Before the phone hits the receiver You're halfway to the door The voice said, "get out while you can There's just ten minutes, nothing more" Time only for the essentials Better gather them and run The false name inside the passport The gold bars and the gun And once again, they've come out of the past And though your mind is cool, your heart is beating fast You've been through it all before Each time you wish a little more that you could ask What do you want from me? What do you need from me? There's no rest for the running man Why can't you let him be? It's a long and twisting journey From the sweeping northern plains To the outcrops of the jungle Bowed beneath the tropic rains In the customs hall, the officer Takes you to one side And his eyes reveal no feeling As you hand over the bribe And once again, you've bought a little time And once again, you're fading out of sight Still the fox is growing older As he calls over his shoulder to the night What do you want from me? What do you need from me? There's no rest for the running man Why can't you let him be? Here, come over here Beneath a sympathetic moon We'll sit and talk over old times without a fear Another beer, from the cafes of the night The tumbling rhythms of guitars ring loud and clear One by one, they've nailed the others But you always got away What it is that keeps you just that step ahead No one can say In one last raid, the agents Of the dawn break down the door Of a house where you were standing Maybe just an hour before And still the thread continues to unwind You take the hidden roads that only you can find And should they come upon your tracks There's just a question hanging back you left behind What do you want from me? What do you need from me? No rest for the running man Why can't you let him be? What do you want from me? What do you need from me?