Run, Raven, Run

"Run, Raven, Run"
Album track by Rivers Cuomo
Album	SZNZ: Autumn
Released	September 22, 2022
Recorded	2022
Length	5:14
Label	Crush Music/Atlantic Records
Writer(s)	Rivers Cuomo
Producer(s)	Tyler Cole, Suzy Shinn
Status	Released
Live debut	February 25, 2023 in Tempe, AZ
Stream	Spotify
SZNZ: Autumn track listing
"Tastes Like Pain" (7) "Run, Raven, Run" (8)
This song is part of the "Run, Raven, Run" lineage of songs "Pacific Sunset" (2015) "Run, Raven, Run” (2022)

"Run, Raven, Run" is the seventh (or eighth, on vinyl releases) and final track from SZNZ: Autumn.

Appearances

• SZNZ: Autumn (2022)

Overview

Well it's the very end of the album and we're heading into the land of sadness. And it's the culmination of all the fear terror and anxiety and the loss we're about to confront. I don't know. It made me cry. —Rivers Cuomo, September 2022

For the SZNZ series of album, songwriter Rivers Cuomo assigned to each album various qualities (emotion, color, personae, animals, religion, etc.), which he maintained with a Google spreadsheet. To Autumn and Winter, Cuomo assigned the emotions of "anxiety" and "sadness," respectively. According to Cuomo, "Run, Raven, Run" bridges the two emotions.

"Run, Raven, Run" shifts time signature and tempo multiple times, switching from 4/4 to 3/4 and back. The song's bridge and climax re-appropriate lyrics and melody from the song "Pacific Sunset," originally demoed by Cuomo in 2015. Lyrics from the song sketch "Spirit Animal" (which were also eventually incorporated into "Pacific Sunset") are also present in "Run Raven Run." The song ends with Cuomo singing the main refrain accompanied by a music box. Cuomo recorded this section while sick with COVID-19..

A demo of "Run, Raven, Run" was leaked online in December of 2022.

Known recordings

about this table

Performer(s)	Title	Filename	Date of recording	Recording location	Length	Appeared on	Notes
Rivers Cuomo	Run, Raven, Run	Run, Raven, Run pac sun build 2021-05-18 16.57.mp3	May 18, 2021		3:09	Leaked online
Weezer	Run, Raven, Run		2022	EastWest Studios, Los Angeles, CA 4th Street Studios, Santa Monica, CA JC Hawaii United Recording, Los Angeles, CA	5:14	SZNZ: Autumn

Personnel

• Rivers Cuomo — lead vocals, guitar
• Brian Bell — rhythm guitar
• Scott Shriner — bass
• Patrick Wilson — drums

Lyrics

Album version See the night train round the corner Slam the brakes, door slides open Time to go and meet your fate All the cards are stacked against you And your legs can't support you Let me hold you one last time And then scramble in the bushes Hide in the trees Run, raven, run, run, raven, run I can hear the eagles' terrible scream Run, raven, run, run, raven, run Raven, raven, all I can do is keep praying Raven, oh, raven I hear them coming for you Teachers gather on All Saints' Day And though they try, they can't help you They overwhelm you with advice So scramble in the bushes Hide in the trees Run, raven, run, run, raven, run I can hear the eagles' terrible scream Run, raven, run, run, raven, run Raven, raven, all I can do is keep praying Raven, oh, raven I hear them coming for you It's tearing me apart Leaves me in a daze I'm your spirit animal And I'm going cannibal There's only you, you, you Only you, you, you Only you Riding my bike over the path Hardly a soul, Pacific sunset (Pacific sunset) Beautiful lights shine in the west Hardly a soul, Pacific sunset (Chill in the air) Riding my bike over the path Hardly a soul, Pacific sunset Beautiful lights shine in the west Hardly a soul, Pacific sunset Scramble in the bushes, hide in the trees Run, raven, run, run, raven, run I can hear the eagles' terrible scream Run, raven, run, run, raven, run Raven, raven, all I can do is keep praying Raven, oh, raven...

Demo version Yellow school bus rounds the corner Hit the brakes, door slides open Time to go and meet your fate Walk the hallways, watching always They will come, they will snatch you In the classroom if they can So dive into the bushes Fly through the trees Run, raven run, run, raven, run I can hear the eagles' terrible scream Run, raven, run, run, raven, run Raven, raven, all I can do is keep praying Raven, oh, raven I hear them coming for you Family gathers on Thanksgiving Though they try, they can't help you They overwhelm you every time So dive into the bushes Fly through the trees Run, raven run, run, raven, run I can hear the eagles' terrible scream Run, raven, run, run, raven, run Raven, raven, all I can do is keep praying Raven, oh, raven I hear them coming for you

See also

• SZNZ: Autumn
• "Pacific Sunset"
• List of Weezer songs
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs