Wherever I Go (song)

"Wherever I Go" is a song by American pop rock band OneRepublic from their fourth studio album, Oh My My.[1] The song was written and produced by lead singer Ryan Tedder, bassist/cellist Brent Kutzle and producer Noel Zancanella. It was released as the album's lead single on May 13, 2016.

This article is about the OneRepublic song. For the Miley Cyrus song, see Hannah Montana Forever.

"Wherever I Go"
Single by OneRepublic
from the album Oh My My
Released	May 13, 2016 (May 13, 2016)
Length	2:49
Label	Mosley Interscope
Songwriter(s)	Ryan Tedder Brent Kutzle Noel Zancanella
Producer(s)	Tedder Kutzle Zancanella
OneRepublic singles chronology
"I Lived" (2014) "Wherever I Go" (2016) "Kids" (2016)
Music video
"Wherever I Go" on YouTube

The song's accompanying music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, focuses on a day in the life of a Korean businessman (Kenneth Choi) stuck in his daily routine.

Background and composition

"Wherever I Go" features piano lines and a funk-driven rhythm, marking a new style for the band. Explaining why it was important the lead single be different from the rest of the new album, Ryan Tedder said, "It's not indicative of the entire album but it's kind of like if you go have dinner, you don't order steak for an appetizer and steak for dinner. You split it up, and you have different things. So the first single... it's definitely an appetizer, I think it's the best appetizer we could come up with."

Tedder sings here of not being able to find a love to match one that he once had. This previous relationship will always remain a "ghost in the room," whenever he gets together with a new girl. Tedder explained the song is about "obsession, and almost an unnatural, unhealthy level of obsession."

Speaking on BBC Radio 1, Tedder discussed how hard OneRepublic worked to make the song sound fresh and current, but still organic. "It's hard as an actual band to evolve and still keep the humanity in the instruments," he said. "So it's tricky. You wanna hear the bass player, you wanna hear the drummer, but you want it to sound modern at the same time. So it took...ages to crack that code."

Music video

The music video premiered on May 17, 2016, directed by Joseph Kahn and produced by Jil Hardin. Within the video, actor Kenneth Choi plays a businessman who faces an uneventful, colorless world of black, white and gray on a daily basis. However, upon meeting a woman, played by actress Yvonne Lu,[2] whom he presumably falls in love with, he subsequently puts down his briefcase, symbolising the idea of him leaving his regular, insipid characteristics behind him. He begins to elaborately dance, an action usually not associated with business. His coworkers look at him aghast before also joining in. Still, he cannot woo over the woman he is interested in. It takes discovering a secret passageway containing the band performing to transform his life into color. When he steps back into the office after watching the band sing, everything becomes vivid and colorful, with the office transformed to a 1970s motif. In the end, it is shown that it was all just a daydream, with him still in the lift, staring at the woman he wants. The music video currently has 86.82 million views.[3]

Incidentally, the video features Three-time National YoYo Champion Alex Hattori.[4]

Track listing

• Digital download[5]

1. "Wherever I Go" – 2:49

• Digital download — remix[6]

1. "Wherever I Go" (Danny Dove club edit) – 4:57

• CD single[7]

1. "Wherever I Go" – 2:49
2. "Wherever I Go" (Instrumental) – 2:49

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from CD single liner notes.[8]

Recording

• Recorded at Revolution Studio, Toronto, Ontario; and Ritz-Carlton, Moscow, Russia
• Additional recording at Neptune Valley and Waterloo Studios, Los Angeles, California
• Mixed at Mixsuite, United Kingdom
• Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York City

Personnel

• Ryan Tedder – songwriter, producer
• Brent Kutzle – songwriter, producer
• Noel Zancanella – songwriter, producer
• Rich Rich – engineer
• Steve Wilmot – engineer
• Matthew Tryba – assistant engineer
• Mark "Spike" Stent – mixer
• Matty Green – assistant engineer for mix
• Geoff Swan – assistant engineer for mix
• Chris Gehringer – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016–2017) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[9] 32 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10] 29 Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[11] 16 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[12] 45 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[13] 38 Czech Republic (Rádio Top 100)[14] 22 Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[15] 17 Denmark Airplay (Tracklisten)[16] 3 France (SNEP)[17] 78 Germany (Official German Charts)[18] 33 Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)[19] 23 Hungary (Single Top 40)[20] 29 Ireland (IRMA)[21] 39 Italy (FIMI)[22] 17 Latvia (Latvijas Top 40)[23] 6 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[24] 28 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[25] 39 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[26] 34 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100)[27] 22 Portugal (AFP)[28] 38 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[29] 16 Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)[30] 28 Slovakia (Singles Digitál Top 100)[31] 21 Slovenia (SloTop50)[32] 28 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[33] 69 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[34] 29 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[35] 29 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[36] 29 US Billboard Hot 100[37] 55 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[38] 19 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[39] 11 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[40] 25

