Tag: Ed Sheeran

Ed Sheeran – Castle on the Hill

“Just a bit okay.”

Tom: Really? Really, we’re doing this again? I know this is Tracks We Missed Week, but seriously.

Tim: Yes, yes, I know we didn’t start this blog to write about multiple Ed Sheeran tracks in less than a week, but still. One thing they don’t tell you about working in retail is just how many times a day you’ll hear Ed Sheeran, and that on occasion you may hear Shape of You (awful) immediately followed by Galway Girl (ludicrous) immediately followed by this.

Tim: And that is actually a nicely redeeming song.

Tom: Is it, though? Is it?

Tim: I don’t know if it’s just that it’s worn me down eventually (that certainly hasn’t happened with Shape of You), but musically at least it’s a heck of an uplifting song.

Tom: Well, yes, okay, the chorus is great, but everything around it is just a bit okay. I just can’t get behind romanticising teenage years like that. There’s a song that I can’t find a copy of online — Billy Jones is Dead by MJ Hibbett — that’s a bit more bittersweet, and that works a lot better for me.

Tim: You may not have time for the childhood reminiscences (I actually visited that castle on several occasions in my younger days, so maybe I’m ever so slightly biased towards it), but even so I’m fairly sure it’s hard not to be taken away by that chorus, and the music beneath everything. For all the things we might not like about him, Ed Sheeran can be a damn good songwriter; fairly sure this holds that up.

Tom: Well done to whoever did the casting for ‘Young Ed Sheeran’, though. Spot on.

Tim: Incidentally, speaking of retail and music – the most prominent Christmas song on Apple’s festive playlist? The Sheeran-penned slightly damp When Christmas Comes Around. Bizarre, but true.

Ed Sheeran feat. Andrea Bocelli – Perfect Symphony

“What do we buy Auntie Margaret?” “No idea, this’ll do.”

Tim: So, currently, All I Want For Christmas Is You is, 23 years on from its original release, currently equaling its number 2 high point in the UK Singles Chart. Streaming’s weird. It’s being kept off number one by Ed, who’s gaming the whole thing so cynically it’s almost funny.

Tom: And now I have to listen to the damn thing. I’ve managed to avoid it, on the grounds of it being Ed Sheeran. But, fine, here we go.

Tom: I think the most startling thing about that is just how much it sounds like a lot of other songs, without actually being any of them. Stand By Me. Unchained Melody. Boyz II Men’s “I’ll Make Love To You”. A half dozen other inspirations and homages. Yes, well done, you’ve made a New Song from bits of old ones.

But you know what? Andrea Bocelli actually managed to save this for me. This sounds really rather nice. And I think that’s because there’s, well, less Ed.

Tim: Now let’s examine the ways he’s managed to keep this song up there. First, the many versions. On the album and first video, it’s a solo; a few weeks later he duetted with Beyoncé; and now he’s going for the all-important festive “look, it’s got that opera singer on it, you like him, don’t you nan?” market. Second, and as a by-product of that, we’ve a nice pop/classical mix – there’s a reason Il Divo always did well at Christmas.

Tom: “What do we buy Auntie Margaret?” “No idea, this’ll do.”

Tim: And thirdly: the technicalities. Your standard pop songs are all in 4/4 time; the Christmas pop hits, on the other hand, have an unusually high rate of 12/8 songs – it’s a nice mix of radio-friendly 4-time and the 3-time that’s frequent in traditional carols. Much as I’d love to criticise Ed for this, he’s not alone – The Pogues did it, John Lennon did it, even your favourite did it, all in a purely innocent attempt to get people festive.

Tom: Nothing wrong with that. This is what gets me: Ed Sheeran’s can sing, and clearly has a lot of song-writing talent, it’s just that the results — for some reason — absolutely drive me up the wall, no matter how blatant the pandering is.

Tim: And the worst thing about all this? It works. Judging by the midweeks, he’s going nowhere. (Unlike Mariah, who’s down to 5. Oh well.)

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.

Ed Sheeran – Sing

“He’s literally ripping off Timberlake’s style.”

Tom: Oh, no, really? We’re doing this?

Tim: Yes, but there’s a reason: said you, yesterday, on Nico & Vinz’s potential to be a hit: “If Ed Bloody Sheeran can manage it, these guys can.” And yes, he can. But actually, his current track is, in a surprise move, not completely shit.

Tim: I mean it’s still not particularly my cup of Horlicks, but it’s more Timberlake than slumber-make (yes, it works) we became accustomed to on the last album, and rather deserving of the number 1 position it scored last week.

Tom: That’s because he’s literally ripping off Timberlake’s style. 808-alike percussion, Doobie Brothers-alike guitar, falsetto oh-oh-ohs, half-singing half-rapping bit.

Tim: He is copying the style, yes, and it gives that something that, much as I’d like to, I still can’t quite describe.

Tom: That “something” is “Justin Timberlake”.

Tim: And as for the video? Well, a vomiting Ed Sheeran puppet isn’t the first thing I wanted to see, but at least it has Beats headphones in it, as every video is apparently legally required to. So that’s nice.

Tom: Oh crikey. Just imagine where the puppeteer is during all those shots.