"Breakaway"/"Run Away With Me"
- Nov 21, 2016
- 5 min read
The Songs:
“Run Away With Me” by Jeremy Jordan (View his version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lij4LeDGTnI)
“Breakaway” by Kelly Clarkson (View her version at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-3vPxKdj6o)
The Back-Story:
“Breakaway” was written by Matthew Gerrard, Bridget Benenate and Avril Lavigne, made popular by Kelly Clarkson. She released the song on Disney’s The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and it became the title song on her second album. “Run Away With Me” is written by Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk, featured on their album “Our first Mistake” and in the musical The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown. Artists who have performed it solo include Jeremy Jordan, Aaron Tveit and Michael Arden.
I first heard “Run Away With Me” in the musical theater cabaret my university put on last year. Picture this: Two guys, one on stage right, the other stage left. A girl in the center on a stool, holding two letters. The girl reads a letter as stage left guy sings a verse. Spotlight shifts to stage right as she reads the other letter and the other guy sings: each is asking her to run away with him. After going back and forth between the two choices and they finish the song in harmony, she drops the letters and exits the stage alone. This was my first experience with this song. During rehearsals, I listened to the chord progression and soon found that “Breakaway” resembled this song, and lyrically it tells a similar story - and so I was dying to make them into a mash-up!
The How:
First of all, I had to find someone willing to work with my (often goofy) music arranger-brain, and Avi said "yes, let's work something up!" Second, since these two songs have similar structures (verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge-type section, chorus to end) as well as chord patterns, we were able to interchange some sections as well as layer parts of the two to be sung simultaneously. In the arrangement (which you can see at the bottom of the page), I used numeral chord symbols instead of the letter names. One reason I did this was to make it easy to transpose, since Avi and I hadn't decided what key worked best for our voice ranges yet - and it'd be a pain to write it out in one key and decide to change it later. Reason 2 is that I was taught at an early age to think of chords in their numbers in the scale, to listen for what type of chord it sounds like rather than the actual note letters. This has helped me to transpose mentally when I know what key the song is and what kinds of chords to use (typically it involves the 1 - 5 - 6minor - 4 type of pattern) In music theory they label chords with Roman numerals, so this is an adaptation from that process.
The Arranger's Thoughts:
Rather than a love song, though, Kelly’s song is one of having hope for a better future, leaving home and experiencing the world. I think of this song as I remember the girl leaving the two guys on the stage, and I think of the words in the last chorus “I’ll spread my wings and I’ll learn how to fly, though it’s not easy to tell you goodbye.” Maybe it’s her story, the unheard rationale for her rejection of both guys who offered her the world. Choosing to run away with either guy may have given her the adventure of a lifetime, but adding this song to the story makes us wonder about what the girl wants: if she really loves either guy, or if she just wants a chance to start a clean slate with new people. Make of it what you will, hope you enjoy the mash-up! Some links for further reading about the artists and the full arrangement are below.
Related Links:
Kerrigan-Lowdermilk Site: http://kerrigan-lowdermilk.com/songs/run-away-with-me
"Breakaway" composer/artist info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breakaway_(Kelly_Clarkson_song)
Run Away With Me/Breakaway
Key: D Intro: 1 5 4 1 5 4 1 5 4 I’m so nervous. Let me catch my breath. 1 This is really hard. 3 6m 6m7 If I start to look like I'm sweating well 2 5sus4 5
That's 'cause I am.
6m 5 1 4 Da da da n da da, Da da da n da da
6m 5 4 Da da da n da da da da
I'm not good with words.
6m 5 1 4
Da da da n da da, Da da da n da da
6m 5 4 1 Da da da n da da da da But that's nothing new. 3 6m 6m7 2 Still I have to try To explain what I want to do 5 5sus4 5 With you. With you. Run away with me.
1 5 4 Let me be your ride out of town. 1 Let me be the place that you hide. 5 4 We can make our lives on the go, Run away with me. 1 5 4 Texas in the summer is cool. 6m 3 We'll be on the road like Jack Kerouac Looking back. (4?) 2sus4 1 5 4 Getting ready, let's go
I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly.
6m 4 Anywhere. I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky. 4 5sus4 Get the car packed and throw me the key, Run away with me.
1 5 4 6m 5 4 Make a wish, take a chance, Make a change, and break away.
6m 5 1 4 Wanna feel the warm breeze, Sleep under a palm tree 6m 5 4 Feel the rush of the ocean 6m 5 1 4 Get onboard a fast train, Travel on a jetplane
6m 5 4 Far away I know this is fast.
6m 5 4 1 And break away What else can I do?
3 6m 6m7 2sus4 Call me crazy but I'm much crazier for you. 4 1 I have these plans, I have all these plans 4 5 For a house that we build on a bay when we run away.
1 5 I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly. 6m 4 I'll do what it takes till I touch the sky. 1 5 4 6m 5 4 Make a wish, take a chance, Make a change, and break away.
1 5 Out of the darkness and into the sun. Let me be your ride out of town, Let me be the place that you hide.
6m 4 But I won't forget all the ones that I love. We can make our lives on the go, Run away with me
(FYI - I definitely skipped a few of these lines in my part of the duet in the video)
1 5 4
Alabama heat sign me up.
6m 3 We'll be on the road like some country song, Won't be long. (4?) 2sus4 1 5 4
We'll be ready let's go I'll take a risk, take a chance, Make a change,
6m 5 4 Anywhere.
and break away
4 1/3 I'm not trying to make you a wife here. Buildings with a hundred floors, Swinging with revolving doors 6m 5 I'm not trying to tie you down.
Maybe I don't know where they'll take me 4 1 I'm just saying there might be a life here.
Gotta keep movin on, movin on 2 4 1 5 4 1 5 4 A new one as soon as we run__________ run away Fly away, Break away
1 5 I'll spread my wings and I'll learn how to fly. 6m 4 Though it's not easy to tell you goodbye Just run away with me
1 5 6m Make a wish, take a chance, Make a change, We'll be on the road like Jack Kerouac
3 4 2sus4 1 5 4
and break away. I gotta take a risk, take a chance, Make a change, Looking back Getting ready let's go…
6m 5 4
Any - where. and break away
4
Say the word and I'm already there.
1 5 4 Da da da n da da, Da da da n da da 6m 5 4 (vocals only) Da da da n da da da da Break away…...with me.
Run away…… with me.
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