Silent Running (song)

Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) is a song by the English band Mike + The Mechanics, from their debut album of the same name.

Set in a dystopian future, a family (implied to be a mother and her children) are contacted by a mysterious visitor, claiming to be with "the high command". Though he gives the family practical advice (they should hide out in their cellar, as well as where they can locate firearms in case of emergency), the visitor appears to be from a supernatural dimension due to many of the comments he makes ("don't believe the church and state/and everything they tell you", "better you should pray to God/The Father and The Spirit"). At the end, he suggests that the family engage in "passive resistance" ("swear allegiance to the flag/whatever flag they offer/never hint at what you really feel", "teach the children quietly/for some day sons and daughters/will rise up and fight while we stood still").

The video for the song features a mysterious visitor providing a young boy a key to a secret room in his house. Inside the room he is able to speak with his father, who has traveled in time to fight for an unspecified cause: the video implies that the boy joins him (to the mother's horror).