Run Away with Me
"Run Away with Me" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen, serving as the second single from her third studio album, E•MO•TION, released on August 21, 2015, by School Boy Records and Interscope Records.[1] Issued digitally and accompanied by its music video on July 17, 2015, the track is a synth-pop number featuring a prominent, echoing saxophone riff and pulsating 1980s-inspired production that evokes themes of romantic escape and wanderlust.[2][3] The song was co-written by Jepsen and produced by a team including Mattman & Robin, with its lyrics expressing a desire to break free from everyday monotony and embark on an adventurous journey with a loved one, as captured in lines like "Baby, take me to the feeling / I'll be your sinner, in secret."[4] Its music video, directed by David Kalani Larkins—who was Jepsen's boyfriend at the time—documents the couple's real-life travels across New York, Tokyo, and other global locations, blending personal footage with high-energy performance shots to emphasize the song's escapist narrative.[5][6] Despite modest commercial performance—peaking at number 8 on the Billboard + Twitter Trending 140 chart but failing to enter the Billboard Hot 100—"Run Away with Me" garnered widespread critical acclaim for its infectious energy and emotional depth, earning placements on year-end lists such as Rolling Stone's 50 Best Songs of 2015 and retrospective rankings like Billboard's 100 Best Pop Songs Never to Hit the Hot 100.[7][8][3] The track has since become a cult favorite, often hailed as a defining moment in Jepsen's evolution from one-hit wonder to critically revered pop artist, and was reimagined in remixes for the album's 10th anniversary edition in 2025.[9][10]Background and writing
Development and inspiration
The development of "Run Away with Me" occurred during the intensive songwriting sessions for Carly Rae Jepsen's third studio album, E•MO•TION, where she collaborated with various songwriters and producers to establish the album's overarching theme of romantic escapism. These early collaborations focused on capturing the thrill of impulsive romance and the desire to flee everyday constraints with a lover, setting the conceptual foundation for tracks like "Run Away with Me" that evoke a sense of urgent, heartfelt yearning. Jepsen has described this phase as a deliberate exploration of emotional vulnerability in pop music, drawing from personal experiences to infuse the album with a narrative of adventure and intimacy.[11] The song was written in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2014 by Jepsen, Noonie Bao, and Oscar Holter, with production by Mattman & Robin and Shellback.[12][13] Its inspiration was deeply rooted in 1980s synth-pop and new wave aesthetics, with Jepsen citing artists like Cyndi Lauper as pivotal influences for their unapologetic embrace of youthful adventure and emotional longing. A Cyndi Lauper concert in Tokyo served as a key catalyst, prompting Jepsen to infuse E•MO•TION with the era's vibrant, heart-on-sleeve energy, including shimmering synths and themes of escapism that parallel Lauper's anthemic style in songs like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." This retro influence extended to evoking the drive and restlessness found in new wave acts such as The Cars, emphasizing a nocturnal, road-trip-like romance that underscores the track's core sentiment of breaking free. Jepsen aimed to modernize these elements, creating a sound that felt timeless yet fresh for contemporary listeners.[14][11][15] Specific anecdotes from Jepsen highlight the song's emergence during late-night writing sessions in Stockholm and Los Angeles in early 2014, involving multiple trips to Sweden marked by consecutive sleepless nights until the composition felt complete. She recounted the process as grueling yet exhilarating, with the track crystallizing amid a "rush of wanting to escape with your lover in the middle of the night and go travel around the world," often requiring space and iteration to refine its emotional core. These sessions, documented informally by her then-boyfriend, underscored the song's organic evolution from raw ideas to a polished expression of desire.[16] From its inception, "Run Away with Me" was envisioned as the album opener for E•MO•TION, designed to establish a tone of emotional urgency and propel listeners into the record's world of fervent romance. Jepsen specifically chose elements like the track's distinctive saxophone riff to hook audiences immediately, signaling the album's bold, nostalgic drive and setting it apart as an invitation to emotional immersion. This positioning reflected her intent to lead with a song that embodied the entire project's spirit of unbridled passion and escape.[14][11]Songwriting process
