Julien

## **Julien***Dedicated*

**Disco Sweat** demo

**Julien** is the first track on Carly Rae Jepsen's fourth studio album, Dedicated (2019). It was released on April 19th 2019, through 604, School Boy and Interscope Records as the album's first promotional single.

## **Lyrics**

#### **Final version**

**Verse 1**

Woke up this mornin', it feels like every day

I got the blues, babe, not going away

Another bad dream where you were running away

I'm forever haunted by our time

We had a moment, we had a summertime

Asked me to leave with you, but I could never decide

I've been so torn up, I've been so out of it

I'm forever haunted by our time

**Pre-Chorus**

I've been all alone, on my own

Every single night, I pray

When you coming home? Coming home?

'Cause I've been livin' for that day

**Chorus**

Julien, in your heart, yeah, you must believe

Julien, it was more than a fantasy

To the end, to the last breath that I breathe

I'll be whispering, 'Julien'

**Post-Chorus**

*(Ah yeah, all night, yeah, Julien, Julien)*

I'll be whispering, 'Julien' *(Julien, Julien)*

To the last breath that I breathe *(Julien)*

**Verse 2**

I tried another to keep me satisfied

But all your colours are still dancing in my mind

More than just lovers, I—

I'm forever haunted by our time

**Pre-Chorus**

I've been all alone, on my own

Every single night, I pray

When you coming home? Coming home?

'Cause I've been livin' for that day

**Chorus**

Julien, in your heart, yeah, you must believe

Julien, it was more than a fantasy

To the end, to the last breath that I breathe

I'll be whispering, 'Julien'

**Post-Chorus**

*(Ah yeah, all night, yeah, Julien, Julien)*

I'll be whispering, 'Julien' *(Julien, Julien)*

To the last breath that I breathe *(Julien)*

**Bridge**

Julien, in your heart, yeah, you must believe

Julien, it was more than a fantasy

To the end, to the last breath that I breathe

**Chorus**

Julien, in your heart, yeah, you must believe

Julien, it was more than a fantasy

To the end, to the last breath that I breathe *(Julien)*

I'll be whispering, 'Julien'

**Post-Chorus**

*(Ah yeah, all night, yeah, Julien, Julien)*

I'll be whispering, 'Julien' *(Julien, Julien)*

To the last breath that I breathe *(Julien)*

*(Ah yeah, all night, yeah, Julien, Julien)*

*(Julien, Juli—, Julien)*

#### **Demo versions**

* Dedicated demo
* Disco Sweat version

**Verse 1**

Woke up this mornin', it feels like every day

I got the blues, babe, not going away

Another bad dream where you were running away

I'm forever haunted by our time

We had a moment, we had a summertime

Asked me to leave with you, but I could never decide

I've been so torn up, I've been so out of it

I'm forever haunted by our time

**Pre-Chorus**

I've been all alone, on my own

Every single night, I pray

When you coming home? Coming home?

'Cause I've been livin' for that day

**Chorus**

Julien, in your heart, yeah, you must believe

Julien, it was more than a fantasy

To the end, to the last breath that I breathe

I'll be whispering, 'Julien'

**Post-Chorus**

*(Ah yeah, all night, yeah, Julien, Julien)*

I'll be whispering, 'Julien' *(Julien, Julien)*

To the last breath that I breathe *(Julien)*

**Verse 2**

I tried another to keep me satisfied

But all your colours are still dancing in my mind

More than just lovers, I—

I'm forever haunted by our time

**Pre-Chorus**

I've been all alone, on my own

Every single night, I pray

When you coming home? Coming home?

