1. The point is that Running will never be a single.
2. Good luck with that.
I am not going to argue with anyone that Runnin could/should be a pop single, but I can't help but wonder how a non-pop song could be successful on the Top-40 charts. If that were always true, then how do you explain "We Are Young" by Fun? I think that Runnin and We are Young have a lot of similarities (catchy/non-traditional verses and grand power ballad chorus).
Luckily there is no shortage other viable single candidates on Trespassing.
Top 40 is a hits format. All kinds of genres get played on Mainstream Top 40 Stations. Most common genres are Pop, Dance-Pop, Country, R&B, Hip Hop and Pop/Rock. Running is not one of these genres.
Popular songs are played on Top 40/Hits stations -- that is why it is called Pop. The genre of Pop music is a style of music that include a wide range of artists.
"We Are Young" was on Glee then it was featured on a Superbowl commercial. It was only after the Superbowl that it broke onto the chart. And then radio started to play it. It is most certainly one of the most surprising #1 hits in a long time.
WAY is an indie pop novelty song -- classified as a power ballad some places. It has a contemporary sound and Gen-Y themes. The hook section of the song is just Fun:
”Tonight / We are young / So let’s set the world on fire / We can burn brighter / Than the sun”
I really do not see what "We Are Young" has to do with Runnin' EXCEPT that Runnin' would make a nice Glee song and Runnin' also shifts tempo. But that could describe many, many songs.
There is a lot more to a hit song that the style, tempo and a tempo change. But the lyrics and meaning of the song matter a lot. WAY has upbeat, simple lyrics -- Runnin' does not. Here are the lyrics of the "hook" in Runnin':
"I’ve been standing here my whole life,
Everything i’ve seen twice, now it’s time i realize
It’s spinning back around now,
On this road i’m crawling
Save me cause i’m falling, now i can’t seem to breathe right,
Cause I keep runnin runnin runnin runnin – runnin runnin runnin runnin, runnin from my heart."
Runnin' is an interesting and very good track both vocally and musically, but the lyrics are dark. On the surface it is about Adam "running from love." But others have said the song is about Adam coming to terms with his sexuality.
I do not know which interpretation is correct but I suspect the song is meant to have a double meaning.
All that being said, the song was not written, arranged, produced or intended to be sent to radio. So unless it ends up in a great TV commercial played during the Superbowl and viewers decided to push it up to #1 on the iTunes chart, do not expect this song to be sent to radio.
Finally, the only country where this track sold enough to break into the iTunes Top 200 was the US. And it didn't stay there.
Trespassing, on the other hand has been selling in the US and Canada and is still in the Top 200.
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JMHO there are several better choices for singles on this album. Including Adam's current single NCOE.