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Cover of Grave Dancers Union by Soul Asylum
Cover: Grave Dancers Union

Song · Soul Asylum

“Runaway Train” by Soul Asylum

From the album Grave Dancers Union (1992)

“Runaway Train” by Soul Asylum appears on 73 radio countdowns from 29 stations between 1993 and 2025. It was first released in 1992 on the album Grave Dancers Union. Its best result is #6 on the Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1993. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #11 alternative song of 1993, #218 alternative song of all time and #313 of the '90s.

73countdowns
29stations
#6best position
0#1 finishes
3top 10 finishes
1993–2025years charted

Watch

Soul Asylum - Runaway Train (Official HD Video)

Video from YouTube (SoulAsylumVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Runaway Train" is the power ballad that took Soul Asylum around the world. It comes from Grave Dancers Union, their sixth album, from 1992, and Columbia pushed it out as the record's third single. Dave Pirner wrote it, words and music, and though it plays as a big, aching singalong, he has said the lyrics began as a description of his own depression.

Michael Beinhorn produced and Andy Wallace mixed, and the sound is burnished and wide open, Pirner's rasp riding a melody made for long drives. Then Tony Kaye's video gave it a second job, filling the screen with photographs of missing people, most of them kids and teenagers.

It went top five on the Billboard Hot 100, reached number one in Canada and number two in New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, and turned gold in the US after selling 600,000 copies. It won the Grammy for Best Rock Song in 1994 and helped push Grave Dancers Union to multi-platinum.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1993 8 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1993 107
1993 13 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1993 91
1993 84 Live 105 San Francisco, CA Live 105 Top 105 Songs of 1993 105
1993 6 Q101 Chicago, IL Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1993 101
1993 6 Virgin Radio United Kingdom Virgin Radio Top 10 Songs of 1993 10
1993 52 Triple J Australia (national) Triple J Hottest 100 of 1993 100

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1993 48 Studio Brussel Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1993) 100
1994 226 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 391 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 29 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1995 481 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 265 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 40 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1996 143 WNEW-FM WNEW Firecracker 500 (1996) 500
1997 747 102.3 WBAB WBAB Top 1,023 Rock and Roll Songs of All Time (1997) 1023
1999 217 KROQ KROQ Top 300 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 1999) 300
1999 155 WHFS WHFS Top 500 Songs of the '90s (December 1999) 500
1999 104 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 213 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 235 WFNX WFNX Top 500 Songs of All-Time (June 1999) 500
1999 92 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 38 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 509 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 109 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2000) 500
2000 38 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 111 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2001) 498
2001 42 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2001 346 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 500
2002 117 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2002) 500
2002 42 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1537 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 130 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (2003) 500
2003 42 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 75 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio VR10x10 (April 2003) 100
2004 446 107.7 The End The End Original Alternative 500 (May 2004) 500
2004 42 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2004 358 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 500
2005 43 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 309 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 500
2005 528 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2006 413 Virgin Radio Virgin Radio Top 500 Songs of All-Time (December 2006) 500
2007 366 KROQ KROQ Top 500 Most Requested Songs of the '90s (Labor Day 2007) 500
2007 680 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 443 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 2008) 500
2008 629 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 474 Live 105 Live 105 Memorial 500 Song List (2009) 500
2009 599 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 618 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 638 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 660 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 692 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2016 570 WYEP WYEP 913 Countdown 2016 913
2018 770 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs 892
2020 88 DC101 Top DC101 of the 90's 101
2020 354 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2020) 420
2020 53 DC101 The DC101 Top 500 500
2021 38 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '90s 908
2021 250 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2021) 420
2021 1020 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) 1043
2021 421 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2021) 500
2022 669 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 245 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2022) 420
2022 289 X96 X96 Top 500 Alternative Songs of All Time 500
2022 907 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2022) 1043
2023 49 The Current The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s 893
2023 331 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909
2023 251 105.9 The X 105.9 The X July 420 (2023) 420
2023 1128 WYEP WYEP Countdown to Fall 2023 1229
2024 275 KQRS KQRS KQ 500 (2024) 499
2024 761 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2024) 1043
2025 286 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '90s 500
2025 1022 Q104.3 Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) 1043
2025 326 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Top 400 of the Last 40 Years (2025) 400

Charting alongside it in 1993

Best songs of 1993 →
  1. 1CannonballThe Breeders
  2. 2CreepRadiohead
  3. 3LingerThe Cranberries
  4. 4PlushStone Temple Pilots
  5. 5No RainBlind Melon
  6. 6Soul to SqueezeRed Hot Chili Peppers

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