'Cause I've been livin' for that day

**[Chorus**

Julien, in your heart, yeah, you must believe

Julien, it was more than a fantasy

To the end, to the last breath that I breathe *(To the last breath that I breathe)*

I'll be whispering, 'Julien'

**Post-Chorus**

*(Ah yeah, all night, yeah, Julien, Julien) (Oh)*

I'll be whispering, 'Julien' *(Julien, Julien)*

To the last breath that I breathe *(To the last breath that I breathe) (Julien)*

**Bridge**

Oh, oh oh oh

Oh, oh, oh oh oh oh

Oh, oh oh oh

Oh, oh, oh oh oh oh

Oh, oh oh oh

To the last breath that I breathe

Oh, oh oh oh *(Julien, in your heart, yeah, you must believe)*

Oh, oh, oh oh oh oh

Oh, oh oh oh *(Julien, it was more than a fantasy to the end)*

Oh, oh, oh oh oh oh

Oh, oh oh oh

To the last breath that I breathe

**Chorus**

Oh, Julien, in your heart, yeah, you must believe

Julien, it was more than a fantasy

To the end, to the last breath that I breathe *(Julien)*

I'll be whispering, 'Julien'

**Post-Chorus**

*(Ah yeah, all night, yeah, Julien, Julien) (Julien)*

I'll be whispering, 'Julien' *(Julien, Julien)*

To the last breath that I breathe *(Julien)*

*(Ah yeah, all night, yeah, Julien, Julien)*

*(Julien, Juli—, Julien)*

**Snippet**

...another world

Where you and me could make it, baby

Julien—

## **Song credits**

#### **Writing and production**

* **Written by:** Carly Rae Jepsen • Jared Manierka • Ben Ruttner • Nate Cyphert • Kyle Shearer
* **Produced by:** Kyle Shearer

#### **Additional credits**

* **Mixing:** Șerban Ghenea
* **Mastering:** Gene Grimaldi
* **Engineering:** John Hanes
* **Background vocals:** Nate Cyphert

#### **Studio info**

* **Recorded at:** Neon Golden (Maderas Village, Nicaragua)
* **Mixed at:** MixStar Studios (Virgina Beach, VA)
* **Mastered at:** Oasis Mastering (Burbank, CA)

#### **Publishing info**

* **Published by:** Universal Music Corp • Jepsen Music Publishing (ASCAP) • Rebellion of One Publishing • Eggplant Tears publishing • Admin by Concord Sounds (ASCAP) • Brrcoffee • Pulse Ventures • BMG Platinum Songs US • Pam Quint Music • Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp (ASCAP) • Jared Manierka (SOCAN)

## **Writing and development**

#### **Disco Sweat demo**

Julien was initially written in early-to-mid 2016, during the production of the scrapped Disco Sweat project. The song first began whilst Jepsen was on tour and was written alongside Jared Manierka.

In June 2016, Jepsen began to work on recording and producing the original demos she had written for Disco Sweat whilst on tour. It's assumed that the original version of Julien was recorded with Dev Hynes, as together he and Jepsen are known to have recorded material for Disco Sweat together that month.  Whilst this version of the song is yet to surface in full, a snippet of the track leaked online in March 2021.

#### **Dedicated rework**

In July 2016, Jepsen would meet with Patrik Berger to work on the Disco Sweat project with, though, instead, he advised her against the disco influence. Berger believed it was 'too constraining' and Jepsen agreed, and would instead begin experimenting with new sounds to influence the direction of the project.

As a result of this, Jepsen attended a writer's camp in Maderas Village, Nicaragua, a month later in August 2016. This is where the original version of Julien would be entirely reworked for Dedicated, alongside songwriters Kyle Shearer, Nate Cypher, and Ben Ruttner, of pop duo The Knocks.  Julien is the only song known to have been fully reworked from Disco Sweat for the original Dedicated album, with Jepsen stating it taught her the 'heart and direction' of the album.

Whilst working on the song in Nicaragua, Nate Cyphert filmed clips of Jepsen recording vocals for the track in the studio, whereby the original Dedicated demo can be heard in snippets.  An early demo of the song leaked online on January 26th 2022 - though it's unclear when the demo is dated, it features a slightly different production, different song structure, and different vocal takes.

## **Themes and lyricism**

Jepsen revealed that the song "Julien" was inspired by a French-Canadian ex-boyfriend of the same name, whom she met "back in the day" whilst touring Canada around 2009. Jepsen spent a "romantic weekend" with Julien in Quebec City, and described their time together as "very dreamlike," though no longer has feelings for him.  Carly describes that the track is less about a specific person and more so a metaphor for "everlasting fantastical love" that "follows you for the rest of your life."

