| "Save as Draft" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single byKaty Perry | ||||
| from the albumWitness | ||||
| Released | June 26, 2017 | |||
| Studio | ||||
| Length | 3:48 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Songwriters |
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| Producer | Elof Loelv | |||
| Katy Perry singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio video | ||||
| "Save as Draft" onYouTube | ||||
"Save as Draft" is a song recorded by American singerKaty Perry for her fifth studio album,Witness (2017). It was sent toadult contemporary radio in the United States on June 26, 2017, byCapitol Records, as the record's fourth single. The track was written by Perry,Noonie Bao,Dijon McFarlane, Nicholas Audino, Lewis Hughes and its producer Elof Loelv. Musically, "Save as Draft" is a mid-tempopower ballad, which lyrically portrays a warning about coming to terms with an ex.
Reviewers were ambivalent about "Save as Draft" following its release. While receiving praise for its sensibility and innovation on the subject matter, it was also called mediocre and inferior to other tracks onWitness. The song also drew comparisons to the music ofSam Smith,Lorde, andTimbaland. Commercially, "Save as Draft" reached numbers 14 and 19 onBillboard'sAdult Contemporary andAdult Top 40 component charts, respectively, in the United States. It was aided by several live performances, including during her concert tourWitness: The Tour (2017–2018) and four-dayYouTube live streamKaty Perry Live: Witness World Wide (2017).
"Save as Draft" was written byKaty Perry,Noonie Bao,Dijon McFarlane, Nicholas Audino, Lewis Hughes and Elof Loelv, while production was solely handled by the latter;Max Martin was credited as a vocal producer. The song is included onWitness (2017), Perry's fifth studio album.[1][2] It was sent to Americanadult contemporary radio stations on June 26, 2017, byCapitol Records, asWitness's fourth single.[3] It was ranked as the format's most added song that week alongside American recording artistKesha's "Praying" (2017), with each impacting 16 radio stations.[4]
Musically, "Save as Draft" is a mid-tempopower ballad, featuring "icy" production,[5][6][7][8][9] and technology metaphors.[10] During an episode ofDelilah Rene's podcastConversations with Delilah, Perry said that the song was a warning about coming to terms with an ex: "I've been in that cycle before in a relationship and it had kind of reignited the relationship, and there's only so many times you can reignite the relationship or want to or should and sometimes you just need to write it and never send it [...] It's just that exercise, that cathartic exercise." Perry further stated: "I like drafting and then sleeping on it because, for me, my emotions get very heightened in the evening [...]."[11][12] Based on the interview,HuffPost's Brittany Wong called the singer a "breakup coach" and jokingly advised her to write aself-help book in the future.[12]
In a review of "Save as Draft", Bobby Finger ofJezebel speculated that the song was aboutblogging, with Perry "describ[ing] the pain of desperately wanting to provide satisfying content for an impassioned, unpredictable audience that is incapable of ever being satisfied" and "explain[ing] the frustrating act of writing a blog you never publish out of fear that it will only be torn apart by haters or misunderstood". According to Finger, the singer ultimately "decides to hide her truth from the public".[13] Kevin O'Donnell ofEntertainment Weekly wrote that "Save as Draft" showcases "a timely rumination on the suckiness of living in a digital world".[14] Lyrics of the track include: "I don't fuck with change, but lately I've been flipping coins a lot" and "I struggle, I juggle, I could just throw a line to you / But I should let sleeping dogs lie / 'Cause I know better, baby / I write it, erase it, repeat it, but what good will it do to reopen the wound?" Perry sings the lines: "So I take a deep breath / And I save as draft" in a near whisper tone and takes an audible breath throughout.[9][12][13]
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Upon its release, "Save as Draft" was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Finger from Jezebel called the song's chorus "moving" and concluded: "Wow, I'm sobbing".[13] Wren Graves, writing forConsequence of Sound, thought that "Save as Draft" was the best among the closing tracks onWitness and wrote: "[it] puts a 21st century spin on the old thinking-of-my-ex weeper."[7]Idolator's Mike Wass was mixed towards the song, calling it inferior to other mid-tempo tracks on the album, although labelling its subject matter "relatable and the track should satisfy fans/radio programmers looking for a little more substance".[5] Chris Willman fromVariety similarly thought that "Save as Draft" was a "mixed bag".[15]Rolling Stone's Christopher R. Weingarten negatively compared the track to the work ofSam Smith,[16] while others likened it toTimbaland andOneRepublic's "Apologize" (2007), as well as to the material ofLorde.[9][17] Commercially, "Save as Draft" reached number 14 onBillboard'sAdult Contemporary component chart on August 5, 2017, staying on the chart for 16 weeks.[18] On theAdult Top 40 chart, it peaked at number 19 on August 26, 2017, leaving after 10 weeks.[19]
Perry promoted "Save as Draft" with several live performances. The singer included the song during herWitness: The Tour (2017–2018) concert tour at selected dates, where she performed it towards the end with fellow ballads from her catalog.[20] Perry also sang the track during her four-dayYouTube live streamKaty Perry Live: Witness World Wide (2017),[21] at theGlastonbury Festival nearPilton, Somerset,England on June 24,[22] and for British radio stationKiss on June 30, 2017; at the latter appearance, she performed an acoustic version of the song.[23]
Credits adapted from the liner notes ofWitness.[2]
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