" I Ran (So Far Away), " also released as " I Ran,” is a song by English new wave band A Flock of Seagulls . It was released in 1982 as their third single and it was the second single from their self-titled debut album . It topped the chart in Australia and reached number seven in New Zealand and number nine in the United States , although it failed to make the top 40 in the band's home country of the United Kingdom . However, the song was certified silver by the BPI . In an article for Rolling Stone titled, Anglomania: The Second British Invasion , Parke Puterbaugh wrote of the impact of the song's music video on its US chart success, "Fronted by a singer-synth player with a haircut stranger than anything you'd be likely to encounter in a month of poodle shows, A Flock of Seagulls struck gold on the first try."