'Run' by Miranda Lambert – Lyrics & Meaning

Since her blockbuster major label debut, 2005's Kerosene, Miranda Lambert has been a force to be reckoned with in the country music arena.

With a glowing catalogue of Platinum-selling hits, beloved fan-favorites, "he ain't shit" rockers, vulnerable ballads and everything in between, one of the modern queens of country has ushered in a new era with her ninth studio record, Postcards from Texas.

Featuring a string of effective lead singles, like 'Wranglers,' 'Dammit Randy,' 'Alimony' and 'No Man's Land,' the stage has been set for her highly-anticipated 2024 project, which sees the Texas entertainer going back to her roots and donning her signature sass.

One of the most powerful anthems across the 14-tracks lies right at the album's halfway mark with the fiercely freeing 'Run.'

From the first few seconds of this just under three-minute tune, you can feel that it's meant to be sang (and screamed) in stadiums.

With a rich piano and booming drum beat carrying it from the start, as well as piercing electric guitar added in, it exudes strength and freedom from the start.

'Run' is a unique offering from Lambert, which sees the Texas singer-songwriter penning the song by herself, as well as behind the soundboard alongside frequent collaborator Jon Randall

"Well it wasn’t that you didn’t have the answers
There was just no question in my mind
I was gonna run
Mmmm

And you took too long to see I was unhappy
And I took too long to tell you that I was
Gonna run
I was gonna run"

We find Lambert seemingly talking to an old flame that has fizzled out. Though her partner didn't have the answers to fix what they had together, she explains that she was always bound to run from it.

While all the signs were there to see that she was unhappy and itching to be free, it's apparent that her partner never picked up on the signs and Lambert never found the courage to be able to tell him.

"I’m trying to survive in
This state of defeat
Is it you or I that really lost me
I’m lookin’ for someone
I wasn’t with you
We held on for dear life babe
But both of us knew
I was gonna run"

Though she shares that she's been trying to just shoulder through as they were, she finds that she's ultimately just a different person that they were when they first got together.

They've both been holding on trying to make this work, but in the end they've both lost the idea of who she was as she's finally arrived at her final form and found freedom and independence within herself.

"Oh this freedom I found babe sure wasn’t free
I owe you a lifetime of apologies
I’m tellin’ the truth now
I loved you so much
I’m sorry for lyin’ about who I was
I was gonna run
I was gonna run
Ooo I always was gonna run"

In a clever turn of phrase, though, Lambert explains that freedom wasn't actually free as she's had to give up their love in the process. Owning up to the fact that she dropped the ball and will never be able to make up for her faults in this situation, she explains that she is finally being honest with both herself and her partner.

In the end, even though she does love them, her heart yearns to be free and find a new path all her own.

While Lambert hasn't explicitly shared anything about 'Run' in particular, she has explained that Postcards from Texas as a whole serves as a love letter of sorts from her to the listeners.

From commenting on toxic relationships and the need to be free, to more profound sentiments on life and love, the 14-song album is full of lessons learned and words of wisdom.

“There’s a lot of bad decisions on this record, but that’s part of growing up. It’s part of the experience, that human experience is figuring it out. You don’t learn from things going great," she shared in a statement. "Throughout this record, there’s a lot of tenderness and living in the moment of the pain. It’s not glorifying it, but explaining."

Well it wasn’t that you didn’t have the answers
There was just no question in my mind
I was gonna run
Mmmm

And you took too long to see I was unhappy
And I took too long to tell you that I was
Gonna run
I was gonna run

I’m trying to survive in
This state of defeat
Is it you or I that really lost me
I’m lookin’ for someone
I wasn’t with you
We held on for dear life babe
But both of us knew
I was gonna run

I was gonna run

Mmmm mmmm
Mmmm mmmm

Oh this freedom I found babe sure wasn’t free
I owe you a lifetime of apologies
I’m tellin’ the truth now
I loved you so much
I’m sorry for lyin’ about who I was
I was gonna run
I was gonna run
Ooo I always was gonna run

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