Runaway Love

Runaway Love by Ludacris and Mary J. Blige is a very powerful song that tackles the subject of kids running away from their homes because of their negative environment. He tells the story of three females and the obstacles they face in their home life. He first introduces us to Lisa, a 9 year old girl and the bad relationship she has with her mother.

Mama is on drugs getting high up in the kitchen
Bringing home men at different hours of the night
Starting with some laughs — usually ending in a fight
Sneaking in her room while her mama’s knocked out
Trying to have his way and little Lisa says ‘ouch’
She tries to resist but then all he does is beat her
Tries to tell her mom but her mama don’t believe her

Drugs and alcohol are very strong and addictive. Engaging in them can cause mothers to forget about caring and nurturing for their kids. They are careless to their surroundings and don’t realize the harm they’re doing to their children. When her mother doesn’t believe her, Lisa realizes that she’s alone. She has no one. Her only escape is to runaway.

Forced to think that hell is a place called home
Nothing else to do but get her clothes and pack
She say she’s about to run away and never come back.

Ludacris mentions these lines at the end of each verse with different stories. He tries to show that the only escape that these young girls see is “Running Away” They don’t feel safe in their homes and leads them to live life with guilt. They never want to return because their home is not a safe place as its supposed to be.

The father bails out he ain’t ready for a kid
Knowing her mama will blow it all outta proportion
Plus she lives poor so no money for abortion
Erica is stuck up in the world on her own

The picture above shows Erica, a pregnant teenager attempting to return home to have the help of her parents after her baby’s father leaves her. When she returns she realizes that her family is in a worst situation then her. Her father is committing domestic violence. She doesn’t feel safe or protected in her home, so she decides to go ahead and runaway.

The very important subject that Ludacris touches in this song is the thoughts of young innocent individuals who think there is no escape in life but to runaway. He tries to approach this by writing a song than can help them cope and not feel alone.

Sometimes I feel like running away myself,
So do me a favor right now and close your eyes,
And picture us running away together,
when we come back everything is gonna be okay,
Open your eyes…….

He helps them to feel like they’re not alone. He tries to assimilate with them and prove to them that they can’t run away. They can do it emotionally but they will eventually have to return to their life with everything being okay. Ludacris touches a topic that is very delicate in lives of teenagers. There are probably many people, not only teenagers that go through life problems. Sometimes it can be the alcohol that affects them and their life decisions or sometimes just their anger. Many people have felt like running away before. He tries to explain that Running Away is not the only way to solve these issues.