Whilst performing the song live, Jepsen describes Julien as "kind of a dick," though she explained this was simply a way of attacking the listeners' expectations, rather than something about Julien himself. "He’s not, like, a terrible guy. He’s just not the guy who ended up being for me, so it feels hilarious that I keep singing about him as 'the last breath that I breathe.'" Carly states she wants "to let the audience know to not believe too much in the fairy tale of Julien.”

The inspiration behind the track comes directly from Julien himself, with Jepsen mentioning how she thought he had a "musical name", and how she had been trying to write it into a song since they met. Carly stated she has at least four songs written about Julien - the first known iteration of this idea being Dear Julien, written for the Curiosity album intended to release in 2012.

## **Announcement and release**

Julien was first teased by Jepsen in April 2018, when she included lyrics from the song's chorus in her Instagram bio. A year later, on April 16th 2019, the song was official announced via Twitter and was made available later that week.  The song was released as a digital download on April 19th 2019, alongside the pre-order for Dedicated, as album's first promotional single.

After the release of the song, Jepsen stated that she "kind of wanted to reach out to [Julien] when this song came out to be like, It's not about you. I'm really over it.' But I didn't, so, he's just gonna have to hear it in this interview. Julien, I think you're a great guy. I've moved on."

## **Live performances**

Julien has been performed live as a consistent part of Jepsen's set since its release, between The Dedicated Tour and The So Nice Tour.

## **Alternate versions**

#### **Disco Sweat**

* **Julien** — Disco Sweat version (2016)
	+ Initial demo version recorded during the development of Disco Sweat

#### **Dedicated**

* **Julien** — Demo version (2016) - 3:53
	+ First reworked demo version for Dedicated in August 2016 with production by Kyle Shearer

* **Julien** — Final version (2019) - 3:55
	+ Final version of the song released in April 2019, with production by Kyle Shearer

## **Navigation**

* Dedicated
* Disco Sweat

## **References**

1. ↑ *Dedicated* (album booklet). Carly Rae Jepsen. 604 Records, School Boy Records and Interscope Records. 2019.
2. ↑ Cliff, Aimee 'Carly Rae Jepsen And Danny L Harle On Their PC Music Collaboration “Super Natural”' TheFader, August 12th 2016.
3. ↑ BlackoutZone "Dev Hynes is who she originally made Disco Sweat with..." (atrl.net) May 7th 2020
4. ↑ @carlyraejepsen "Writing with hero @devhynes today" (Tweet). June 3rd, 2016. Retrieved March 5th, 2021.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 The BUILD Queen, Carly Rae Jepsen Is In The House! Youtube, May 29 2019.
6. ↑ @carlyraejepsen Nicaragua for some writing. 🎶 August 15th 2016.
7. ↑ @the\_knocks "@carlyraejepsen’s ‘Julien’ is out today!! Took a trip down to @maderasvillage in Nicaragua with some amazing people a couple years..." April 19th 2019. Retrieved March 7th, 2021. - Via Instagram
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 @carlyraejepsen "Julien is the song that taught me the heart and direction of this album. Couldn’t keep him for myself any longer." April 19th 2019. Retrieved March 7th, 2021. - Via Instagram
9. ↑ @NateCyph - Instagram stories, May 2019
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 Greene, David; Tidmarsh, Kevin (May 15th 2019) "Carly Rae Jepsen Colors Outside The Lines" NPR.orgRetrieved March 7th, 2021.
11. ↑ ">CarlyRaeJepsen\_ "A French-Canadian guy I met while touring Canada." May 17th 2019 - via Reddit
12. ↑ Spanos, Britney (May 1st, 2019)"Carly Rae Jepsen: Queen of Hearts"
13. ↑ Kornhaber, Spencer "Carly Rae Jepsen Pierces the Fantasy The Atlantic, October 20th 2022
14. ↑ @carlyraejepsen "I’ll be whispering Julien… Friday" (Tweet) April 16th 2019