"I Really Like You" is a song recorded by Canadian singer

Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of ...

for her third studio album, ''

Emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or displeasure. There is currently no scientific consensus on a definition. ...

'' (2015). It was written by Jepsen, Jacob Kasher Hindlin,

Peter Svensson Anders Peter Svensson is a Swedish record producer, songwriter, and musician. He is the main songwriter and guitarist of the band the Cardigans. He started playing guitar at the age of eight, and in his teens he went on to play with local bands ...

, and Steve DaMar; and produced by Svensson. The song was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

on 2 March 2015. "I Really Like You" peaked at number 14 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

. Outside of Canada, "I Really Like You" topped the charts in Hong Kong and Scotland, peaked within the top ten of the charts in Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Republic of Ireland, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, and peaked within the top 20 of the charts in Austria, Germany, Slovakia and Switzerland. The song's accompanying

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

starred

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

and featured

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

, and was released 5 March 2015.

Writing and production

"I Really Like You" was written by Jepsen, Jacob Kasher Hindlin and

, and produced by the latter. According to Jepsen, the song's lyrics are about "that time in a relationship when it's too soon to say 'I love you,' but you're well past, 'I like you' and you're at the 'I really, ''really'' like you' stage."

Composition

Soraya Nadia McDonald Soraya Nadia McDonald is an American writer and culture critic. She was previously a reporter at ''The Washington Post'', and has been the culture critic for '' The Undefeated'' since 2016. McDonald was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' characterized "I Really Like You" as a

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

song, musically reminiscent of Jepsen's previous album ''

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

'' (2012),

1980s music __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

and

Solange Knowles Solange Piaget Knowles (; born June 24, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, performance artist, and actress. Expressing an interest in music from an early age, Knowles had several temporary stints as a backup dancer for Destiny's Child, wh ...

' 2012 EP ''

True True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * Tr ...

''. ''

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...

''s Emily Yoshida noted elements of 1980s and new wave. Ryan Reed of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' described the track as a "

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

number". Musically, the song is written in the key of

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consis ...

, with a tempo of 122 beats per minute. Jepsen's vocals span from G3 to D5.

Critical reception

Jason Lipshutz of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' called the song "really (really) fun" and "a breathless 80's banger that comes back to 012 single'

Call Me Maybe "Call Me Maybe" is a song recorded by Canadian singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen for her EP ''Curiosity'' (2012) and later appeared on her second studio album and first international album ''Kiss'' (2012). The song was written by Jepsen and T ...

's fixation on ultra-crisp

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

and blurted-out flirtation". ''

Idolator An idolator is a practitioner of idolatry. Idolater or Idolator may also refer to: Books *''Os Idólatras'', 1968 Portuguese novel by Maria Judite de Carvalho Music * Idolator (website), an American music blog * ''Idolator'' (album), third album ...

''s Bianca Gracie described "I Really Like You" as "mind-blowing, fantastic, catchy-as-hell pop". In October 2022, Rachel Seo of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' ranked "I Really Like You" as Jepsen's 13th best song, writing: "'I want you. Do you want me? Do you want me too?' reads like a succession of desperate

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...

messages, but Jepsen's ascending

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

seamlessly weaves through Jeff Halavacs and Peter Svensson's

electro-pop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

production, sounding more enthusiastic than anything else."

Commercial performance

In Canada, "I Really Like You" debuted at number 14 on the

issued for March 21, 2015, marking Jepsen's seventh top 40 hit in Canada. In the United States, "I Really Like You" debuted at number 48 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on March 21, 2015, selling 38,000 copies in its first week. It peaked at number 39 on 2 May 2015, marking Jepsen's third top 40 hit in the United States. In the United Kingdom, the song debuted and peaked at number three on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on May 3, 2015 – for week ending date May 9, 2015 – a position it maintained for two consecutive weeks. In September 2020, the song re-entered the UK iTunes chart and has remained inside the top 100 for two months since.

Music video

The music video was directed by Peter Glanz. Jepsen filmed part of the song's music video on 16 February 2015, in front of the

Mondrian Hotel The Mondrian Hotel is a boutique hotel owned and/or operated by SBE Entertainment Group, located in West Hollywood, California. History The structure was built in 1959 as an apartment building. It was later renovated and reopened in 1985 as the ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

alongside

and a troupe of dancers. Also making cameo appearances in the video are

Rudy Mancuso Rodolfo Mancuso (born February 28, 1991) is an American Internet personality, musician and actor. He is known for making comedy skits with his friends on YouTube and Vine having 10.6 million followers by the time it shut down making him the 4th ...

and

King Bach Andrew Byron Bachelor (born June 26, 1988), also known as King Bach is a Canadian-American Internet personality and actor who rose to fame on the now-defunct video sharing service Vine, where he had 16.2 million followers, making him the most fol ...

, well-known users of the short-form video sharing application

Vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

. The video was released on 6 March 2015.

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

's Nicolle Weeks described it as "a more affable version" of the music video for

The Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Simo ...

's "

Bitter Sweet Symphony "Bitter Sweet Symphony" is a song by the English rock band the Verve, from their third studio album, ''Urban Hymns'' (1997). It was produced by Youth and released on 16 June 1997 by Hut Recordings and Virgin Records as the album's lead single. ...

" (1997). The music video has been rated as one of 10 Best Music Videos of 2015 (So Far) by the readers of ''

''.

Live performances and covers

Jepsen performed "I Really Like You" live on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'' on 2 March 2015, followed by a performance on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' on 5 March 2015 and ''

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

'' on 11 March 2015. She also performed the song on ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

'', ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

'', ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'', ''

Much Music Video Awards The iHeartRadio MMVAs were an annual awards show broadcast on Much to honour the year's best music videos that was last held in 2018. Originally debuting in 1990 as the Canadian Music Video Awards, the awards were renamed in 1995 to the MuchMu ...

'', and ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was prod ...

''.

Track listings

Digital download # "I Really Like You" – 3:24 Digital download – remixes EP # "I Really Like You" (

Blasterjaxx Blasterjaxx is a Dutch DJ and record producer duo composed of Thom Jongkind (born 1990) and Idir Makhlaf (born 1991), originated in The Hague and active since 2010. They are mostly known for producing big room house and electro house music, bein ...

Remix) – 3:35 # "I Really Like You" (The Scene Kings Remix) – 3:17 # "I Really Like You" (The Scene Kings Extended Remix) – 4:35 # "I Really Like You" (Wayne G. Club Mix) – 7:39 # "I Really Like You" (Liam Keegan Remix Radio Edit) – 3:09 # "I Really Like You" (Liam Keegan Extended Remix) – 4:39

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{authority control 2015 singles 604 Records singles Schoolboy Records singles Interscope Records singles Carly Rae Jepsen songs Number-one singles in Scotland Songs written by Carly Rae Jepsen Songs written by Jacob Kasher Songs written by Peter Svensson 2015 songs