Ed Sheeran – Bibia Be Ye Ye

“They might not be your typical Ghanaian issues.“

Tom: Oh, no, no, you’ve picked an Ed Sheeran song. Now I have to deliberately listen to an Ed Sheeran song.

Tim: Now now, open mind please. Ed proudly stated at the beginning of the year that ÷ contained music of a wide range of genres and influences, having spent six months travelling the world – we’ve already seen tropical pop, standard guitar pop and traditional Irish, and now that Despacito has in just seven months broken the all time record for YouTube plays, he reckons it’s time to give the summer foreign one a push.

Tom: Now, not only have I deliberately listened to an Ed Sheeran song, but I’ve found it not completely objectionable. I am not happy with today.

Tim: Please Tom, remember that we have a very strict “no such thing as a guilty pleasure” rule here. My cynicism from earlier was probably unfair, actually, or at least wrongly reasoned – it was more likely chosen because it’s revealed itself as a fan favourite (not something I’d considered previously about putting your whole album out at once – you can see which tracks people love and focus on those, rather than guessing).

Tom: You can also force the charts company to change their rules.

Tim: Well that’s a rant I’ll save for another day. And it’s a good video as well, not least because it’s all about folks in Ghana rather than him (title means All Will Be Well), even if the lyrics about throwing up hungover in a taxi and leaving shoes by an oak tree might not be your typical Ghanaian issues.

Tom: I was wondering about that.

Tim: I don’t know, maybe it is culturally way off lyrically, but it sounds good to me. I’ll take it.