Mutual Shock – Running In Place

Trapped in a cycle: Mutual Shock's dark anthem for the restless

With ‘Running In Place’, Mutual Shock has cre­ated a song that imme­di­ately cap­tiv­ated me. The track begins with relaxed sounds and float­ing ste­reo sur­faces that almost feel like a med­it­at­ive embrace. It is this gentle intro­duc­tion that makes me stop imme­di­ately. The vocals are a high­light: gentle but insist­ent, they lie like a heal­ing band­age on the dark vibra­tions of the song.

The soft but subtle dark wave gui­tars are the decis­ive point for me that makes ‘Running In Place’ stand out from the crowd. They give the piece a mel­an­chol­ic depth that inev­it­ably reminds me of the early works of "The Cure". This dark touch gives the song some­thing time­less and makes it a per­fect sym­bi­os­is of synth pop and dark wave for me.

The lyr­ics cut right through me. They tell of a rela­tion­ship at an impasse – a mix­ture of hope­less­ness and the inab­il­ity to let go. In par­tic­u­lar, the lines "In my mind, I've been run­ning away / All the time, I'm still run­ning in place" speak to me. They con­vey this feel­ing of flee­ing inwardly while still tread­ing water. The song man­ages to con­vey this emo­tion­al con­flict both in terms of sound and lyrics.

I par­tic­u­larly appre­ci­ate the fact that ‘Running In Place’ doesn't try to pre­tend to be some­thing it's not. The song is moody, stripped down and hon­est – and that's why it's so effect­ive. This song is part of our Spotify playl­ist ‘New Synth Pop Songs 2024‘. The playl­ist is updated con­tinu­ously. Follow this playl­ist now and don’t miss any of the latest synth pop hits in 2024.

Listen to "Mutual Shock – Running In Place" on Spotify

Listen to "Mutual Shock – Running In Place" on Bandcamp

Lyrics of "Mutual Shock – Running In Place"

So nat­ur­ally unnatural
How I shoulder the blame
As if it's abso­lu­tion that I seek
And not your love

I wish I had more courage
Instead of all this shame
I wish that you would tell me dear
What you've been think­ing of

I'll find out
Next time you hurt me

I'll cry out
Next time you hurt me

Even in my dreams
I just can't seem to get it right
I keep mak­ing excuses
And I nev­er see you smile

How did we get imprisoned?
Was it you, or was it me?

We're stuck here on an island
And I don't know how to leave

In my mind
I've been run­ning away

All the time
I'm still run­ning in place

So let us keep this brief
I'm not one spoil­ing for a fight
"You used to make me laugh," you said
I won­der where that went

Well I'm too tired to play the fool
And be demoralized

I can't account for all this time
Were we both stuck on ice?

In my mind
I've been run­ning away

All the time
I'm still run­ning in place