchin' dreams from the clouds"

There is no earlier song which references the sexual exploitation of homeless teenage runaways. 
Bert's "Needle of Death" must be one of the earliest heroin songs.



@julianvickery8341

"Running from Home" by Scottish folk singer, songwriter Bert Jansch (1943-2011), track 11 from his eponymously titled debut album (released in 1965 on the British independent record label Transtlantic). https://youtu.be/M3mGV5pDDsM

Runnin' runnin' from home,
Breakin' ties that you'd grown
Catchin' dreams from the clouds

The city sounds burn your soul
Turn your head to the cries
Of loneliness in the night

Just like a fly when it's caught
The spider soon takes it's prey
Spins a dance round your heart

Give me your beauty and age
A pleasure pleasing my mind
Your heart will shatter and fall

Step on pavements so old
Cast a glance at the young
Girls a-making their way

The passing image of you
Reflects a pain to my heart
And disappears in a crowd

Runnin' runnin' from home
Breakin' ties that you'd grown
Catchin' dreams from the clouds



All comments from YouTube:

@frenkel36

It was the early 70's when I first heard this and it never stops touching a deep part of me. So glad for his life and music.

@lynchola

RIP Mr Jansch. First heard "Running From Home" when I was 14 - as beautiful now as it was then. Thankyou.

@walterpaget8358

My greatest inspiration and one of the reasons I took up guitar. I learned to play just about everything he did and some of them are real tours de force musically.  I played this first - along with Blackwaterside and Reynardine later - when I was 17 years old.  It took a long time to transcribe from the records but it enhanced my playing significantly.    He was completely smashed when I first saw him in the Tredegar Working Men's Cub back in the mid-60's - but he still played brilliantly. That was when I first heard "Come Back Baby and I HAD to play it! I am a guitarist because of Bert.
A shy man who loved his beer. He was a towering figure in 60's acoustic folk and the world  is poorer without him. RIP mate.

@sheilaleslie1323

Walter Paget n

@huwwilliams1328

Walter . . .  was the Tredegar night with Renbourne? I saw them there late 60's! Epic . . .

@stevelogan1699

Lovely to read your tribute, Walter. And lovely to know that Bert was happy to play in Tredegar. I sense that the whole feel of a Welsh working men’s club would suit him better than many venues more appropriate to his colossal status in the world of acoustic guitar.

@davisworth5114

Great story, I learned this from the "Lucky Thirteen" album around 1973, saw Bert perform in Seattle sometime in the late 80s, RIP Bert, he was special.

@montex23

ace ace ace ace ace!!!!!! you are the man bert! listening to this tune and the album for a long time now, never get enough, thanks!!

@acousticadventures

It's like the guitar and his voice know each other very well.

@frankshankly9130

I always listen to this song when going abroad, and now listening to this at home waiting for the end of covid 19.

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