The Last Great Escape: Chasing the Sun with an Unbreakable Bon
The very mention of David Essex has a certain evocative power, doesn’t it? It is a sonic echo of the early 1970s—a time of flared trousers, rock ‘n’ roll rebellion, and the captivating transition from stage sensation to genuine pop superstar. He was the brooding, slightly dangerous presence, the ultimate teen idol whose appeal was underpinned by a serious, theatrical romanticism. He successfully navigated the difficult leap from acclaimed film roles, like his iconic turn as Jim Maclaine in That’ll Be the Day and its sequel, Stardust, into becoming a major chart force. While hits like “Gonna Make You a Star” and the transatlantic smash “Rock On” defined his commercial peak, it is often in the deeper cuts and the slightly later singles where the truly complex artistry of a performer can be found. The track “Two Runaways” is a perfect example, a song that may not have the instant recognition of his chart-toppers but possesses a deeply felt, bittersweet resonance for those who hold it dear.
The single “Two Runaways” was released in 1983, a track lifted from David Essex‘s album The Whisper. By this point in the early 1980s, the musical landscape was undergoing a significant shift, leaning into the sharp angles and polished production of the New Romantic and synth-pop movements. In this evolving context, “Two Runaways” registered a more modest success, charting in the UK at a peak position of No. 52 on the Official Singles Chart. This was late in his imperial chart run, but the song is a fascinating piece, acting as an emotional and stylistic bridge. It retains the signature storytelling flair and recognizable, soulful vocal delivery of Essex’s classic work while hinting at a more contemporary, driving beat. Released a year after the perennial classic “A Winter’s Tale,” this single demonstrated an artist’s commitment to narrative songwriting, even as the times demanded danceable hooks. The profound sense of narrative within “Two Runaways” is precisely what makes it such a captivating memory. The song’s premise is starkly romantic: two people deciding to leave everything behind and simply drive. They are not running to a specific place so much as they are running from their existing lives—be it the drudgery of routine, the weight of family expectation, or a problem too formidable to confront. The lyrics paint an evocative scene of a hurried exit, a dusty car, and the exhilarating fear that accompanies the severing of all ties. “Two Runaways” is far from a joyous road-trip song; it is tinged with hopeful desperation.
It captures that powerful, almost foolish optimism of youth, paired with a constant, nagging fear that the history they abandoned is gaining on them. The essence of the song lies in the couple’s bond, forged in the heat of shared necessity. Their connection is amplified by their flight, making the act of running away an act of profound faith in one another. To run away is often interpreted as a failure of nerve, but for Essex’s pair, it is an act of defiance and courageous commitment—a belief that happiness exists just over the next hill, and it must be built together from scratch. The song’s driving, mid-tempo percussion and the underlying melancholic keyboard line perfectly underscore this duality: the motion of freedom is undercut by the sadness of what they had to forfeit. It speaks to a universal, restless human desire: the urge to hit the reset button, to cast off an old identity, and re-emerge as two new people, bound only by the promise of the journey. For those who came of age during that era, with their own youthful dreams of escape, the song is less a pop track and more a mirror reflecting that endless longing for the open, untamed road.
The track is notable for its smooth, almost New Wave production sheen—a stylistic shift from the more raw, glam-influenced sounds of his 70s output—yet the dramatic core remains quintessentially Essex. He sings the lyrics with a strained urgency, the voice of a man who knows the odds are stacked against him but who will risk everything for the woman at his side. This emotional core is what secured the song a place in the hearts of his devoted following, proving that even a single that missed the Top 40 could still be a powerful, nostalgic landmark in an artist’s extensive, varied, and truly British career.