From the recording Isolated tracks II
Old Runner(gothland bise) - song description (Isolated Tracks II)
“Old Runner”(gothland bise) version put the accent more on early 80'goth songs vibe - not as imitation, but as a return to its original tension and restraint. Built on a driving, tribal rhythm and a minimal, persistent bassline, the track moves with a physical urgency while holding back from resolution.
The song leans into imperfection: dry guitars, reduced textures, and a vocal delivery that stays close, almost spoken, resisting the familiar depth and dramatization often associated with the genre. What remains is something more exposed - a voice caught between movement and stillness.
Lyrically, it reflects on motion that leads nowhere, on repetition without progress, and the quiet realization that distance does not always mean escape. The “runner” is no longer moving forward, but suspended , held in place by everything that was left unresolved.
As part of Isolated Tracks II, “Old Runner” exists as a fragment drawn from a different time , a piece shaped by instinct rather than structure, carrying the spirit of early goth without fully belonging to it.
Lyrics
You ran through streets you didn’t know,
Chasing something far below,
Every turn looked just the same,
Every place forgot your name.
You never stopped to understand
Why nothing stayed within your hands,
Every step you tried to take
Only led you to a break.
Old runner, you lost your way,
Running from what wouldn’t stay,
Old runner, you crossed the line,
Now your steps fall out of time.
You spoke in words that fell apart,
Half were truth and half were start,
Every promise left behind
Still returns inside your mind.
You moved like someone out of reach,
Close enough but hard to see,
Every road you tried to leave
Brought you back to what you’d been.
Old runner, you lost your way,
Running from what wouldn’t stay,
Old runner, you crossed the line,
Now your steps fall out of time.
There were signs you chose to miss,
Moments fading into this,
Every silence that you kept
Turned into a deeper step.
You tried to leave it all behind,
But it never left your side,
Every mile you tried to gain
Only circled back again.
Now the pace begins to slow,
Still you don’t know where to go,
Every path you thought was clear
Disappears when you get near.
All the distance that you made
Starts collapsing into shade,
Every step you try to hold
Breaks apart before it’s told.
Old runner, you lost your way,
Running from what wouldn’t stay,
Old runner, you crossed the line,
Now your steps fall out of time.
Now the road is closing in,
No more space to start again,
Every breath begins to fade
Into choices that you made.
You don’t run and you don’t fight,
You just stand between the lines,
Like a shadow left behind
Still repeating in your mind.
Old runner, standing still,
Time moves on against your will,
Old runner, no return,
Only echoes left to burn.