The songwriting for "Run Away with Me" centered on themes of escapism, evoking the desire to flee mundane routines for spontaneous adventure, intertwined with imagery of road trips and impulsive romance. Jepsen described the track as capturing the restlessness of longing for a lover after prolonged separation, culminating in a bold decision to elope and embrace uncertainty.[17] Lyrics like "I wanna go, get outta here / I'm sick of the party, party" illustrate the yearning to break free, while the pivotal hook "Baby, take me to the feeling" symbolizes surrendering to euphoric, all-consuming passion.[12] These elements drew briefly from 1980s pop influences, emphasizing emotional urgency and romantic idealism.[18] The process unfolded through collaborative sessions in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2014, involving Jepsen, Noonie Bao, Oscar Holter, Shellback, and producers Mattman & Robin (Mattias Larsson and Robin Fredriksson). Jepsen infused personal experiences from her extensive travels, including a grueling promo tour where she and her then-boyfriend (now partner) documented fleeting moments of romance, such as renting bikes in foreign cities, which informed the song's nomadic, heartfelt narrative. Over multiple revisions across two to three trips to Sweden, the team refined verses to heighten the sense of impulsive connection, with Jepsen calling her A&R excitedly from Stockholm to share early demos despite the time difference.[18][16][19] Melody development began with intimate sketches, including acoustic guitar demos captured on video by Jepsen's boyfriend, featuring improvised lines like "body, body" and "party, party" to test emotional flow. These evolved into a synth-driven chorus after sleepless nights of iteration, where the team repositioned structural elements—such as shifting the initial chorus placement to the bridge—to amplify the track's drive. Particular emphasis was placed on the pre-chorus build-up, creating tension that releases into the anthemic refrain, enhancing the escapist rush.[16][20] Jepsen and her collaborators decided early to position "Run Away with Me" as the album's lead track, recognizing its "happy punch in the face" quality and dramatic saxophone riff—even before completion—as ideal for setting E•MO•TION's tone of vibrant, unbridled emotion. This choice stemmed from its anthemic structure and ability to encapsulate the record's core themes of bold romantic pursuit.[20][18]Composition and production
Musical composition
"Run Away with Me" is classified as synth-pop with dance-pop elements, drawing influences from 1980s new wave and disco through its nostalgic, euphoric soundscape. The track maintains an upbeat tempo of 119 beats per minute in the key of F♯ major, creating a propulsive energy that propels the listener forward.[21][22][23] The song employs a classic verse-chorus structure augmented by a bridge, beginning with an instrumental intro featuring a signature saxophone riff that sets a dreamy tone. Verses build intimacy with sparse arrangements, transitioning via a pre-chorus hook—"Baby, take me to the feeling"—that escalates tension before exploding into the expansive chorus. A bridge introduces variation with heightened emotional intensity, leading to a repeated chorus and an extended instrumental outro that fades with lingering synths and percussion, emphasizing the track's escapist theme.[21][24] Instrumentation centers on shimmering synthesizers and punchy drum machines that mimic 1980s production aesthetics, underpinned by groovy basslines for rhythmic drive. The distorted, reverb-heavy saxophone riff, which recurs throughout, adds a layer of retro flair without overpowering the electronic core, evoking the neon-lit urgency of new wave acts while infusing disco's danceable groove.[25][26] Carly Rae Jepsen's vocals showcase layered harmonies and a wide dynamic range, starting with breathy, vulnerable delivery in the verses to convey longing, then surging into belted, multi-tracked choruses that amplify the song's exhilaration. This vocal progression mirrors the track's structural builds, with overlapping harmonies in the chorus creating a sense of communal uplift.[24]Recording and production details
The recording sessions for "Run Away with Me" primarily took place at MXM Studios and Wolf Cousins Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, during mid-2014 as part of the broader production for Carly Rae Jepsen's album E•MO•TION.[27][18] Shellback played a central role in production, arranging the track's synth elements and beats to craft its driving synth-pop energy, while the Swedish duo Mattman & Robin co-produced and contributed to the overall sound design.[18][12] The production featured synthesizers to create a warm, retro texture in the instrumentation, complemented by multi-tracked vocals from Jepsen in the chorus to achieve a layered, anthemic effect.[28] Mixing was handled by Serban Ghenea, with engineering support from John Hanes, ensuring a polished finish suitable for radio broadcast.[29]Release and promotion
