Carly Rae Jepsen Writes a Song You Can't Escape Before February, few people outside Canada had ever heard of a "Canadian Idol" runner-up named Carly Rae Jepsen. Then Justin Bieber filmed a homemade video to her song "Call Me Maybe," which went viral and turned the song into the biggest hit of the summer. Jepsen's own rendition has received 260 million YouTube hits. Here, the 26-year-old reflects on how it started. "Call Me Maybe" has inspired zillions of tribute videos. Do you have a favorite? I remember seeing the Katy Perry one and being really blown away. I remember seeing the Cookie Monster and being stoked. Are you sick of hearing the song yet? I've sung it enough times, but I think because it has been not just a song I sing a lot but a life-changer - and the beginning of a crazy adventure - it doesn't feel like anything but a really nice warm memory. It's a really nostalgic song for me already. Your earlier music is more folky. Whom did your parents expose you to musically? Oh, everything: Rickie Lee Jones, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor was huge, Cat Stevens, Leonard Cohen. These are the kinds of artists we had playing in our house. When did you start writing songs? I was going to the Canadian College of Performing Arts, which is kind of a school like "Fame." I thought I wanted to be a Broadway star, and then I got a guitar for Christmas. And I just started writing the first week. Do you remember the first song you wrote? It was a song called "Dear You." Actually that's not true. When I was 9 years old, I wrote a protest song called "Cutting Down the Big Tree." You're going to have to sing me some lines. It was so bad. It was like, "We're cutting down the big tree." I think that was the main hook. Was someone cutting down a tree? I think there was some kind of logging campaign. This is your "Big Yellow Taxi"? My young Joni Mitchell was coming on out.