"[5] The song starts off with an immediate, propulsive backbeat, with the melody carried by piano and throughout laced by David Lindley's distinctive lap steel guitar work.

[7] Music critic Maury Dean said that the song "sees the whole world as one big energy junkie, groaning for another petrochemical fix" and that as the singer "runs towards the sun, he feels he's losing time.

[12] With its number 11 peak on the Hot 100 in Spring 1978, "Running on Empty" was Browne's third-biggest hit single in his career (trailing only "Doctor My Eyes" and "Somebody's Baby"), and subsequently became his most-played song on classic rock radio formats.

The song was featured prominently in the 1994 film Forrest Gump as the main theme for a running montage in which the title character treks across the United States on foot.

I've had an idea of how my songs are protected and how money is collected and how making a living as a musician works for my whole career, and it's great to have it affirmed and to know that we're absolutely right in standing up to them.