Ed Sheeran is an icon, and after a year away from the spotlight, he came back and delivered arguably his best album yet. If, like me, you’re an Ed Sheeran fan, here are 10 things you know to be true:

1.There is a song for every occasion.

Ed Sheeran has a song for any occasion. The words might not match up, but the beat probably does, and vice versa. He has love songs, sad songs, fun songs, tribute songs, dance songs, and more. You can’t go wrong.

2.Ed knows how to sing about anything.

Love, heartbreak, sadness, happiness, disappointment, friendship, or enjoyment—Ed knows how to sing about all of them. He has written countless songs about all of these things and expresses the related emotions perfectly. From “Lego House” to “I See Fire” to “Save Myself,” Ed has written about it all, and I’m sure he will continue to write about pretty much anything as long as he’s still releasing music.

3.Experimenting with the music of different countries can be awesome.

What do “Barcelona,” “Nancy Mulligan,” and “Bibia Be Ye Ye” have in common? They all feature music from other countries. “Barcelona” features Spanish music, and a few parts of the song are sung in Spanish. “Nancy Mulligan” features Irish music and teaches you about a couple places and traditions in Ireland. “Bibia Be Ye Ye” is partially sung in Twi, an African language, and features the music of the culture specifically found in Ghana. All three of these songs from his new album show how awesome it can be to experiment with music from other countries and cultures because every place and every group of people have different sounds and forms of music.

4.Not every song is autobiographical.

I think that most people assume that any song an artist sings is usually autobiographical. This is likely because most singers use the pronouns “I” and “me” when they are singing, so it’s an understandable assumption. However, I think Ed has shown us that this is not always the case. He writes a lot of songs that are not about his life but about the lives of the people around him. He has also written songs, “Castle on the Hill,” for example, that are not necessarily about real situations but definitely could be.

5.Ed can seamlessly put himself in others’ shoes.

This is related to the previous one but still slightly different. Ed Sheeran has an undeniable ability to put himself into another person’s shoes and write a song from that person’s perspective. Whether he is incredibly empathetic or just a really good listener, I’m not sure, but it works either way. He wrote “Supermarket Flowers” about his grandmother from his mother’s perspective and was able to evoke so much emotion that his mother likely felt after losing her mother. Despite not sharing the experience of losing a parent, Ed was still able to understand and convey his mother’s feelings in a special song for his grandmother. (And this is real emotion because it makes me cry 9 times out of 10.)

6.There is always a more beautiful way to say something.

Think about how different Ed’s songs would be if he sang them in colloquial English. What if instead of saying “I’m not scared of passing over / or the thought of growing old,” he said “I’m not afraid of dying or getting older”? It’s not the same. This is something that Ed Sheeran taught me through his music: There is always a more beautiful, more poetic way to say something. I frequently think about his lyrics and the way that the words are put together, and they amaze me. There are so many times when he takes what would colloquially be a clunky or awkward or unattractive phrase and turns it into something beautiful. That is truly admirable, and it makes me think of how I can alter my own writing and speaking to make it more beautiful.

7.Rap verses can (and should) be meaningful.

Ed has a few rap songs, but these songs are different from typical rap music for one main reason: they are meaningful. Take “Eraser” from his latest album, for example. This is the first song on the album, and, if you listen closely, you can hear that he is setting up the rest of the album. He’s talking about what he’s been through in the past several years, the journey that has led him to writing, recording, and releasing this album. If you didn’t realize this previously, I encourage you to listen to the song again and really listen for what I described. It’s an incredibly meaningful and powerful song if you catch his message.

8.Ed is arguably the best singer/songwriter of all time.

Ed Sheeran does not just write songs for himself; he has written songs for other singers, most notably Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. There are not a lot of music artists today, or in the past, who are talented in singing and songwriting. Michael Jackson, for example, was one of the best performers of all time; he could sing, dance, and act, and these talents made him an icon. He did not, however, write his own music. This does not in any way take away from his talents; I just think that it truly speaks to how much talent Ed Sheeran has because it shows that songwriting is not something every music artist can do.

9.Music is narrative.

“Nancy Mulligan” is a great example of this. In this song, Ed tells the story of his grandparents through his grandfather’s eyes. You get to know their story, and you could probably retell it if someone asked you to—I know I can. Not only is the song is cute, fun tribute to his grandparents, but it also allows us as the listeners and fans to get to know Ed and his family a little better. Think of all the things you learn about Ed from this song: his dad is one of 8 siblings, which means Ed has 4 uncles and 3 aunts just on that side of the family; he is one of 22 grandchildren on that side of the family, meaning he has 20 cousins there; and his grandparents faced resistance from his great-grandfather because they were two different religions. Stories do this same thing, which is how we know from Ed’s music that music is a form of storytelling.

10.Music is poetry.

Remember in English class in middle school and high school when your teachers “made you” (you loved it; don’t lie) interpret words, lines, and stanzas of poems. These are meaningful, and Ed’s music is exactly the same. Every word Ed writes has a meaning. He chooses the words he writes down, like a poet. Each line, and therefore each song, is carefully crafted, like a poem. Think of the lines “She is the flint that sparks the lighter / and the fuel that will hold the flame” (“Hearts Don’t Break Around Here”), “We could change this whole world with a piano, / add a bass, some guitar, grab a beat, / away we go” (“What Do I Know?”), and “I saw that both your smiles were twice as wide as ours” (“Happier”), just to name a few from Divide. They are beautifully written and carefully crafted. This is why you, as an Ed Sheeran fan, know that music is poetry.

It’s easy to say that, as an Ed Sheeran fan, I am biased to believe that many of these things are true. But the reality is that they are. Ed Sheeran has undeniable talent, and I’m sure he makes his friends and family (and hopefully himself) proud each time his music is played.