ELKIE BROOKS – The Runaway (1979)

Elkie Brooks (1945-) is an English singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 1980s, releasing 13 UK Top 75 singles, and reached the top ten with “Pearl’s a Singer”, “Sunshine After the Rain” and the title track of the album No More the Fool. She has been nominated twice for the Brit Awards.

Her polished, powerful cover of Gallagher and Lyle’s “The Runaway” saw the Scottish singer-songwriters appear with Brooks on Top of the Pops to provide backing vocals.

She packed her things in a carpet bag She left home, never looking back Taking care to cover up her tracks

Stopping over ’till she made a wage Telling no-one she was under age A number on a missing persons page

Rings on her finger, paint on her toes She shall have music wherever she goes On her transistor radio Runaway, runaway Runaway, runaway

Darkness falls and finds her on her own The sparkling highway just keeps rolling on She’s a thousand miles from home

Dropping coins into a telephone All that answers is a ringing tone Sometimes it feels the whole world’s not at home

Rings on her finger, paint on her toes She shall have music wherever she goes On her transistor radio Runaway, runaway (Runaway) county lines, an APB Nothing stops her being free (Runaway) she will wander where she pleases (Runaway) her folks will always wonder why She never stopped to say goodbye (Runaway) and back at home, they sit and sigh (Runaway) A steady job, a nice young man They thought they had a future planned (Runaway) they could never, ever understand

midnight comes, and they hope she’s safe All that comes for the small town girl (Runaway) she don’t fit in the small-town world