“On My Mind” by Ellie Goulding 

So, it seems Goulding has found herself in a messy spot with “On My Mind”. She’s faced with thinking about a particular person constantly despite knowing she shouldn’t be. What started out as a one-night stand because she was attracted to their tattoos ended up with them wanting her heart.

Like anyone caught in her situation, the first thing anyone would do is to turn the person down. However, this doesn’t end well for Goulding. Her rejection leads the “cute”, tattooed person to cause backlash as they spread rumors that she broke their heart, while she recalls the events to be untrue.

One would assume the songstress would get angry at this point. Instead, she takes a spin with a pause in the middle of the second verse before stating that she could have liked them had she given them a chance. And maybe she does as she can’t stop thinking about them. Yet, unfortunately, due to how the tables turned against her, she quickly dismisses the idea of them being together.

In the bridge, it’s unclear if this is Goulding speaking to herself or her love interest. For the former, it could be her regret talking, telling her that she shouldn’t have brushed them off so quickly. This would have addressed her “fear of being alone”. And in fact, Goulding has voiced out that she is indeed afraid of sleeping alone in the dark through her 2010 song, “Lights”.

On the contrary, if it’s the latter, it could be assumed as somewhat of a threat with them spreading false narratives of her around. The “dangerous zone” could be her underlining anger that’s about to show. Despite the borderline anger, she still empathises with their shared fear of loneliness.

Release Dates

Polydor Records released this as a single on 17^th September, 2015. “On My Mind” was the fifth track from Goulding’s third album, which is titled “Delirium”. In addition to “On My Mind”, these singles were also released from “Delirium”:

• “Army”
• “Something in the Way You Move”

Credits for “On My Mind”

Ellie Goulding wrote this song with a team that consisted of three other songwriters: .

• Famed Swedish record producer/songwriter Max Martin. Goulding had always wanted to work with him and the first song they worked together on was “Love Me Like You Do”.
• American songwriter and record producer Savan Kotecha.
• Swedish-Persian singer-songwriter ILYA. Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce are just some artists he’s collaborated with.

Rumors Have It

Back in 2013, it was rumored that Ellie and British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran dated. Their relationship was rumored to have ended almost as instantly. It is believed that Ellie cheated on Ed with One Direction’s Niall Horan. Fans speculated that this was the story behind Ed’s 2014 single “Don’t”.

Owing to this, Ellie’s “On My Mind” had many fans assuming that this was a rebuttal song to Ed’s “Don’t”. In a 2015 interview with MTV, Ellie put to rest all the false rumors. She said her single is not about anyone in particular but it was more of a common story she had with her song writing team, with them having someone on their mind when they shouldn’t be.

Chart Performance

“On My Mind” was a success on the charts. It even hit number 1 in Poland. In the United States, it peaked at position 13 on Billboard’s Hot 100.

Accolades

In the United Kingdom, “On My Mind” attained Platinum sales certification having sold over 600,000 units to date.

It went 2x Platinum in America after selling nothing less than 2,000,000 units.

Notable Covers

• In 2015, Landon Austin and Madeleine Queen covered this single.
• Emma Heesters and Mike Attinger also released a cover in 2015.
• In 2016, Boyce Avenue (ft. Jacob Whitesides) published their acoustic rendition of “On My Mind”.