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
Stream	Spotify
SZNZ: Autumn track listing
"Tastes Like Pain" (6) "Run, Raven, Run" (7) “The Way I Hate You Now” Vinyl-exclusive track

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 and final track from SZNZ: Autumn.

Appearances

• SZNZ: Autumn (2022)

Overview

With a runtime of 5:14, "Run, Raven, Run" is the longest song the band has released during the SZNZ EP series. Its lyrics are non-literal, and appear to be sung to the "raven" character identified in the chorus. A reference to All Saints' Day continues the religious themes present on prior SZNZ releases, as well as previous work by Cuomo, most notably the 2011 - 2014 demo compilation Ecce Homo. "Run, Raven, Run" inspired at least one promotional image for Autumn, with Weezer lead singer Rivers Cuomo shown holding a raven doll.

Cuomo shared in the discord server he moderates that he aimed for the song to serve as a transition to the forthcoming SZNZ: Winter, as that EP - and "Run Raven Run" - are centered around the emotion of sadness. He also expressed that the song has a lot of personal significance for him:

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... [The song] made me cry. - Rivers Cuomo, Mister Rivers' Neighborhood, September 2022

The song changes time signature and tempo several times. Its initial verses and choruses are in 4/4, but the bridge switches to to 3/4, then back to 4/4 during an extended cresendo section. A portion of "Pacific Sunset" is incorporated about halfway through this build up, with the lyrics from the 2015 demo kept unchanged from the recordings that Cuomo released as part of Alone XI: The EWBAITE Years and Alone XII: The White Year. Lyrics from the song sketch "Spirit Animal" - eventually incorporated into "Pacific Sunset" - are also incorporated in "Run Raven Run."

The song ends with Cuomo singing the main refrain accompanied by a music box. Cuomo reportedly recorded this section while he was sick with COVID.

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
• List of Weezer songs
• List of Rivers Cuomo songs