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"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

"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). It was premiered by Annie Mac on BBC Radio 1 as the "Hottest Record in the World".

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 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.

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.

Music video

The music video for "Close to Me", directed by Diane Martel, was filmed in Budapest, Hungary, and premiered on 14 November 2018.

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". She then later confirmed this would be the title, and along with posting an audio clip of the track, announced the release date and time.

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. She later performed the song during BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge Month on 28 November. Her first televised performance of the song was on the final of The X Factor on 2 December.

Charts

Certifications

Release history

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 Wendy Yeri Sungsu Min Eugene Kwon Min-Kyu Lee Lee Seu Ran 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. 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

Release history

References

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• 2018 singles
• 2018 songs
• Ellie Goulding songs
• Diplo songs
• Swae Lee songs
• Macaronic songs
• Songs written by Ellie Goulding
• Songs written by Diplo
• Songs written by Swae Lee
• Songs written by Savan Kotecha
• Song recordings produced by Diplo
• Song recordings produced by Ilya Salmanzadeh
• Songs written by Ilya Salmanzadeh
• Songs written by Peter Svensson
• Music videos directed by Diane Martel
• Interscope Records singles
• Polydor Records singles