Synopsis

Great Big Sea turn Slade's hard-rocking anthem into a playful Newfoundland spectacle. The band performs along a rugged shoreline, mixing vigorous folk-rock musicianship with broad visual comedy. In one of the video's most memorable set pieces, the members appear in nun costumes as they make their way toward a lone table standing in the middle of the landscape. The deliberately odd imagery, coastal setting, and irreverent performance style match the song's runaway energy while presenting the group as an exuberant, good-humored live act.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Run Runaway" was Great Big Sea's cover of Slade's 1984 hit and appeared as the opening track on the band's 1995 album *Up*.

• The band nearly left the song off the album. The recording was treated as a tongue-in-cheek experiment rather than an obvious career move.

• The track was the last song recorded for *Up* and was completed in a single day. John "Bodhran" Power used a snare drum played on its side to imitate the character of a bodhran.

• The video was one of three clips made for *Up* within an eight-month period, alongside "Mari-Mac" and "Goin' Up."

• MuchMusic gave the video substantial exposure, helping Great Big Sea reach a large audience even though pop radio was initially reluctant to play folk-rock built around fiddles and accordions.

• The clip won Video of the Year at the 1997 East Coast Music Awards and was nominated for Best Video at the 1997 Juno Awards.