Got Me Started

Describing the creation process, Sivan explained: "When we were writing this song, I was emphatic about using 'Shooting Stars'—I just kept humming it in the studio. It's a huge sample and was a big ask; and I knew that they had never approved it in the past. So I'm over the moon about the opportunity to sample that track because this song is iconic to me. And then we have Ian Kirkpatrick on production, who is a genius. I love his work – he had this plan to record the vocal at a slower speed and then speed it up, and ultimately that's what you hear in the chorus. I instantly loved the way it sounded."^[5]

Sivan explained that sampling "Shooting Stars" came naturally while he and his team were working on the song in the studio but that he did not actually believe that Bag Raiders members Jack Glass and Chris Stracey would allow him to use the track in the final version. Discussing how he convinced them to give him permission, Sivan stated "It was one of the first songs that we wrote for the album and it just stuck around. They [Bag Raiders] were like, 'By the way, we've had hundreds of requests and we've never said 'yeah,' so don't fuck this up.' And I was like, 'I promise you, I'm going to make a video. It's going to be sick.' Like, I really believe in this."^[6]

The song's music video, directed by Gordon von Steiner, was released concurrently with the single on 20 September. Shot in Bangkok, Thailand, the video includes various clips of Sivan, featuring him walking and running through the city, sitting nude in a bathhouse, flying up the side of a building and engaging in choreography with several dancers. It concludes with him dancing in a disco ball jumpsuit on a heli-pad. The video also features cameos from fellow UMG recording artist PP Krit, and Thai drag performers Angele Anang, Année Maywong, and Miss Gimhuay.

Discussing the video with Zane Lowe, Sivan explained "There's this sort of reprise when the synth comes back at the end in the video when I'm like being pulled up the building and there's this new drum pattern and to me it was perfect. It was the euphoric moment of that total freedom of realizing that you're completely fine on your own and that also this is not a moment of sadness, but a moment of endless possibilities."^[7]

In reviews for the album Something to Give Each Other, Pitchfork stated that "'Got Me Started' bookends its propulsive two-step beat with a sample snatched from Bag Raiders' 'Shooting Stars', aka from that years-old meme. Although initially grating, its wiggling synths build upon the song's romantic pining in a way that feels funnily reminiscent of Overmono's sample-heavy take on UK garage",^[8] while The Guardian said that the song "has a nimble UK garage rhythm."^[9]

The song was used in a sketch during the 49th season of Saturday Night Live featuring Bowen Yang as a doctor examining Sarah Sherman, a patient who has started seeing visions of a dancing Sivan (played by host Timothée Chalamet, with Boygenius appearing as clones) as her sleep paralysis demon. Sivan himself reacted to the sketch and changed his profile pictures on social media to that of Chalamet.^[10]

The song was also used in the 2023 romantic comedy film Anyone But You.