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[41] 98 Germany (Official German Charts)[42] 99 Italy (FIMI)[43] 54 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[44] 80 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[45] 40

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[46]	Gold	30,000
Canada (Music Canada)[47]	Gold	40,000
France (SNEP)[48]	Gold	66,666^*
Germany (BVMI)[49]	Gold	200,000
Italy (FIMI)[50]	2× Platinum	100,000
Sweden (GLF)[51]	Platinum	40,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)[52]	Silver	200,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
Worldwide	13 May 2016	Digital download	Mosley Music Group Interscope Records
	27 May 2016	CD maxi single[53]

References

1. "OneRepublic Reveals Album Title and Date on Twitter". Twitter.
2. Yvonne Lu on IMDb
3. OneRepublic – Wherever I Go (Official Video). YouTube. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
4. "Alex Hattori in OneRepublic "Wherever I Go" Video". YoYoNews.com.
5. "ONEREPUBLIC | Wherever I Go: OneRepublic – iTunes". iTunes. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
6. "Wherever I Go (Danny Dove Club Edit) - Single by OneRepublic on Apple Music".
7. "Wherever I Go". 27 May 2016 – via Amazon.
8. Wherever I Go (liner notes). OneRepublic. Mosley Music Group, Interscope Records. 2016. 0602547950253.CS1 maint: others (link)
9. "Australian-charts.com – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
10. "Austriancharts.at – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
11. "Ultratop.be – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go" (in Dutch). Ultratip. Retrieved September 2, 2016.
12. "Ultratop.be – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go" (in French). Ultratop 50. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
13. "OneRepublic Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 2, 2016.
14. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201634 into search. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
15. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201631 into search. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
16. "Hitlisten.NU – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go" (in Danish). Tracklisten. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
17. "Lescharts.com – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
18. "Offiziellecharts.de – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
19. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Rádiós Top 40 játszási lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved September 26, 2016.
20. "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved September 3, 2016.
21. "Chart Track: Week 31, 2016". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
22. "Italiancharts.com – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go". Top Digital Download. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
23. "Latvijas Top 40". Latvijas Radio. June 12, 2016. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
24. "Nederlandse Top 40 – OneRepublic" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
25. "Dutchcharts.nl – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved August 5, 2016.
26. "Charts.nz – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved July 22, 2016.
27. "Listy bestsellerów, wyróżnienia :: Związek Producentów Audio-Video". Polish Airplay Top 100. Retrieved July 18, 2016.
28. "Portuguesecharts.com – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go". AFP Top 100 Singles. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
29. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
30. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201631 into search. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
31. "ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201625 into search. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
32. "SloTop50 – Slovenian official singles chart". slotop50.si. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
33. "spanishcharts.com - Spanish charts portal". spanishcharts.com. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
34. "Sverigetopplistan - Sveriges Officiella Topplista". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved August 19, 2016.
35. "Swisscharts.com – OneRepublic – Wherever I Go". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
36. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved June 18, 2016.
37. "OneRepublic Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2016.
38. "OneRepublic Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
39. "OneRepublic Chart History (Adult Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
40. "OneRepublic Chart History (Pop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
41. "Canadian Hot 100 Year End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
42. "Top 100 Jahrescharts 2016". GfK Entertainment (in German). viva.tv. Retrieved January 1, 2017.
43. "Classifiche "Top of the Music" 2016 FIMI-GfK: La musica italiana in vetta negli album e nei singoli digitali" (Click on Scarica allegato to download the zipped file containing the year-end chart PDF documents) (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved February 23, 2017.
44. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2016 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 2, 2017.
45. "Adult Pop Songs: Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
46. "Brazilian single certifications – OneRepublic" (in Portuguese). Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
47. "Canadian single certifications – OneRepublic". Music Canada. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
48. "French single certifications – OneRepublic" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
49. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (OneRepublic; 'Wherever I Go')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
50. "Italian single certifications – OneRepublic" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 12 December 2016. Select "2016" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "OneRepublic" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli online" under "Sezione".
51. certweek IS REQUIRED FOR SWEDISH CERTIFICATIONS AFTER 2011.
52. "British single certifications – OneRepublic". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved September 19, 2016. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type OneRepublic in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
53. "Wherever I Go". 27 May 2016 – via Amazon.