"Run Devil Run" was written by Alex James, busbee, and Kalle Engström. In 2008, American singer Kesha provided the vocals for the demo of the song which has been leaked online. The song was pitched to SM Entertainment for Girls' Generation. In 2011, Girls' Generation recorded a Japanese version of "Run Devil Run", which was released as a double A-side with "Mr. Taxi".
Composition
The song is an electro pop song, with horn synths in the background, and strong harmonies. It is a strong conical departure from the group's usual musical style until that point. It has been noted to use the shuffel beat.
Charting
Its first number one on network television was on KBS's Music Bank, where it won over Kara's "Lupin" and 2AM's "Jalmot Haesseo". Moreover, "Run Devil Run" was ranked at number one on the Gaon Singles Chart for two weeks.
Promotion
On March 11, 2010, photos of the members were started being released online showcasing a dark concept, the so-called Black SoShi. In the run of promotions for the song, an official iPhone application was released, available in free and paid versions. The free version has 30-second previews for all the songs on the album, a music video for "Run Devil Run" and a few photographs. The paid version has full tracks for all the songs on the album, music videos for "Run Devil Run", "Gee", "Oh!" and "Tell Me Your Wish ", and a photo gallery. They concluded their song promotions by May 2, 2010 in SBS's Inkigayo. In Japan, "Run Devil Run" was first performed on Music Station on January 28, 2011.
Music videos
The music video for "Run Devil Run" was released on March 18. They also released a story version on March 31, 2010.
Original video
The original video contains two settings: a white room and a black room. Throughout the video, there are scenes of the girls dancing in these rooms, and there are individual close-ups of their own unique Black SoShi looks. At the end of the video, the girls are shown in the black room, after which the video ends similar to a TV shutting off.
Story Version
The story version is similar to the original version, with the two rooms where the girls are dancing, and there individual close-ups in their Black SoShi looks, but the overall video is different, with a tie-in with the video of the group's song "Oh!". In the beginning of the video, it shows the mishandled helmet spill a cup, which damages a computer monitor, causing the Black SoShi to emerge from the monitor and into the girls' room and begin making a mess of it. Soon, the girls meet the Black SoShi, and after an encounter with them, Yuri pulls the plug from the monitor to its outlet, turning off the monitor and causing the Black SoShi to disappear. When the girls are cleaning up the room, one of them touches the monitor, and it shows the Black SoShi.
Japanese version videos
On April 8, 2011, the teaser video for a Japanese version of "Run Devil Run" was released and the full video the following day. On April 25, 2011, a dance version was released. Lisette Bustamante provided choreography for the videos. The video is similar to the Korean version, except for altered dance moves and outfits. The music video begins with a blue room, after, it was changed to white, with the members dancing, in white outfits, like the Korean version, Then, changes the scenes, to a blue room what shows the girls dancing in blue outfits, the girls can be shown wearing different "Black SoShi" outfits. The first of two settings used in the music video is a white room with the members in white outfits. At the first chorus, glimpses of the second setting, a dark room with the members in fitting outfits, are shown. During the second chorus full scenes in this setting are shown.
Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from Run Devil Runliner notes. The Japanese version credits are adapted from "Mr. Taxi / Run Devil Run" liner notes.
