Guitar Chords Used in the Song
"Runaway" uses a capo on the first fret over standard tuning and the following chords on the guitar:
Form of the Song
"Runaway" is the classic catchy pop single from Del Shannon in 1961 from the same-titled album, Runaway. The song hit the top spot in the Billboard Hot 100, and Rolling Stone placed it in the list for 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
The track has been reused and rerecorded by several artists, including Bonnie Raitt in the '70s and more recently, The Plain White T's.
The song was originally written, like most songs of that genre in that time period, on piano, but it translates to well to a few basic chords. Most of the chords used are fundamental open position chords, like the D and G chords. In addition, the F chord, which is a bar chord, is present and requires a little more practice and hand position discipline.
"Runaway" uses the following song structure:
- Intro
- Verse
- Refrain
- Solo
- Refrain
- Outro
References
Meet Our Expert
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Jay St. Germain
Jay St. Germain studied classical guitar at the University of Louisiana and graduated in 1996. He taught private lessons for over four years, played bass in the Louisiana-based rock group, Santeria, for six years and fronted in the New York City rock group, The Pleasure Model, for two years. He now resides in Los Angeles where he continues to teach guitar to students of all ages.
