Album art for Ed Sheeran’s upcoming album ÷ (Divide) from Asylum/Atlantic
First, allow me to explain ‘Ed Sheeran: the enigma’.
No one can deny that Ed is hugely popular. After a year-or-so-long hiatus, he managed to simultaneously release two songs, ‘Shape of You’ and ‘Castle On The Hill’, which instantly hit the top two spots in the UK charts. Not only that, this through and through British singer-songwriter who- may I add- only broke America relatively recently managed to chart these same two tracks in the Billboard 100 upon release, with ‘Shape of You’ alternating between the first and second spots for the past six weeks.
However, in the face of Ed Sheeran’s huge success, there is an air of confusion. Let’s face it: Ed’s voice is good, but it’s not particularly different or outstanding. He hits his notes better than most, yet the notes are not especially difficult to hit. In fact, Ed’s image is very much akin to the common street busker you see playing on the corner of a British town/village high street on a Saturday afternoon: battered acoustic guitar in hand, loop pedal at his toes, scruffy hair on head and chin, a dark, faded out band T-shirt on his chest. He sings covers of popular 70s ballads to please the sleepy high street’s average listener: here’s Elton John’s ‘Tiny Dancer’, there’s Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’. He throws in some of his own compositions, hoping that a music exec walks by. He even experiments with rhythm, laying down percussive tracks by beatboxing and stepping on his loop pedal.
That said, Ed Sheeran was once a busker himself- and these experiences have certainly made an impression on his songwriting. The sparse texture of his songs (i.e. there are few instrumental lines involved) plus the ‘DIY’-ness of his instrumentation (i.e. the instruments he uses are not particularly extravagant or expensive) clearly hark back to his busker days, when money and rehearsal space were an issue.
What makes Ed Sheeran so enigmatic is that this singer-songwriter/busker genre is nothing new. It feels like we see Ed or, even, the guy who’s trying to be the next Ed Sheeran, on the high street every Saturday afternoon. And, every time we see him, he never pushes us into the unknown by challenging us or showing us something new. Take his lyrics for example: they have no hidden meaning at all.
- Song: ‘Don’t’. Overview of lyrics: Ed tells the story of a girl who cheats on him then comes back to him. Meaning outcome: this is a story about how Ed gets screwed over.
- Song: ‘Castle On The Hill’. Overview of lyrics: Ed sings about his old friends who he used to hang out with and how the times have changed since the days he smoked ‘hand-rolled cigarettes’ at 15. Meaning outcome: this is a nostalgic song where Ed contemplates his youth.
- Song: ‘Thinking Out Loud’. Overview of lyrics: Ed will love the song’s addressee till they’re old and grey. Meaning outcome: Ed likes monogamy.
- etc.etc.
It’s the lack of this challenge to decipher a hidden meaning that makes him so underwhelming for most listeners. And for that fact, many think: ‘He’s not an artist.’ Some may go further to think ‘I don’t listen to non-artists, so I don’t think Ed Sheeran deserves my time.’
But, as it says in the title, I love Ed Sheeran. Let me explain why.
When I say ‘love’, I’m not saying that I’m an obsessive merch-wearing, queuing at the stadium the morning of the show, screaming every lyric kind of fan. A quick Google Images search of ‘ed sheeran fans’ will show you what I am not.
What I am not
When I say I love Ed Sheeran, I am saying that I am the sort of person who, (cue actual recent real-life example) after a long stressful day at work, might get home tired, heat up some ready-made soup, and flip on an Ed Sheeran live video, as I sip my soup in peace, thankful that my day is over. The video makes me calm, but happy that Ed is in the world.
But why does Ed make me feel that way?
I set out this blogpost hopeful that I would be able to pin down in one clear and simple sentence why I love Ed Sheeran. But having pondered on the example above, I still feel confused as to why. Maybe his music is actually artful (his music is catchy, to say the least, but maybe it actually touches on something deep within.) Maybe it’s because in the flashy world of pop music, Ed shows that, no matter how ordinary you are, you can still be a huge popstar. Maybe it’s because, for all the fans and success across the globe, Ed still manages to show that he is a straight up nice guy who has never let the fame get to him (no matter how crazy those fans might be).
In any case, I know for a fact that the enigma of Ed Sheeran’s will always fascinate me and that it’s this fascination will always drive me back to him.
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