If you didn't already know, I am most certainly in love with Ed Sheeran. I have always loved his music even when he was sixteen-years-old. That's right, I'm one of those people who liked him before he got famous. I'm kidding, but I did know who he was before all of this fame with "A-Team" came out. Sheeran has won the hearts of many with his genius lyrics about love and heartbreak. I have not had the privilege of seeing this beautiful man live, and considering he comes to Boston in September I will not be able to see him because I will be in school *crying face emoji*
However, I can still enjoy all of his music that is on my phone.I have done a lot of research papers on Ed Sheeran, so I know quite a bit. Thus, I am about to spit some real facts and the stories you should be aware of about his songs. If you're new to Ed Sheeran, I have linked all of the songs to a youtube music video or audio! Enjoy!
1. A-Team (Album: +)
Ed was at a gig, and there was a homeless woman there who had a drug problem. The song explains an 18-year-old lady who begs for money and sells sex to men for money for crack. The video explains the lyrics very well. However, if that isn't enough proof the words "And in a pipe, she flies to the Motherland / Or sells love to another man" state she uses a crack pipe, and sells sex for money. In the video, if you watch when Ed sings "For angels to fly, to fly, to fly / For angels to die" the woman has died. But if you also did not know, A-Team is not the original song, the original song is called "Little Lady" that features Mikill Pane. Little Lady is extremely explicit such as talking about rape, medical attention, and murder of this young girl who is only 13.
2. Small bump (Album: +)
Small bump is about Ed's friend whose baby died when she was just five months pregnant. Sheeran said he wrote the song in the perspective of a parent singing about how he would treat the child as if it were his own. The video features Ed in a hospital, sitting in the waiting room for his friend. The camera panels around him as he is sitting here singing about this baby. He emphasizes the lyrics about tearing the child from life just a short time before being born. The lyrics "You're just a small bump unborn for four months then torn from life" because she did have just four months to go. He talks about how the baby will have their mother's eyes and possibly his ginger hair. This song is probably my favorite song from this album, and it just takes your heart and smashes it into a bunch of tiny pieces.
3. Afire Love (Album: X)
Another heart-wrenching song by Ed, but this one is about his grandfather who was dealing with Alzheimer's for 20 years until he died. Ed sings "things were all good yesterday / and then the devil took your memory." and "And my father told me, son / It’s not his fault he doesn’t know your face / And you’re not the only one" talking about his grandfather's disease. He also sings about the unbreakable love bond between his grandmother and grandfather. He continues to write about the funeral he went to for his grandfather that has now passed. He sings, "and things were all good yesterday / then the devil took your breath away / and now we're left here in the pain / black suit, black tie, stanin' in the rain" which explains to us how his family felt and where they are. He sings at the end with a gospel choir singing about "Hallelujah."
4. Runaway (Album: X)
Runaway is the first song we hear about Ed's father. Ed opens the song with "I've known it for a long time / Daddy wakes up with a drink at nine" indicating that his father was an alcoholic. He sings about leaving and running away from home with a girl to escape his toxic home. Ed sings "How long you leaving? / Well, dad just don't expect me back this evening / Oh it could take a bit of time to heal this" noting that to his father that he won't be coming home soon, also singing about how he left the house at 16 to pursue his music career. He then sings "but I don't wanna live in this home / There's nothing to say cause he knows / I'll just run away and be on my own." He says it's too toxic and his father knows why he's running away and what he is going to do.
5. Supermarket Flowers (Album: ÷)
Another song about a family death, but now about his passed grandmother. His song focuses on the active parts of her death rather than the pain and sadness. Ed has said that this song was written in his mother's perspective. He was in the process of writing this song and when he was finished with the song she had passed. He said that his grandmother was very ill at the time, and his grandfather urged him to put it on the album for her memory. Ed writes about his grandmother and the lyric "You were an angel in the shape of my mum" because it was written in his mother's point of view and he says "she was my mum's mum." He says that the song has very specific things about his grandmother.
6. How Would You Feel (Paean)
(Album: ÷)
So if the meaning behind this song doesn't make you swoon, then I don't know what will. Sheeran stated that this song was about his current girlfriend whom he started dating in 2015. His girlfriend, Cherry Paean Seaborn, is the lucky lady who gets a love song written for her. He stated that he initially forgot about the song and it was never supposed to be on the album. His girlfriend told him that this song was emailed to her and only her, but he still forgot about it. Once she reminded him of it, he recorded it and put it on the album after he asked which one was her favorite on the album. He wrote the song within fifteen minutes. The name in parenthesis is actually his girlfriend's middle name.
