"Close to Me" is a song by English singer Ellie Goulding with American DJ and music producer Diplo and American rapper Swae Lee, released on 24 October 2018 from the former's fourth studio album, Brightest Blue (2020).[1] It was premiered by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1 as the "Hottest Record in the World".[2]
Background
At the time, there was a lot going on in the world that I wanted to forget. Savan gets very overwhelmed with what's happening particularly in America, and I think we all wanted to forget that and just write something a bit silly. It was so nice to just go back to just writing a song about a turbulent, probably doomed relationship – someone to forget the world with.
—Goulding on the inspiration behind the song.[3]
Goulding told Billboard that the song came about when she and co-writer Savan Kotecha were in a Los Angeles studio where they came up with the guitar melody and Goulding sang what would become the first line of the pre-chorus, "don't let me down", which they decided to keep in the song. Goulding, feeling that the song was "missing something", eventually sent it to Diplo who sent his version back to her within a short amount of time. Diplo suggested adding Swae Lee as a featured guest vocalist.[3]
Composition
The song is recorded in the key of C-sharp minor with a tempo of 72 beats per minute in common time. The song follows a chord progression of E–C♯m7–G♯–A, and the vocals span from E3 to C♯5.[4]
Music video
The music video for "Close to Me", directed by Diane Martel,[5] was filmed in Budapest, Hungary, and premiered on 14 November 2018.[6]
Promotion
Goulding wiped her social media accounts and began promoting the track on 22 October 2018, first sharing a cartoon image of hers, Diplo and Swae Lee's arms locked in a triangle, displaying their tattoos against a cheetah print background, captioning it "CLOSE TO ME".[1] She then later confirmed this would be the title, and along with posting an audio clip of the track,[7] announced the release date and time.[8]
Other versions
In April 2019, Goulding released another version of the song featuring Korean girl group Red Velvet to replace Swae Lee's verse in the song.
Live performances
Goulding performed an acoustic version of the song during On Air with Ryan Seacrest on 16 November 2018.[9] She later performed the song during BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge Month on 28 November.[10] Her first televised performance of the song was on the final of The X Factor on 2 December.[11]
On 5 April 2019, a remix was released which removes Swae Lee's verse and features Korean girl group Red Velvet, singing a verse and their own version of the chorus in Korean. Their chorus was written by Red Velvet's Wendy & Yeri.[91] It has won
a "Choice Electronic / Dance Song" award at the 2019 Teen Choice Awards. The remix appears as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of Goulding's fourth studio album Brightest Blue (2020).
Track listing
Digital download[91]
No.
Title
Length
1.
"Close to Me" (Red Velvet Remix)
3:09
Release history
Release dates and formats for "Close to Me" (Red Velvet Remix)
Region
Date
Format
Label
Ref.
Various
5 April 2019
Digital download
streaming
Polydor
[91]
References
^ a bBein, Kat (23 October 2018). "Ellie Goulding Teases 'Close To Me' Collaboration With Diplo and Swae Lee". Billboard. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
^Goulding, Ellie. "Ellie Goulding on Twitter: Tune in to @BBCR1 tonight from 7.30pm to hear 'Close To Me' with @diplo featuring @goSwaeLee !". Retrieved 24 October 2018 – via Twitter.
^ a bCirisano, Tatiana (14 January 2019). "Ellie Goulding on Recruiting Diplo For 'Close to Me' & Why Her Next Album Is a 'Return'". Billboard. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
^Goulding, Ellie; Kotecha, Savan; Svensson, Peter; Salmanzadeh, Ilya; Pentz, Thomas Wesley; Brown, Khalif (2018-10-26). "Close to Me". Musicnotes.com. Retrieved 2019-05-19.
^Cirisano, Tatiana (14 January 2019). "Ellie Goulding on Recruiting Diplo For 'Close to Me' & Why Her Next Album Is a 'Return'". Billboard. Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
^Kreps, Daniel (14 November 2018). "See Ellie Goulding's Fashionable Budapest Romp in 'Close to Me' Video". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 17 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
^Ainsley, Helen (23 October 2018). "Ellie Goulding teases new single Close To Me in cryptic social media posts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
^Nied, Mike (23 October 2018). "Ellie Goulding Taps Diplo & Swae Lee For New Single, 'Close To Me'". Idolator. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
^"Ellie Goulding Performs 'Close To Me' & Debuts New Verse – On Air with Ryan Seacrest". 16 November 2018 – via YouTube.
^"Ellie Goulding – Close To Me in the Live Lounge". 16 November 2018 – via YouTube.
^Green, Alex (2 December 2018). "Ellie Goulding backs Dalton Harris to win X Factor final". Irish Independent. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
^"Bolivia General" (in Spanish). Monitor Latino. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding Chart History (Canada AC)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding Chart History (Canada CHR/Top 40)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding Chart History (Canada Hot AC)". Billboard. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
^Ellie Goulding & Diplo feat. Swae Lee — Close to Me. TopHit. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
^"Croatia ARC TOP 100". HRT. Archived from the original on 21 November 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201912 into search. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201902 into search. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
^Siim Nestor. "EESTI TIPP-40 MUUSIKAS – Japsist endise juutuuberi ballaadid lähevad hästi kaubaks". Eesti Ekspress (in Estonian). Retrieved 5 November 2018.
^"Ellie Goulding,Diplo,Swae Lee: Close to Me (With Diplo) (Feat. Swae Lee)" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
^"Official IFPI Charts – Digital Singles Chart (International) – Week: 48/2018". IFPI Greece. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
^"Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
^"Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Stream Top 40 slágerlista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 1, 2019" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
^"Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
^"{{{artist}}} – {{{song}}}". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
^"Airplay 100 – 24 februarie 2019" (in Romanian). Kiss FM. 25 February 2019. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
^"Russia Airplay Chart for 2019-02-11." TopHit. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
^"Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
^"Singapore Top 30 Digital Streaming Chart – Week 2" (PDF). Recording Industry Association (Singapore). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 January 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201907 into search. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201902 into search. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
^"SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". SloTop50. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
^"Ellie Goulding x Diplo feat. Swae Lee – Close to Me". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
^"Italian single certifications – Ellie Goulding, Diplo & Swae Lee – Close to Me" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 2 December 2019. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Close to Me" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli" under "Sezione".
^"New Zealand single certifications – Ellie Goulding, Diplo and Swae Lee – Close to Me". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 25 January 2019.