Love Me like You Do
"Love Me like You Do" is a song recorded by English singer Ellie Goulding for the soundtrack to the film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015). The song was written by Savan Kotecha, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Tove Lo, Max Martin and Ali Payami; the latter two also produced it. Goulding was selected to provide vocals to the track. It was released on 7 January 2015 as the second single from the soundtrack. The song was also included on Goulding's third studio album, Delirium (2015).
This article is about the Ellie Goulding song. For other uses, see Love Me like You Do (disambiguation)."Love Me Like You Do"
7 January 2015
2014
- MXM (Los Angeles and Stockholm)
- Wolf Cousins (Stockholm)
- The RedRoom (Gothenburg)
4:10
- Max Martin
- Ali Payami
"Love Me like You Do" is a mid-tempo electropop power ballad, with instrumentation consisting of massive synths and crushing drums. Lyrically, similar to the film's theme, the song talks about the uncontrollable feeling of falling in love and being seduced by someone whose touch leaves her begging for more, even when it hurts. It received acclaim from music critics, who praised Goulding's soft vocals and the song for being sultry and grandiose. The song earned Goulding her first Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Solo Performance, while the songwriters were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media, the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, and the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Song.
"Love Me like You Do" topped the UK Singles Chart, a position it maintained for four weeks and held the record for the most-streamed track in a single week in the United Kingdom at the time. Outside the United Kingdom, "Love Me like You Do" became Goulding's most successful single as well as becoming her first chart-topper in various countries, going number one in over 30 official charts worldwide, including Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland and peaking within the top ten of the charts in various countries, including Belgium, Colombia and the United States. Its accompanying music video, which features scenes of the film and Goulding dancing with her partner in a ballroom, received a nomination at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video, and in 2016 became the 21st video to receive one billion views on YouTube.
Composition and lyrics[edit]
"Love Me like You Do" was written by Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Ali Payami and Tove Lo, with production by Martin and Payami; they were also responsible for programming, drums, percussion, keys and bass. Strings were arranged by Mattias Bylund, violin was played by Mattias Johansson and cello by David Bukovinsky. Peter Carlsson was responsible for vocal editing, as well as background vocals, along with Martin, Payami, Ilya, Kotecha, Oscar Holter, Robin Fredriksson, Mattias Larsson, Oscar Görres and Ludvig Söderberg. It was recorded in Los Angeles and Stockholm.[5] According to the sheet music published at MusicNotes.com by Kobalt Music Group, the song is written in the key of A♭ major, with a moderate tempo of 95 beats per minute. Goulding's vocal range spans from the low note of A♭3 to the high note of E♭5.[6]
"Love Me like You Do" is a tender electropop power ballad,[7][8][9] with a "synth-filled, '80s-sounding" production.[10] Its instrumentation consists of massive synthesisers and crushing drums,[8] while Goulding delivers a "soft, understated vocals".[9] In the opening seconds she sings, "You're the cure/ you're the pain/ you're the only thing I want to touch/ Never knew that it/ could mean so much/ You're the fear/ I don't care/ 'Cause I've never been so high."[11] Lyrically, "Love Me like You Do" contrasts "innocent romantic longing" and "brooding, addictive, pain-laced sensuality", which according to Plugged In's Adam R. Holz, "mirrors the story arc of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey" in both the book and the film. He went on to explain its lyrical content: "[It] tells the tale of a woman entranced and seduced by someone whose touch leaves her begging for more, even when—or perhaps especially when—it hurts."[10]
Commercial performance[edit]
"Love Me like You Do" entered at the top of the UK Singles Chart with first-week sales of 172,368 units, becoming Goulding's second number one on the chart after "Burn" (2013).[28][29] The single remained at number one for a second week with chart sales of 118,225 copies and 2.25 million streams,[30][31] and then a third consecutive week selling a further 118,000 copies. In its third week at number one, "Love Me like You Do" broke the streaming record in the United Kingdom at the time, with 2.58 million streams over seven days, surpassing Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk" previous record.[32] At the same time, the song was streamed almost 15.5 million times globally.[33] It spent a total of four weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart, becoming her longest number-one single on the listing.[34]
