Runnin' Away - Single Version

In an interview with Willem Alkema featured in Mojo magazine March 2010, Sly Stone was asked about the meaning of this track. He replied: "In those days it was the hippies who cut their hair and ran away from the hippy feeling. It's about how, at a certain time, everybody runs away from something."

This was the second single from Sly & the Family Stone's fifth album, There's a Riot Goin' On, following the #1 hit "Family Affair." The album title is a reference to a free concert in Chicago when fans rioted before the band had a chance to take the stage.