The inspirations behind some of Ellie Goulding's biggest songs from 'Starry Eyed' to 'Burn'

Ellie Goulding has had a plethora of hugely popular songs over the years including hits such as 'Love Me Like You Do', 'Burn' and 'Outside'! Her second single 'Starry Eyed' propelled her to the Top 5, and she didn't look back - having had four Top 5 albums and 13 Top 10 songs in the UK, including two with Calvin Harris, with a third out in 2023 called 'Miracle'.

Here, we take a look some of Ellie Goulding's biggest songs from the past decade, including her Christmas song 'River', 'Your Song' which was featured on the John Lewis advert, and 'Love Me Like You Do' from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack.

Ellie's fifth album 'Higher Than Heaven' is out now, and she has announced a 'Higher Than Heaven' tour for October 2023. In the meantime, take a look at songs that have all been Top 10 successes for Ellie Goulding.

Ellie Goulding's 'River' (2019)

'River' was a huge hit from Ellie Goulding in December 2019, however it was originally by Joni Mitchell. Joni never actually released the song as a single, however it was featured on her fourth album 'Blue'. The song has been covered a number of times over the years, but Ellie has had the most success with it so far, reaching Number 1 in the UK.

The song is about a recent relationship split, and it said to be inspired by Joni's relationship with artist Graham Nash. As her relationship began to fall apart, and her music career was taking off, Joni escaped to Europe to get away from everything.

Ellie Goulding's 'Love Me Like You Do' (2015)

Co-written by Max Martin (the man behind Lady Gaga's 'Stupid Love' and Ariana Grande's 'Problem'), 'Love Me Like You Do' was featured on the the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. The song saw huge success around the world, getting to Number 1 in a many countries and receiving more than 1 billion views on YouTube.

Although the song was originally written for the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack, during the Coronavirus pandemic the song took on a different meaning, when the singer performed it as part of Global Citizen's One World: Together At Home. As MTV reported at the time, the song is 'ode to human connection of any kind'.

After her performance, which saw Ellie playing the song on her guitar, she said: "I think it's amazing we're all staying home, keeping ourselves safe, and keeping others safe. I've seen such amazing kindness and togetherness and solidarity from people. … I hope you're all keeping busy and staying happy and positive and enjoying the sunshine somewhat."

Ellie Goulding's 'On My Mind' (2015)

'On My Mind' was co-written by Ellie Goulding, along with Max Martin, it reached the Top 5 in the UK in September 2015, it was also the lead single from her album 'Delirium'.

Many fans have speculated that the song is about her rumoured relationship with Ed Sheeran, but Ellie revealed in an interview with MTV News that it wasn't actually about anyone specific!

"I'm sorry to all the people that want it to be about someone - it's not, it's like a myth," Ellie said. "I like guys with tattoos, my boyfriend has tattoos... but I don't mind. People can read into it however they want. It's fun to do that, I would do that too."

She went on to say: "I probably walked into the studio and I was like, 'I have this person on my mind,' and then another writer is like, 'I have this person on my mind,' and we kind of formed the song out of all our different experiences, and I've never really done that before. That's the beauty of song writing: It doesn't have rules. It doesn't have to be about one person or one subject."

Ellie Goulding's 'How Long Will I Love You' (2013)

'How Long Will I Love You' was another cover, however like 'Your Song' it was also very popular reaching Number 3 in the UK. Originally released by The Waterboys in 1990, Ellie's version was included on the re-issue of her second album, 'Halcyon Days'.

Not much is known about the inspiration behind this song, but it was written by Mike Scott of The Waterboys, known for their hit 'The Whole of the Moon'.

Ellie Goulding's 'Burn' (2013)

'Burn' was a super popular song for Ellie. The music video for 'Burn' is just one of a few of Ellie's which has had more than 1 billion views, and she quite rightly reached the top spot in the UK with his hugely catchy song, which is pop at its best.

Although Ellie hasn't opened up about the meaning behind this banger, many fans have speculated what it could be about. Pop Crush did their own interpretation of the lyrics, saying: 'It's better to burn out than to fade away.

'Life is burning too bright to allow anyone to get any shut eye or sleep. Goulding is equating love to the light and the fire that burns inside us all. She's speaking of the passion which keeps us going.'

Ellie Goulding's 'Anything Could Happen' (2012)

'Anything Could Happen' was Ellie Goulding's third Top 5 single, and featured on her second album 'Halcyon'. The song was written by Ellie along with Jim Eliot, who has also written for Olly Murs, Will Young and Kylie Minogue.