Single release
"Run Away with Me" was released on July 17, 2015, as the second single from Carly Rae Jepsen's third studio album E•MO•TION, following the lead single "I Really Like You".[1][30] The song impacted U.S. pop radio stations on July 21, 2015; digital downloads were made available immediately upon release.[31] The rollout featured the music video debut on NBC's Today show on the release date, building on the album's early availability in Japan on June 24, 2015, where "Run Away with Me" served as the opening track.[6][32]Formats and track listings
"Run Away with Me" was released as a digital download single on July 17, 2015, featuring the standard album version with a duration of 4:11.[33] A promotional CD single containing the same track was issued in France on the same date.[34] The song appears as track 1 on the standard edition of Carly Rae Jepsen's third studio album E•MO•TION, released August 21, 2015.[35] The deluxe edition of E•MO•TION, which adds five bonus tracks, retains "Run Away with Me" in the same position, with no alterations to the track order for the core album in international releases. Several remixes of "Run Away with Me" were released digitally, with notable versions including the RAC Remix (4:15) and Oliver Heldens Remix (4:46).[36] These appear on the Run Away with Me (Remixes) EP, released August 13, 2015, via School Boy and Interscope Records. In 2025, for the 10th anniversary of E•MO•TION, new remixes of "Run Away with Me" were released as part of the anniversary edition.[9][37] The EP's standard track listing is as follows:| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Run Away with Me" (ASTR Remix) | 5:33 |
| 2 | "Run Away with Me" (Cyril Hahn Remix) | 4:52 |
| 3 | "Run Away with Me" (Y2K Remix) | 4:28 |
| 4 | "Run Away with Me" (RAC Remix) | 4:15 |
| 5 | "Run Away with Me" (Oliver Heldens Remix) | 4:46 |
| 6 | "Run Away with Me" (Cardiknox Remix) | 4:28 |
Music video
Production and concept
The official music video for "Run Away with Me" was directed by David Kalani Larkins, who was Carly Rae Jepsen's boyfriend at the time and a professional videographer.[6][17] Filming took place spontaneously during Jepsen's promotional tour for her album E•MO•TION in mid-2015, capturing candid footage across international locations including Paris, Tokyo, and New York City.[6][38] Jepsen later described the process as unplanned, noting, "I didn’t even know we were making a music video until about halfway through it."[6][39] The video's concept revolves around a theme of escapist adventure and romantic invitation, mirroring the song's lyrics about fleeing everyday life together. It presents Jepsen as a joyful wanderer, running, dancing, and exploring urban landscapes, which symbolizes the thrill of spontaneous connection and global journey.[40][41] This narrative unfolds through a montage of personal moments, emphasizing intimacy and freedom rather than a scripted plot, with Larkins' idea originating from simply documenting their shared travels.[6] Artistically, the video adopts a lo-fi, DIY aesthetic that contrasts with polished pop productions, featuring handheld camera work, natural lighting, and unfiltered energy to evoke authenticity. Jepsen appears in casual yet vibrant outfits, performing subtle movements like skipping through streets and subway rides, which highlight her playful charisma and tie into the song's upbeat synth-pop vibe.[6][40] Background elements include everyday urban extras—passersby and cityscapes—adding to the immersive, lived-in feel, while occasional glimpses of tour life nod to the album's overarching theme of emotional motion.[41]Release and reception
The music video for "Run Away with Me" premiered on July 17, 2015, via Carly Rae Jepsen's official channels on YouTube and Vevo.[2] Directed by her then-partner David Kalani Larkins, it captures Jepsen in spontaneous, first-person footage across locations including Paris, New York City, and Tokyo, emphasizing a DIY aesthetic that aligns with the song's themes of escape and adventure.[6] Initial reception highlighted the video's energetic vibe and nostalgic travelogue style, which complemented the track's upbeat pop production. Rolling Stone commended its cinéma vérité approach, noting how it provides an intimate, jet-setting perspective on Jepsen's world.[6] Similarly, SPIN described it as a "cute travelogue" that effectively conveys the song's bold, infectious energy despite its low-budget charm.[42] The video quickly gained viral traction among fans. As of November 2025, it has surpassed 54 million views on YouTube.[2]Critical reception
Initial reviews
