Wherever I Go (song)

Wherever I Go is a song by OneRepublic from their fourth studio album, Oh My My (2016). 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. It is in the key of B minor.

The song's accompanying music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, focuses on a day in the life of a Korean businessman stuck in his 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 who 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 colorful. 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.

A behind the scenes featurette was also published to the band's VEVO channel to accompany the music video.

A second performance video was also released on July 1, 2016 featuring only the band.

Critical Reception
Wherever I Go received generally favourable reviews. Official Charts had an early listen to the track and label it on the surface as a "stadium pop-rock stomper" and a "relentlessly catchy and hugely radio friendly" single. Digital Spy noted the track as showing "Ryan Tedder on fine form" and that it was "aching for a stadium outing". All Noise stated that the track was "fresh" and "exciting" as well as "nearly perfect".