Flip A Switch
by Raye

Album: My 21st Century Blues (2023)
Charted: 35
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "To flip a switch" means to turn something on or off, or to make a sudden change. In this moody, nocturnal song, Raye asserts her swagger as she sings about moving on from a broken romance. She is going to "flip a switch" and change her life, not let anyone hurt her again.
  • Raye details getting lit at night, living it up in the club with Hennessy in hand. If her ex tries to hit her up, she's gonna pretend she's dead to get him off her back. Raye warns him not to mess with her because she'll flip a switch and turn into a boss bitch who won't take any crap. She's rocking black heels and shades, looking fierce and unstoppable.

    "I was in a budding relationship, and I had just decided to let my walls down," Raye told Apple Music. "I felt it was safe, and then it was like, bang. I would have been fine if [he] hadn't given me all this false hope. I was so angry, and it was like, 'You know what! This song is going to be about you now. Let's get all the drama out.' It was very empowering and me saying all the things that I would love to say to his face. But instead, I just put it in the song and proceeded to listen to it all week."
  • Raye recorded "Flip a Switch" for her debut album, My 21st Century Blues, released on February 3, 2023. Raye wrote half of the songs years earlier and she reworked them for the album. She penned this song in the mid-2010s when she was 18.

    "In the studio, it was just me and Mike Sabath – one of my best friends who I produced the whole album with," she told Nylon. "Together, we listened to my old demos again, experimented with my new texts... It was like assembling the fragments of a broken mirror to recompose the story."
  • Raye wrote the song with Stephen "Di Genius" McGregor, the son of the reggae singer Freddie McGregor. They teamed up to create a cross-stitch of guitar and electronics that blends perfectly with a dancehall beat - it's both delicate and tough at the same time. "He produced so many of the songs I grew up listening to, so he really brought his flair and flavors to the sound," said Raye.

    McGregor's resumé includes Sean Paul's "So Fine," Nelly Furtado's "Don't Leave Me" and Fuse ODG's "Dangerous Love."
  • Raye released a remix with a new verse by American rapper Coi Leray on April 21, 2023.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"

Allen Toussaint - "Southern Nights"They're Playing My Song

A song he wrote and recorded from "sheer spiritual inspiration," Allen's didn't think "Southern Nights" had hit potential until Glen Campbell took it to #1 two years later.

Richard Marx

Richard MarxSongwriter Interviews

Richard explains how Joe Walsh kickstarted his career, and why he chose Hazard, Nebraska for a hit.

Commercials

CommercialsFact or Fiction

Was "Ring Of Fire" really used to sell hemorrhoid cream?

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Yoko Ono

Yoko OnoSongwriter Interviews

At 80 years old, Yoko has 10 #1 Dance hits. She discusses some of her songs and explains what inspired John Lennon's return to music in 1980.

Loreena McKennitt

Loreena McKennittSongwriter Interviews

The Celtic music maker Loreena McKennitt on finding musical inspiration, the "New Age" label, and working on the movie Tinker Bell.