Run-Around by Blues Traveler

Run-Around is a song by the American rock band Blues Traveler, written by singer and harmonica player John Popper. It appeared on the band's fourth album, Four, in September 1994 and came out as a single in the United States on February 28, 1995. It reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed on that chart for 49 weeks. It won the band a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group in 1996.

Popper first played the song alone, at a solo show in 1993. The full band took it on the following year at CBGB in New York. Several other songs that ended up on Four were also heard for the first time at that show. Popper had written it in a low mood. The early version moved at a much slower pace, closer to a ballad. The band picked up the tempo for the studio recording.

The subject of the song is Felicia Lewis, who played bass in the earliest lineup of the band. Guitarist Chan Kinchla later explained that she was a classically trained violinist who played bass mostly for fun. She was friends with everyone in the group. Popper had a crush on her but did not want to put their friendship at risk. Kinchla described the result simply as an unrequited love song. Lewis stepped aside when Bobby Sheehan took over on bass. She went on to become a doctor and stayed close to Popper. A later Blues Traveler song, titled Felicia, is also about her. Popper himself has generally avoided explaining his lyrics. He has said that listeners attach their own meanings to songs and that he would rather leave those alone. The opening line nods to the start of The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. Literary borrowing of this kind turns up often in his writing.

Four was recorded at Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York, with producers Steve Thompson and Michael Barbiero, and released on A&M Records. Chuck Leavell, the keyboard player known for his long stints with The Rolling Stones and The Allman Brothers Band, played keyboards on the track. Popper's harmonica carries much of the melody between the verses. The album version runs 4:40. The single edit trims it to about 4:12.

Blues Traveler had spent seven years on the road and released three albums without a breakout single before Run-Around became a hit. Kinchla has credited all that touring with getting the band ready for the attention that came next. The song arrived at a moment when grunge and hip-hop dominated much of the radio dial. Top 40 stations played it alongside other newcomers of the period such as Hootie & the Blowfish, Dave Matthews Band and Sheryl Crow. It debuted on the Hot 100 at number 92 on April 29, 1995. It also reached number four on Billboard's Pop Airplay and Adult Contemporary charts, number two on Adult Pop Airplay, number 13 on Mainstream Rock and number 14 on Alternative Airplay. In Canada it peaked at number 13 on the RPM singles chart. It finished 1995 at number 14 on the year-end Hot 100 and kept a place on adult radio well into 1996.

The success of the single helped push Four to number eight on the Billboard 200. The album was eventually certified six times platinum in the United States. A second single, Hook, reached number 23 on the Hot 100. It was the band's last entry on that chart.

The music video drew on The Wizard of Oz. Actress Diana Marquis plays Dorothy, who shows up at a nightclub with three companions dressed to resemble the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion and the Tin Man, and gets turned away at the door. Inside, a more photogenic group mimes the song on stage while the real Blues Traveler plays behind a curtain. Toto pulls the curtain back to expose them. The club owner, played by Ken Ober, closes it again as the song ends. The Kansas driver's license shown in the video uses a design from the mid to late 1980s. It misspells the name on it as Dorthy.

The hit brought the band a long run of television appearances. David Letterman became a fan and booked them on his show several times, often trading jokes with Popper on the air. VH1 later placed Run-Around at number 76 on its list of the 100 greatest songs of the 1990s. Alvin and the Chipmunks recorded a version for their 2007 video game. The production duo Gunslinger made an electronic remix that appeared on the band's anniversary collection Blues Traveler: 25. The song returned briefly to the charts around its 20th anniversary in 2014.

On stage, the band has kept the song in heavy rotation. The band had played it 997 times by February 2016, at roughly 54 percent of its concerts since the debut. Live, the band tends to sing the original lyric wording rather than the version on the record. From late 1998 onward it sometimes played a slowed down arrangement as a segue into other songs. Kinchla has said the band has no interest in being too cool to play its hits. He has joked that Run-Around and Hook helped pay for his house. The key and tempo of Run-Around are listed on its Song IQ page.