Speaking to Billboard magazine about her music, Ellie said: "This was fun because Jim's a really experienced, clever producer, but he acts like a child, like me. We're both like little kids just wanting to create sounds, like 'Oh that sounds cool' and 'let's see what happens when we do this!' It's like child's play, and… that's how 'Anything Can Happen' started. It's quite childlike and quite innocent."

Ellie also told MTV News: "I suppose it's one of those songs where I sort of talk about bits of my childhood, but also about my friendship with this person, and, um, I suppose it's a song of realisation."

She continued: "And it's called 'Anything Could Happen', (so) I'm hoping it will make people go out and propose to their girlfriends or go on that holiday they never ended up doing. I hope it will provoke positivity, as opposed to making people really sad."

Ellie Goulding's 'Starry Eyed' (2010)

'Starry Eyed' was Ellie Goulding's breakthrough song, it was her second single to be released from her debut album 'Lights', and reached Number 4 in the UK. When asked about the song, she told DigitalSpy: "It's about letting go. As opposed to all the sad and depressing things I write about, I decided to write something about the joining together of people in some kind of euphoric state - be it at a festival, at a show or in a club.

"I wanted a song that would reach out to people of every background and every enjoyment, whether you enjoy a natural high, taking drugs, drinking or whatever. Because I'm essentially a pop artist I wanted to write a song that everyone can relate to."

Ellie Goulding's 'Your Song' (2010)

Ellie Goulding's 'Your Song' was super popular with fans after she recorded the classic hit to appear on John Lewis' Christmas advert in 2010, but it wasn't originally her track. The iconic ballad was originally written by musical legend Elton John, which was released way back in 1970.

Ellie's version of the song reached Number 2 in the UK and became her second Top 5 hit.

The song was written by Elton John with his long-time collaborator Bernie Taupin. As reported by Far Out magazine, the pair wrote the song while sitting at Elton's parents' kitchen table.

"The original lyric was written very rapidly on the kitchen table of Elton’s mother’s apartment in Northwood Hills in the suburbs of London, if I recall, on a particularly grubby piece of exercise paper," Bernie explained.

With Elton later telling Rolling Stone magazine: "I always thought ‘Your Song’ was written about one of his girlfriends, and when I asked him that, he just said, ‘No it wasn’t!’ He gets fairly defensive."

Bernie later revealed: "The early ones were not drawn from experience, but imagination. 'Your Song' could only have been written by a 17-year-old who’d never been laid in his life."

What is her most recent song?

Ellie released her song with Calvin Harris, called 'Miracle' in March 2023. The song is a banger and sees Calvin return to his dance music roots. Ellie told fans that the song has one of the highest choruses that she's ever sung.

Is the song 'Where Are You Now' by Ellie Goulding?

Despite a lot of people thinking Ellie Goulding sings on Alan Walker's track 'Faded', also known as 'Where Are You Now', it isn't her! The vocals on the 2015 single are actually provided by Norwegian recording artist Iselin Solheim.

Which song did Ellie Goulding make for Game of Thrones?

Ellie sang a song for hit TV show Game of Thrones, 'Hollow Crown' on the album 'For the Throne: Music Inspired by Game of Thrones', and revealed how it came about: "I was sent the song six months ago or so and they were trying to put this soundtrack together," she said.

"I just, kind of, made it my own and they said a few other people, a couple of other rappers were doing it and I was like, okay, it’s gonna be like Post Malone and Drake and then just me.

"So I just gave it my best shot and I sent it to them and they were obsessed with it. So, luckily I got to stay on it. But it could have been different. I’ve got like five people who are obsessed with Game of Thrones."

You can hear songs by Ellie Goulding on KISS.

Take a look at tours to look forward to over the coming months:

Read more:

Everything you need to know about 'Lights' hitmaker Ellie Goulding

Ellie Goulding shares release date for fifth album along with new song

Spice Girls' album 'Spiceworld' re-released for 25th anniversary

How to listen to KISS:

Listen to KISS, KISSTORY and KISS Fresh on digital radio, via our free app, by hitting that play button on the bottom of your screen and on your smart speaker (‘Play KISS FM’, ‘Play KISSTORY’, ‘Play KISS Fresh’).

• Ellie Goulding
• your song
• caspar jopling