Revolving Door

Album

So Close to What

Label

RCA Records

Genre

Jersey Club

Duration

0:00

Composer(s)

Julia Michaels;Tate McRae;Ryan Tedder;Grant Joseph Boutin

Entered Chart

Mar 8, 2025

Peak Date

Mar 8, 2025

Released

February 21, 2025

Here, Tate McRae sings about continuously splitting from, then returning to, a toxic lover. She uses the metaphor of a revolving door to describe the pattern. McRae drew from her own experiences with relationships that seemed impossible to escape. The idea of the revolving door, she explained, came up during a writing session with Ryan Tedder and Amy Allen, when she suddenly realized how much of her life felt stuck in an endless loop - not just in love, but in nearly everything. The song, initially intended as a simple love story, took on a deeper meaning when McRae later wrote the bridge alone. The song is at least partly inspired by McRae's relationship with Canadian NHL player Cole Sillinger, whom she dated from 2021 to early 2023. She recalls meeting him in Boston after a concert: I still think 'bout that night out in Boston I'm more hurt than I would admit Rumors swirled that Sillinger wasn't exactly the poster boy for fidelity. McRae previously visited the same experience on the title track of her Think Later album: Met you in a night out in Boston Put your hand on my thigh in the Commons McRae recorded "Revolving Door" for her third studio album, So Close to What. The album details the Canadian pop singer's experiences and growth in her late teens and early 20s. While most of the record leans into confident, sassy pop songs, "Revolving Door" is one of the few tracks where she lets herself be openly vulnerable. McRae considers "Revolving Door" the saddest track on the project, telling Elvis Duran she wrote it when she was feeling "the most down" during the album-making process. Ryan Tedder and Gran Boutin handled production, with Boutin also taking on programming and engineering duties. The production builds gradually, starting with a more stripped-back verse and growing in intensity towards the chorus. The song ends in a frenzied manner, with McRae breathlessly begging, "I need a minute." Report This Ad The world's first revolving door was the Van Kannel Revolving Storm Door, patented on August 7, 1888, by Theophilus van Kannel of Philadelphia. Van Kannel wanted to eliminate the issues caused by traditional doors, such as drafts, noise, and difficulty opening in strong winds. And while McRae's "Revolving Door" is the latest to spin this metaphor, it's hardly the first. A few other songs have taken a turn through the revolving door of, well, revolving doors: 2001 "Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors" by Radiohead An experimental, electronic track from Amnesiac where revolving doors become a symbol for choice, transition, and Thom Yorke's general sense of unease. 2002 "Revolving Door" by Crazy Town This nu-metal track from their album Darkhorse uses the revolving door as a metaphor for a cyclical, troubled relationship. 2010 "Revolving Doors" by Gorillaz From their album The Fall, this melancholic tune uses the image to reflect on transience, constant movement, and, presumably, the existential crisis of animated musicians. Carrie Bradshaw's on-again, off-again relationship with Mr. Big in Sex and The City depicted a "revolving door" relationship, characterized by cyclical patterns of attraction and separation. Although McRae didn't initially write this song about Sex and the City, after watching the show, she saw Carrie Bradshaw use the phrase and took it as a sign she was on the right track with the song's theme. The "Revolving Door" music video uses a white room with 15 doors (representing album tracks) to symbolize being trapped in a repetitive cycle. McRae and dancers perform choreography that visually expresses the song's emotional themes, culminating in her crying, emphasizing the exhaustion of this cycle. For the video, McRae had to learn and sing certain lyrics backwards because of reverse effects used in post production. She also had to train herself to whip her hair in a way that would look natural when played in reverse.

My cold heart is finally melting
I moved from the east to the west wing
I finally think it might be helping, oh, oh
I confess, I'm not that versatile
Say I'm good, but I might be in denial
Takes one call and that undoes the dial, oh

Baby, I tried to call you off like a bad habit
Tried to call you off like a bad habit

But I keep comin' back like a revolvin' door
Say I couldn't want you less, but I just want you more
So I keep comin' back like a revolvin' door
Say I couldn't want you less, but I just want you more

And more, and more
And more, ooh
And more, and more
And more, ooh

Shut it down
That I tried, then you'll come, come around
Fuck me good, fuck me up, then I gotta move towns
How'd I get from a gym to your couch? Oh, how?

Baby, I tried to (tried to) call you (call you) off like a bad habit
Tried to (tried to) call you (call you) off like a bad habit

But I keep comin' back like a revolvin' door
Say I couldn't want you less, but I just want you more
So I keep comin' back like a revolvin' door
Say I couldn't want you less, but I just want you more

And more (get what I want), and more (can't get enough of)
And more (you, when you make me), ooh
And more (get what I want), and more (can't get enough of)
And more (you, when you make me), ooh

Change my mind so much I can't find it
I worked so much, can't be reminded
Life feels worse, but good with you in it
Supposed to be on stage, but fuck it, I need a minute
Change my mind so much it's exhaustin'
I still think 'bout that night out in Boston
I'm more hurt than I would admit
I'm supposed to be an adult but fuck it, I need a minute

I need a minute, I need a minute
I need a, I need-, fuck it, I need a minute
I need a minute, I need a minute
I need a, I need-, fuck it, I need a minute

I need a minute
Ooh, I need a minute