Candi Staton, Young Hearts Run Free | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 132nd edition of Throwback Vibez (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Young Hearts Run Free” by Candi Staton.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace this column are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome. In the 132^nd edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2024), we recollect and reflect on “Young Hearts Run Free” performed by Candi Staton.

“Say I’m gonna leave / A hundred times a day / It’s easier said than done / When you just can’t break away.” Thought-provoking lyrics. Grammy-nominated, multi-faceted singer Candi Staton scored the biggest hit of her career with “Young Hearts Run Free”.  Staton was the first to release it in 1976. It appeared on her album, also titled, Young Hearts Run Free. Dave Crawford wrote and produced it. Interestingly, the lyrics were inspired by Staton’s abusive and toxic marriage which she was trying to escape. On the Billboard Hot 100, “Young Hearts Run Free” peaked at no. 20.

“Young Hearts Run Free” benefits from bright, exuberant production. The ear-catching sounds include sweet strings and bright horns (including gritty baritone sax). Also, what about a tight rhythm section?  Rhythm guitar, active but fat bass, tasty keys, and hard-groovin’ drums. The backdrop exemplifies the sophisticated, 1970s backdrop. The star is Candi Staton, who delivers commanding and soulful vocals.  She never over-sings yet brings the right punch. The songwriting marks another selling point. “Love only breaks up to start over again / You’ll get the babies,” Staton sings in the first verse, continuing, “But you won’t have your man / While he is busy loving every woman that he can.” Oh, snap! She responds to this scenario in the second verse, asserting, “I’m gonna love me for the rest of my days / Encourage the babies every time they say / Self-preservation is what’s really going on today.” Word!  The melodies are tuneful throughout, particularly in the memorable, sing-along chorus. I love the support that Staton gets from the background vocals during the chorus, the section to beat:

“Oh! Young hearts run free

They’ll never be hung up

Hung up like my man and me

You and me

Oh! Young hearts

To yourself be true

Don’t be no fool when love don’t love you

Don’t love you.”

Revisiting “Young Hearts Run Free” nearly 50 years later, this Candi Staton joint remains fresh.  Honestly, it deserved to perform even better on the pop charts! This is an enduring bop!

Candi Staton // Young Hearts Run Free // Warner // 1976

Candi Staton, Young Hearts Run Free: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 132 (2024) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Warner; OpenClipart-Vectors, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Speedy McVroom from Pixabay]