Elsewhere in Europe, "Love Me like You Do" topped the charts in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.[35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] In France, the song peaked at number five, Goulding's highest-charting single and second top-10 single on the French Singles Chart.[43] In the Netherlands, the song became her first solo single to reach the top 10, peaking at number two on the Dutch Top 40.[44]
In the United States, "Love Me like You Do" debuted at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated 24 January 2015, with first-week sales of 79,000 copies.[45] The following week, the song climbed to number 36,[46] and then to number 20 in its third week.[47] On the issue dated 14 February 2015, it rose to number 14.[48] "Love Me like You Do" reached number nine the following week, becoming Goulding's second top-10 entry on the chart.[49] In its seventh week, the song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming her highest-charting single since "Lights" peaked at number two on the chart in July 2012.[50] On the Pop Songs chart, it was her second single to top the charts,[51] and on the Adult Top 40 chart, it was her first number-one.[52] "Love Me like You Do" debuted at number 38 on the Canadian Hot 100 for the week ending 24 January 2015,[53] later peaking at number three.[54][55]
In Australasia, track entered at number eight on the Australian Singles Chart and at number three on the New Zealand Singles Chart. In its fourth week, "Love Me like You Do" reached number one on both charts, becoming Goulding's first number-one single in both countries.[56][57]
Music video[edit]
The music video for "Love Me like You Do" was directed by Georgia Hudson and premiered on 22 January 2015.[58] It stars Goulding and her on-screen partner, Charlie Harding, ballroom dancing in a mansion, as well as scenes from Fifty Shades of Grey. Regarding the dance in the video, she commented: "I am in it. That's me! I'm dancing in it!. [...] I basically have become fascinated with ballroom dancing so I was like, 'Can I please do some dancing in it?'. So they let me do that. There's a guy in it, Charlie, and there's some really sensual moments in it, and it's in a really beautiful house. I think it's one of my favorite videos."[59] The video received a nomination for Best Female Video at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.[60] The video passed one billion views on YouTube at the end of February 2016; the 21st song to achieve this milestone.[61]
Live performances and cover versions[edit]
Goulding performed "Love Me like You Do" in March 2015 at a Nike app launch. On 17 October 2015, Goulding was invited by Taylor Swift on her 1989 Tour as a surprise guest to sing a duet with her.[62] On 25 October 2015, Goulding delivered a performance at the 2015 MTV Europe Music Awards, which Billboard called "sexy" and "straightforward".[63] On 7 November 2015, she sang it at the NRJ Music Awards.[64] In the same month, she was also part of the American Express Unstaged, directed by Scarlett Johansson.[65] On 20 November 2015, Goulding's performance at Idol Sweden included the song.[66] On 24 November 2015, she and James Corden sang it in several genres during The Late Late Show with James Corden, including rock, hip hop, country, rave, reggae, folk, and gospel.[67] Goulding performed it during Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, which aired on 8 December 2015. On 6 December 2015, she appeared at Capital FM's Jingle Bell Ball.[68] On 10 December 2015, she gave another rendition of the song at the 2015 BBC Music Awards with the BBC Concert Orchestra.[69] On 18 April 2020, Goulding performed the song's accoutic version at One World: Together at Home.[70]
In March 2015, Circa Waves performed a rock cover at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.[71] That same month, James Arthur covered the song for MTV.[72] In May 2015, Ella Henderson delivered an acoustic cover at Spin 1038 Live Room.[73] In September 2015, Rhodes covered the song at BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.[74]
The song appears in the 2019 Max Martin jukebox musical & Juliet where it is performed by Romeo. Jordan Luke Gage, who originated the role on the West End, recorded the song for the official cast soundtrack.