Al Stewart - Running Man lyrics

Before the phone hits the receiver

You're halfway to the door

The voice said 'get out while you can,

There's just ten minutes, nothing more'

Time only for the essentials

Better gather them and run

The false name inside the passport,

The gold bars and the gun

And once again they've come out of the past

And though your mind is cool your heart is beating fast

You've been through it all before

Each time you wish a little more that you could ask

What do you want from me?

What do you need from me?

There's no rest for the running man

Why can't you let him be?'

It's a long and twisting journey

From the sweeping northern plains

To the outcrops of the jungle

Bowed beneath the tropic rains

In the customs hall the officer

Takes you to one side

And his eyes reveal no feeling

As you hand over the bribe

And once again you've bought a little time

And once again you're fading out of sight

Still the fox is growing older

As he calls over his shoulder to the night:

What do you want from me?

What do you need from me?

There's no rest for the running man

Why can't you let him be?

Here, come over here

Beneath a sympathetic moon

We'll sit and talk over old times without a fear

Another beer, from the cafes of the night

The tumbling rhythms of guitars ring loud and clear

One by one they've nailed the others

But you always got away

What it is that keeps you just that step ahead

No one can say

In one last raid the agents

Of the dawn break down the door

Of a house where you were standing

Maybe just an hour before

And still the thread continues to unwind

You take the hidden roads that only you can find

And should they come upon your tracks

There's just a question hanging back you left behind

What do you want from me?

What do you need from me?

No rest for the running man

Why can't you let him be?

What do you want from me?

What do you need from me?