It is hard to remember a time when you couldn’t walk into a grocery store or a wedding reception without hearing that shimmering, synth-heavy intro. Honestly, it was everywhere. Released in early 2015, Love Me Like You Do didn't just climb the charts; it basically parked itself at the top for what felt like an eternity. But behind the glossy production and the massive Fifty Shades of Grey tie-in, there is a weirdly complex story of a song that almost went to a different pop star entirely.
Ellie Goulding was already a star by 2015. She had "Lights." She had "Burn." But this was different. This was the kind of global juggernaut that changes a career trajectory forever.
The Song Ellie Goulding Nearly Passed On
Believe it or not, Ellie Goulding wasn't immediately sold on the track. She was actually deep in the process of working on her third studio album, Delirium, and was knda hesitant about jumping onto another movie soundtrack. She’d already done the soundtrack thing for The Hunger Games and Divergent. She wanted to focus on her own record.
It took a nudge from director Sam Taylor-Johnson to get her on board.
And then there's the Max Martin factor. You can't talk about 2010s pop without mentioning him. The guy is a machine. He, along with Savan Kotecha, Ilya Salmanzadeh, Ali Payami, and Tove Lo, crafted this thing to be a "tender electropop power ballad." It has those huge, crashing drums that feel like a throwback to a 1980s Phil Collins record, but with a sleek, modern finish.
It wasn't originally for Ellie?
One of the most interesting "what ifs" in pop history is that Love Me Like You Do was originally being developed with Demi Lovato in mind. Savan Kotecha has mentioned in interviews that the song was kicking around before the movie producers even came knocking. When they saw a scene from the film, the team realized the track fit the "pain-laced sensuality" of Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey perfectly.
Breaking Records and Breaking the Internet
When the song finally dropped, it didn't just perform well—it shattered records. In the UK, it was the fastest-selling single of 2015. It even knocked Mark Ronson’s "Uptown Funk" off the top spot after that song had dominated for seven weeks.
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- Global Reach: It hit number one in over 30 countries.
- The Billboard Factor: In the US, it peaked at number three on the Hot 100.
- Streaming Giant: It was one of the first songs to truly exploit the streaming era, racking up over 2.25 million streams in a single week in the UK alone.
The music video was another beast entirely. It’s got that classic mix of movie footage and Ellie dancing in a ballroom. Simple? Yeah. Effective? Absolutely. It became one of the few videos to cross the two-billion-view mark on YouTube.
The Lyrics: More Than Just a Love Song?
If you actually look at the words, Love Me Like You Do is a bit darker than your average wedding song. "You're the cure, you're the pain / You're the only thing I wanna touch." It’s a direct reflection of the movie’s themes—that blurry line between pleasure and something a bit more intense.
Some critics at the time thought the lyrics were a bit problematic, arguing they glamorized a somewhat obsessive or even unhealthy power dynamic. "I'll let you set the pace 'cause I'm not thinking straight." It’s definitely not a song about a stable, boring relationship. It’s about that "holy grail" level of infatuation where you’re basically losing your mind.
But that’s why it worked.
The song captures that specific, breathless feeling of being totally consumed by someone. Ellie’s "breathous" soprano vocals—which some critics call "understated" while others call "ethereal"—give it a vulnerability that makes the massive production feel personal.
A Career Pivot Points
Some fans argue that this song was the moment Ellie Goulding "went pop" and left her folktronica roots behind. Before this, her sound was a bit quirkier, more experimental. After Love Me Like You Do, she was firmly in the A-list pop lane.
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While it cemented her as a global superstar, it also created a high bar that’s incredibly hard to clear twice. How do you follow up a song that becomes the definitive ballad of a decade? For Ellie, it meant leaning into the dance-pop world with Delirium and eventually finding a balance between her electronic interests and mainstream appeal.
What You Should Do Next
If you haven't listened to the track in a while, it’s worth revisiting the "Vevo Presents" live version. It strips away some of the heavy studio polish and shows off how much technical control Ellie actually has over those high notes.
For those interested in the production side, look up the work of Ali Payami and Ilya Salmanzadeh. They are the architects behind this specific "Scandi-pop" sound that dominated the mid-2010s. Studying the drum patterns in this track is basically a masterclass in how to make a ballad feel like an anthem.
You can also compare this track to "Still Falling For You" from the Bridget Jones's Baby soundtrack. It’s a similar "soundtrack power ballad" vibe but shows how Ellie’s style evolved just a year or two later.