Nowhere To Run

Album

Dance Party

Label

Gordy Records

Genre

Dance-pop

Composer(s)

Brian Holland;Lamont Dozier;Eddie Holland Jr.

Entered Chart

Feb 27, 1965

Peak Date

Apr 10, 1965

Released

February 10, 1965

Recorded

Hitsville U.S.A. (Studio A); October 21, 1964

Catalog #

Gordy 7039

B-Side

Motoring

This is a tale of a woman who knows her boyfriend treats her badly but she can't help but love him. It was written by the songwriting/production team of Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland, who were also responsible for the Martha & the Vandellas hits "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" and "Jimmy Mack." "Nowhere To Run" is in the rubric of "I love you but you don't love me" songs that Holland-Dozier-Holland often created. Another good example is "This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak for You)." Along with a tambourine and drums, snow chains - the kind made for tires - were used as percussion for this song. Motown producers often got inventive in the studio, resulting in some unique soundscapes. By this time, Martha & the Vandellas had been supplanted by The Supremes as the most successful girl group at Motown. The Supremes were about six months into their run of hits and were getting the bulk of Motown's promotional resources, pushing The Vandellas to second-class status. "Nowhere To Run" has held up as a classic, but it reached just #8 at a time when most Supremes releases were pushed to #1. Martha & the Vandellas never got any higher on the chart. Because of its brassy sound and chorus, this song is one of many which are popular at sporting events, where the original version is played, or a marching band performs it. All the instruments were played by the Funk Brothers, who were session musicians for Motown. Report this ad The song was particularly popular during the Vietnam War, and was featured in the 1987 film Good Morning, Vietnam. Other films to use the song include: Baby Driver (2017) Love & Mercy (2014) Factory Girl (2006) Simon Birch (1998) Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998) Crimson Tide (1995) Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) The Crossing (1990) The Wizard (1989) Gleaming the Cube (1989) Plain Clothes (1987) It has also appeared in these TV series: Suits ("Fork in the Road" - 2015) Growing Pains ("Dance Fever" - 1988) Moonlighting ("Maddie's Turn to Cry" - 1987) WKRP in Cincinnati ("Mike Fright" - 1979) >> One of the inspirations for this song was an encounter that Lamont Dozier had with a frightened teenager who was on his way to Vietnam. He recalled to The Guardian: "His friends asked if I would throw a party for him at my house before he was shipped out. We had the party, but he was very solemn, just sitting with his girlfriend. He had a premonition that he wouldn't be coming back. I told him to be positive, but he was adamant. I found myself thinking about how he was feeling trapped – nowhere to run. Sure enough, two months later they shipped his body back. I think he stepped on a land mine. Nineteen years old." The song is titled "Nowhere To Run," but Martha Reeves sings, "Nowhere to run to." It's a case of shoddy grammar (ending a sentence in a preposition) done for the sake of the rhythm. Janet Jackson intended on recording a remake of this on her 1990 Rhythm Nation 1814 album before being persuaded by her songwriters Jam and Lewis to record a song with a similar beat. The end result was her American chart-topper "Escapade." Lola Colette recorded a version of "Nowhere to Run" for the 2023 John Wick: Chapter 4 soundtrack. Colette is the daughter of Tyler Bates, the co-composer of the film's score.

Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide
Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide.
It's not love, I'm a running from,
It's the heartbreak I know will come.
'Cause I know you're no good for me, but you've become a part of me.
Ev'rywhere I go, your face I see, ev'ry step I take, you take with me yeah

Nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide
Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide.
I know you're not good for me, but free of you I'll never be, no.
Each night as I sleep, into my heart you creep.
I wake up feelin' sorry I met you, hoping soon that I'll forget you.
When I look in the mirror to comb my hair
I see your face just a smiling there.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from you baby,
Got nowhere to run to, baby, nowhere to hide.
I know you're no good for me, but you've become a part of me,
How can I fight a lover, that shouldn't be, when it's so deep,
So deep, deep inside of me
My love reaches so high I can't get over it
It's so wide I can't get around it, no
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide from you baby
Just can't get away from you baby, no matter how I try to

I know you're no good for me, but free of you I'll never be,
Nowhere to run to baby, nowhere to hide, got nowhere to run to baby.