Close to Me (Ellie Goulding, Diplo and Swae Lee song)

"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]

"Close to Me"
Single by Ellie Goulding, Diplo and Swae Lee
Released	24 October 2018 (2018-10-24)
Recorded	2018
Genre	Electropop EDM-pop alternative rock
Length	3:02
Label	Polydor Interscope
Songwriter(s)	Ellie Goulding Ilya Salmanzadeh Khalif Brown Peter Svensson Savan Kotecha Thomas Wesley Pentz
Producer(s)	Ilya Diplo
Ellie Goulding singles chronology
"First Time" (2017) "Close to Me" (2018) "Mama" (2019)
Diplo singles chronology
"Time Is Up" (2018) "Close to Me" (2018) "Boom Bye Bye" (2019)
Swae Lee singles chronology
"Sunflower" (2018) "Close to Me" (2018) "Arms Around You" (2018)
Music video
"Close to Me" on YouTube

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 E major 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]

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Close to Me" Chart (2018–2019) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[12] 25 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[13] 32 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[14] 16 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[15] 4 Bolivia (Monitor Latino)[16] 18 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[17] 24 Canada AC (Billboard)[18] 29 Canada CHR/Top 40 (Billboard)[19] 2 Canada Hot AC (Billboard)[20] 2 CIS Airplay (TopHit)[21] 13 Croatia (HRT)[22] 43 Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)[23] 4 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[24] 15 Estonia (IFPI)[25] 38 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[26] 20 France (SNEP)[27] 91 Germany (GfK)[28] 44 Greece International Digital Singles (IFPI)[29] 52 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[30] 13 Hungary (Stream Top 40)[31] 16 Ireland (IRMA)[32] 8 Israel (Media Forest TV Airplay)[33] 1 Italy (FIMI)[34] 56 Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20)[35] 15 Malaysia (RIM)[36] 17 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[37] 9 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[38] 22 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[39] 17 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[40] 6 Portugal (AFP)[41] 40 Romania (Airplay 100)[42] 63 Russia Airplay (TopHit)[43] 9 Scotland (OCC)[44] 22 Singapore (RIAS)[45] 10 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[46] 8 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[47] 26 Slovenia (SloTop50)[48] 12 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[49] 38 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[50] 53 UK Singles (OCC)[51] 17 US Billboard Hot 100[52] 24 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[53] 21 US Adult Pop Airplay (Billboard)[54] 1 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[55] 23 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[56] 2 US Pop Airplay (Billboard)[57] 2 US Rhythmic (Billboard)[58] 38 US Radio Songs (Billboard)[59] 5

Year-end charts 2018 year-end chart performance for "Close to Me" Chart (2018) Position Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[60] 84 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[61] 92 2019 year-end chart performance for "Close to Me" Chart (2019) Position Australia (ARIA)[62] 88 Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[63] 72 Belgium (Ultratop Wallonia)[64] 47 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[65] 45 CIS (Tophit)[66] 58 Iceland (Tónlistinn)[67] 46 Latvia (LAIPA)[68] 70 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[69] 79 Poland (ZPAV)[70] 91 Portugal (AFP)[71] 143 Russia Airplay (Tophit)[72] 51 US Billboard Hot 100[73] 58 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[74] 50 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[75] 13 US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[76] 3 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[77] 18 Decade-end charts Decade-end chart performance for "Close to Me" Chart (2010–2019) Position US Hot Dance/Electronic Songs (Billboard)[78] 17

Certifications

Certifications for "Close to Me"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[79]	2× Platinum	140,000‡
Belgium (BEA)[80]	Gold	20,000‡
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[81]	2× Platinum	80,000‡
Canada (Music Canada)[82]	2× Platinum	160,000‡
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[83]	Gold	45,000‡
France (SNEP)[84]	Gold	100,000‡
Italy (FIMI)[85]	Platinum	50,000‡
New Zealand (RMNZ)[86]	2× Platinum	60,000‡
Poland (ZPAV)[87]	Platinum	20,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[88]	Platinum	600,000‡
United States (RIAA)[89]	2× Platinum	2,000,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release dates and formats for "Close to Me"

Region	Date	Format	Version	Label	Ref.
Italy	26 October 2018	Radio airplay	Original	Universal	[90]
United States	6 November 2018	Contemporary hit radio		Interscope	[91]
Various	1 February 2019	Digital download streaming	The Remix		[92]

Red Velvet remix

"Close to Me (Red Velvet Remix)"
Single by Ellie Goulding, Diplo and Red Velvet
Language	English Korean
Released	5 April 2019 (2019-04-05)
Length	3:09
Label	Polydor Interscope
Songwriter(s)	Ellie Goulding Ilya Salmanzadeh Peter Svensson Wooyoung Jang[93] Wendy Yeri[93] Sungsu Min[93] Eugene Kwon[93] Min-Kyu Lee[93] Lee Seu Ran[93] Savan Kotecha Thomas Wesley Pentz
Producer(s)	Ilya Diplo Alvaro (add.) Bas van Daalen (add.)
Ellie Goulding singles chronology
"Flux" (2019) "Close to Me (Red Velvet Remix)" (2019) "Sixteen" (2019)
Diplo singles chronology
"Hold You Tight" (2019) "Close to Me (Red Velvet Remix)" (2019) "Hold You Tight" (2019)
Red Velvet singles chronology
"Sayonara" (2019) "Close to Me" (2019) "Zimzalabim" (2019)

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.^[93] 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^[93]

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	[93]

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