Al Stewart - Running Man

Before the phone hits the receiver


You're halfway to the door


The voice said 'get out while you can,


There's just ten minutes, nothing more'


Time only for the essentials


Better gather them and run


The false name inside the passport,


The gold bars and the gun


And once again they've come out of the past


And though your mind is cool your heart is beating fast


You've been through it all before


Each time you wish a little more that you could ask



What do you want from me?


What do you need from me?


There's no rest for the running man


Why can't you let him be?'



It's a long and twisting journey


From the sweeping northern plains


To the outcrops of the jungle


Bowed beneath the tropic rains


In the customs hall the officer


Takes you to one side


And his eyes reveal no feeling


As you hand over the bribe


And once again you've bought a little time


And once again you're fading out of sight


Still the fox is growing older


As he calls over his shoulder to the night:



What do you want from me?


What do you need from me?


There's no rest for the running man


Why can't you let him be?



Here, come over here


Beneath a sympathetic moon


We'll sit and talk over old times without a fear


Another beer, from the cafes of the night


The tumbling rhythms of guitars ring loud and clear



One by one they've nailed the others


But you always got away


What it is that keeps you just that step ahead


No one can say


In one last raid the agents


Of the dawn break down the door


Of a house where you were standing


Maybe just an hour before


And still the thread continues to unwind


You take the hidden roads that only you can find


And should they come upon your tracks


There's just a question hanging back you left behind



What do you want from me?


What do you need from me?


No rest for the running man


Why can't you let him be?



What do you want from me?


What do you need from me?