Save as Draft

"Save as Draft" was written by Katy Perry, Noonie Bao, Dijon McFarlane, Nicholas Audino, Lewis Hughes and Elof Loelv, while production was solely handled by the latter; Max Martin was credited as a vocal producer. The song is included on Witness (2017), Perry's fifth studio album.[1][2] It was sent to American adult contemporary radio stations on June 26, 2017, by Capitol Records, as Witness's fourth single.[3] It was ranked as the format's most added song that week alongside American recording artist Kesha's "Praying" (2017), with each impacting 16 radio stations.[4]

Musically, "Save as Draft" is a mid-tempo power ballad, featuring "icy" production,[5][6][7][8][9] and technology metaphors.[10] During an episode of Delilah Rene's podcast Conversations with Delilah, Perry said that the song was a warning about coming to terms with an ex: "I've been in that cycle before in a relationship and it had kind of reignited the relationship, and there’s only so many times you can reignite the relationship or want to or should and sometimes you just need to write it and never send it [...] It's just that exercise, that cathartic exercise." Perry further stated: "I like drafting and then sleeping on it because, for me, my emotions get very heightened in the evening [...]."[11][12] Based on the interview, HuffPost's Brittany Wong called the singer a "breakup coach" and jokingly advised her to write a self-help book in the future.[12]

In a review of "Save as Draft", Bobby Finger of Jezebel speculated that the song was about blogging, with Perry "describ[ing] the pain of desperately wanting to provide satisfying content for an impassioned, unpredictable audience that is incapable of ever being satisfied" and "explain[ing] the frustrating act of writing a blog you never publish out of fear that it will only be torn apart by haters or misunderstood". According to Finger, the singer ultimately "decides to hide her truth from the public".[13] Kevin O'Donnell of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Save as Draft" showcases "a timely rumination on the suckiness of living in a digital world".[14] Lyrics of the track include: "I don't fuck with change, but lately I've been flipping coins a lot" and "I struggle, I juggle, I could just throw a line to you / But I should let sleeping dogs lie / 'Cause I know better, baby / I write it, erase it, repeat it, but what good will it do to reopen the wound?" Perry sings the lines: "So I take a deep breath / And I save as draft" in a near whisper tone and takes an audible breath throughout.[9][12][13]

Perry performing "Save as Draft" at Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada during her Witness: The Tour (2017–2018).

Upon its release, "Save as Draft" was met with mixed reviews from music critics. Finger from Jezebel called the song's chorus "moving" and concluded: "Wow, I'm sobbing".[13] Wren Graves, writing for Consequence of Sound, thought that "Save as Draft" was the best among the closing tracks on Witness and wrote: "[it] puts a 21st century spin on the old thinking-of-my-ex weeper."[7] Idolator's Mike Wass was mixed towards the song, calling it inferior to other mid-tempo tracks on the album, although labelling its subject matter "relatable and the track should satisfy fans/radio programmers looking for a little more substance".[5] Chris Willman from Variety similarly thought that "Save as Draft" was a "mixed bag".[15] Rolling Stone's Christopher R. Weingarten negatively compared the track to the work of Sam Smith,[16] while others likened it to Timbaland and OneRepublic's "Apologize" (2007), as well as to the material of Lorde.[9][17] Commercially, "Save as Draft" reached number 14 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary component chart on August 5, 2017, staying on the chart for 16 weeks.[18] On the Adult Top 40 chart, it peaked at number 19 on August 26, 2017, leaving after 10 weeks.[19]

Perry promoted "Save as Draft" with several live performances. The singer included the song during her Witness: The Tour (2017–2018) concert tour at selected dates, where she performed it towards the end with fellow ballads from her catalog.[20] Perry also sang the track during her four-day YouTube live stream Katy Perry Live: Witness World Wide (2017),[21] at the Glastonbury Festival near Pilton, Somerset, England on June 24,[22] and for British radio station Kiss on June 30, 2017; at the latter appearance, she performed an acoustic version of the song.[23]

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Witness.[2]