“Run Away with Me” by Carly Rae Jepsen, Saturday, January 7, 2023 (partial repost)

When your first American hit is the second biggest song of the year, how do you follow that up? When your signature song has been called bubblegum and immature, how do you change your image to show that you're an adult with adult relationships, without getting X-rated? These were two questions Carly Rae Jepsen answered in her follow up to Kiss in E-MO-TION. If those two questions were on the interview, Jespsen would have the job on the merits of her 2015 effort. And as I enter the fifth year of my playlists and the third year of the blog, there are certain perennial favorites that show up maybe too often for some. I chose “Run Away with Me” at the beginning of the year for four of those years because of the fresh renewal this song gives me as my winter vacation begins.

YOU’RE STUCK IN MY HEAD, STUCK IN MY HEART, STUCK IN MY BODY. Sure, if your introduction to E-MO-TION was the first single "I Really Like You" turned you off as another "Call Me Maybe" so you never clicked "Add to Library" on the rest of the album, that's an understandable mistake. The meme-able first single arguably is less dynamic in the wake of its massive hit predecessor "Call Me Maybe." But while critics were divided on "I Really Like You," E-MO-TION as a whole received mostly favorable reviews, holding a 77% on Metacritic and a 9.0, or "universal acclaim," according to user reviews. Unfortunately, "I Really Like You" was the most successful single from the album, and that track failed to reach #1 as "Call Me Maybe" had. The album's other singles didn't do well on radio. "Run Away with Me"didn't make the Top 40 in America, though it did better in Europe, and "Your Type" only charted in Canada. Still, critics praised the album, and though "Run Away with Me" didn't chart well, it made many pop critics year-end lists and even end-of-decade lists.

OVER THE WEEKEND, WE COULD TURN THE WORLD TO GOLD. "Run Away with Me" is on my short list of songs--perhaps an upcoming playlist--that the moment I hear it, I know I'm going to have a good day. It's particularly effective when my bags are packed, and I'm expecting something good to happen. E-MO-TION was the album I listened to in 2016 and 2017 when I was in need of an adventure. When I needed to get away from my on-campus housing and explore or figure out how to do something in Korea. The pandemic, of course, has taken that joy--the unexpected shopping trips or checking out a new cafe or restaurant. So what's exciting about today? I’m on vacation in Jeju, the southernmost part of South Korea. It was the first time I’ve been on a plane since return to Korea at the end of January 2020. In a few weeks, I’ll be back in America for a few weeks, reconnecting with friends and family. In fact it was a shopping trip in that January that I heard “Run Away with Me” that made me chose this song early every year. It’s that feeling that bags are packed, we’re leaving tonight, and the weekend makes us feel young and alive. Covid restrictions are over, unless you’ve been to China recently. There will certainly be dark times this year, but let’s not think of them yet.

Read “Run Away With Me” by Carly Rae Jepsen on Genius

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