Upon its release as the second single from Carly Rae Jepsen's album E•MO•TION on July 17, 2015, "Run Away with Me" received widespread critical acclaim for its euphoric energy and polished production. Pitchfork's August 2015 album review highlighted the track's opening synths as "clarion" battle-call horns, positioning it as a bold declaration of romantic escape that captures the thrill of infatuation without deeper personal revelation.[43] The review awarded the album an 8.1 out of 10, praising the song's ability to evoke the sensation of being immersed in a love anthem.[43] The Guardian echoed this enthusiasm in its September 11, 2015, single review, calling "Run Away with Me" the best thing Jepsen had done to date and a signal of her evolution from "cheesy guilty-pleasure" pop toward a more mature "electro Scandi-pop" sound.[44] The outlet's album review on September 17, 2015, which gave E•MO•TION four out of five stars, noted the song's distorted and reverb-heavy saxophone riff as emblematic of its infectious, 1980s-inspired catchiness.[45] Critics commonly praised the track for revitalizing Jepsen's career following the massive success of "Call Me Maybe" in 2012, emphasizing its sleek production—courtesy of producers Mattman & Robin and Shellback—as a step toward artistic legitimacy in contemporary pop.[43][44] However, some outlets offered minor criticisms; Slant Magazine's August 2015 album review, which scored E•MO•TION four out of five stars, described the song's M83-inspired bombast and busy synth arrangements as setting a template that occasionally rendered the album's tracks too structurally similar and formulaic.[46] Aggregated scores reflected this positive reception, with E•MO•TION earning a Metacritic average of 77 out of 100 based on 24 reviews, many of which singled out "Run Away with Me" as a standout for its emotional immediacy and production sheen.[47]Accolades and retrospective lists
"Run Away with Me" earned widespread critical acclaim in year-end polls following its release. Rolling Stone placed the song at number 49 on its list of the 50 best songs of 2015, praising its euphoric synth-pop energy.[8] Stereogum ranked it 14th among the 50 best pop songs of the year, highlighting its role in elevating Carly Rae Jepsen's album E•MO•TION to critical favorite status.[48] In decade-end retrospectives, the track solidified its status as a pop landmark. Pitchfork ranked "Run Away with Me" number 36 on its list of the 200 best songs of the 2010s, describing it as a simple yet irresistible proposal for escape that captures the era's blend of nostalgia and futurism.[49] Billboard included it in its 2023 compilation of the 100 best pop songs never to reach the Hot 100, noting its rallying cry of a chorus as a synth-pop anthem that resonated despite limited mainstream chart success.[3] Later analyses in the 2020s have underscored the song's lasting influence on indie pop and synth-driven music. Rolling Stone critic Rob Sheffield ranked it fifth on his personal list of the 50 best songs of the 2010s, calling it a "synth-pop masterpiece" that evokes "a utopian future where every day is a perfect summer afternoon."[10] In 2025, the 10th anniversary edition of E•MO•TION prompted renewed praise, with Pitchfork awarding it an 8.4 out of 10 and highlighting "Run Away with Me" as a timeless synth-pop highlight.[50] The track's production, featuring soaring saxophone and layered vocals, has been credited with bridging mainstream pop accessibility and indie sensibilities, inspiring subsequent artists in the genre.[49]Commercial performance
Chart performance
"Run Away with Me" achieved modest chart success in several markets following its release in 2015, reflecting its appeal through radio airplay and digital consumption rather than mainstream top 40 dominance. In the United States, the song did not enter the Billboard Hot 100 but demonstrated strong radio support by peaking at number 50 on the Pop Airplay chart in September 2015, where it benefited from increased spins after an initial summer run. This airplay performance underscored the track's longevity on contemporary hit radio stations, with the song regaining momentum and accumulating over 500 mediabase impressions during its peak week.[51] Internationally, the single entered various national charts with varying degrees of success, often driven by digital downloads and streaming. In Canada, it debuted at number 83 on the Canadian Hot 100 in late August 2015, marking its only week on the chart but highlighting home-market recognition for Jepsen.[52]| Country | Chart | Peak Position | Weeks on Chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | ARIA Singles Chart | 100 | 1 |
| Bulgaria | Singles Top 40 | 20 | 10 |
| Canada | Canadian Hot 100 | 83 | 1 |
| Ireland | Singles Top 100 | 82 | 3 |
| UK | Singles Top 75 | 58 | 5 |
| US | Pop Airplay (Billboard) | 50 | N/A |