"Run Away with Me" was accompanied by a DIY music video filmed by Jepsen's then-partner David Kalani Larkins in Paris, Tokyo and New York City, which also premiered in July 2015. The song was only a minor success in the charts, but was met with widespread critical acclaim, being considered one of the best songs of 2015 and of the 2010s.
"Run Away with Me" received universal acclaim from music critics. Spin magazine referred to "Run Away with Me" as "the best pop song of 2015 yet", "an undeniable hit waiting in the wings for its moment", and a "big, bold, beautiful masterpiece".[9]Paper magazine hailed the song as "just as much the pop perfection that is 'I Really Like You'" and "the perfect anthemic summer jam".[10]USA Today welcomed "Run Away with Me" as "a marked improvement over ['I Really Like You']".[11]Time magazine wrote of the track, "'Run Away With Me' marries euphoric Swedishdance-pop with a pressing nostalgia for your teenage years, a time when the littlest crushes felt like time bombs and a time Jepsen is really, really, really skilled at evoking. In that sense, it’s 'Teenage Dream 2.0', right down to a bridge so catchy she has to repeat it twice".[2]
Rolling Stone ranked "Run Away with Me" at number 49 on their year-end list of the 50 best songs of 2015.[12]Village Voice named "Run Away with Me" the 11th-best single released in 2015 on their annual year-end critics' poll, Pazz & Jop.[13]Pitchfork ranked it at number 36 on their 200 best songs of the decade list, saying that "fueled by a yearning saxophone riff and colossal drums, Jepsen gleefully repeats her heartfelt invitation until the rest of the world melts away. "Over the weekend, we could turn the world to gold," she murmurs with a quiet devotion, letting the image of two gilded lovers linger in the air."[7]
Variety's Rachel Seo named it Jepsen's best song in October 2022, writing that its "galloping beat and soaring chorus is the stuff of every coming-of-ageswan song for those whose bildungsromane were written, or re-written, during the [2010s], joining the array of tracks — like Lorde's 'Green Light' or Taylor Swift's 'Style' — that have emerged as frontrunners of music written to express something profound about growing up and falling hard. 'Run Away With Me' feels the same played anywhere at any time of day: transcendent, timeless and completely given over to the feeling, with an intentional disregard of whether that feeling is love or its imitation."[8]
"Run Away with Me" did not repeat the major commercial success of the previous single and only made a minor impact on the charts. It reached the top 30 in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Scotland, and briefly charted within the top 100 in the UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia.
Music video
The "Run Away with Me" music video was released on 17 July 2015 on Jepsen's YouTube and Vevo channels.[27] It was directed by her then-partner David Kalani Larkins and consists of guerrilla-style footage filmed on three different continents.[28] Larkins accompanied Jepsen on tour, casually filming a personal footage of her, which later developed into creating a music video.[29] The clip pictures the singer in the Place de la République, Place Charles de Gaulle and on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, in Shibuya Crossing and a karaoke bar in Tokyo, and in New York City where she is seen running along the fountain in Columbus Circle and pointing at the Statue of Liberty from a boat in New York Bay. The clip also sees Jepsen in hotel rooms, airports and on public city transport. More footage was filmed in Dublin, London and Toronto, but it wasn't used in the final video.[30]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201537 into search.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201534 into search.