The Rumble Strips is a ska/pop/rockabilly/soul/trumpet band originating fro… Read Full Bio ↴The Rumble Strips is a ska/pop/rockabilly/soul/trumpet band originating from South Devon town Tavistock, near Plymouth, but are now based in London, having moved to further their musical career.
The band released debut album, Girls and Weather, in September of 2007. In the past, the band have been on tour with numerous popular artists (The Zutons, Good Shoes, Dirty Pretty Things and The Young Knives), and have also played various festivals (including Glastonbury 07 and Cardiff Calling 07). The band also had a successful album tour hitting many venues around the UK and Ireland, including a trip to home-town Tavistock. The album (created with Tony Hoffer - The Kooks, and The Fratellis), was released mid-September 2007. The band gained alot of recognition when single "Alarm Clock" was played on Radio 1, when lead singer of Snow Patrol took over Zane Lowe's evening slot as a one-off.

Band members include:
Charlie Waller – Lead Vocals and Guitar
Tom Gorbutt – Sax, Vocals and Bass
Henry Clark – Trumpet, Vocals and Piano
Sam Mansbridge - Bass / Vocals / "Rumble Drum"
Matthew Wheeler - Drums

Past releases include the single "Motorcycle" (December 2005 and re-released June 07), single "Hate Me (You Do)" (June 2006) EP "Cardboard Coloured Dreams" (November 2006), single "Alarm Clock" (March 2007), which has received numerous plays off of Virgin Radio and on MTV 2 programme "Spanking New Music", and single "Motorcycle" (June 2007) which also received plays off of "Spanking New Music".
"Girls and Boys In Love" is the most recent song to have been released as a single, and also features in the Simon Pegg film "Run Fat Boy Run" and "Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging"

Lead singer, Charlie Waller, was also in the band Vincent Vincent and the Villains at the same time as playing with current band The Rumble Strips. An attack from his conscience lead him to leave both bands before The Rumble Strips were offered to release a single under record label Transgressive.

running away
The Rumble Strips Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

There's a lot of teardrops falling,
There's a lot of bus stops calling,
Telling me that I could run away.

But all I've got is heartache, honey,
And all I've got is brown money,
So I ain't going no place far today.

But then again
I've got two feet
And although my legs
Ain't got much meat
I know
They'll sure as hell go
Where I say.

So I'll scrap it all on my running shoes,
Bypassing those bus-ride blues.
Times got hard, so I'm running away.

Petrol fumes in my face
I love that taste
Tastes like freedom

Run run run running away
Run run running away
Run run running away

Run run running away
Run run running away

Overall Meaning

The Rumble Strips's song Running Away talks about the idea of running away from all the problems and difficulties in life. There are a lot of tears falling and bus stops calling, tempting and telling the singer to escape his troubles by running away. However, he realizes that he has nothing to offer except his heartache, and only brown money, which is not enough to take him far away. Despite this, he has two feet and although they are not strong enough, they will take him wherever he decides to go. Therefore, he gets his running shoes on, bypasses the bus-ride blues, and runs away, leaving all his problems behind. He describes the feeling of freedom he experiences while running and enjoying the taste of petrol fumes in his face.

The song shows the struggle of trying to escape from problems in life, but it also acknowledges the reality that simply running away is not always a realistic option, as one cannot escape their problems without facing them. However, running away can also be a metaphor for exercise, which can help boost one's mood, relieve stress, and provide a sense of freedom.

Line by Line Meaning

There's a lot of teardrops falling,
I am feeling very sad and crying a lot.

There's a lot of bus stops calling,
I keep hearing the bus stops calling me to take a bus and run away from my problems.

Telling me that I could run away.
The bus stops are tempting me to run away and escape my problems.

But all I've got is heartache, honey,
I am heartbroken and feeling a lot of emotional pain.

And all I've got is brown money,
I only have a small amount of money that isn't enough to buy my way out of my problems.

So I ain't going no place far today.
I don't have the resources to travel far from my problems, so I must stay where I am.

But then again
Despite my lack of resources...

I've got two feet
I have two legs that I can use to move forward.

And although my legs
Even though my legs...

Ain't got much meat
Don't have a lot of muscle or strength...

I know
I am confident that...