Interview+Transcript

Ed Sheeran Interview: The Story Behind + by Music For You Broadcasting Center INTERVIEWER Welcome to MFY, thank you for coming. ED SHEERAN My pleasure, thank you for having me. INTERVIEWER So you are here today to explain the story behind the songs on your chart topping debut album, +. While you are here I must congratulate you on that, the album was phenomenal. ED SHEERAN Thanks, it was a lot of hard work. INTERVIEWER Yes, why don’t we start with your single the “A Team”. ED SHEERAN Well I actually wrote that song in my friends dorm room. You see, the Crisis Charity organization makes a homeless shelter during the christmas season every year. A few years back I volunteered at it to play a small gig. While there I meet a woman named Angel. We had a long conversation and she told me about the struggles she’s been through and what her life is like. I won’t go into the details, as it wasn’t the happiest of stories. But basically later I wrote the “A Team” about a person in a similar situation as this women. INTERVIEWER Wow. It’s surprising to have music about heavy subject’s like your song getting so much attention, and radio play. ED SHEERAN Yeah, it really is. I never expected it to become so popular. Apparently a lot of people were able to relate though. I made the meaning subtle though. So, unless someone is really listening they might not understand what it is about. INTERVIEWER Very interesting. Now lets talk about another single of yours, “You need me, I don’t need you.” Can you explain what this song is about? ED SHEERAN Well I actually wrote this song a few years back, but it has evolved since then. One of the things it is about is a saying that has been instilled in me since I was young. The saying is, ** stay true to yourself by following your heart and you will succeed. ** INTERVIEWER That is a great motto to live by. Is the song about anything else? Or can you expand on that? ED SHEERAN It is about the music industry and what it was like when I first started getting involved. It was also about kind of about my discontent with it. INTERVIEWER What do you mean by ‘your discontent’? Can you elaborate on that? ED SHEERAN Before my independent career, when I first started seriously doing music, my management wanted to change me. They wanted me to change my hair color, and wanted me to stop rapping. So, I didn’t stay in that position and I went independent. At the time it didn’t seem like the best thing but looking back it was actually really good. I mean, I got this song out of that experience. INTERVIEWER Yeah, it seems like that happens with a lot of events in your life. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t a handful of your songs about a your ex-girlfriend. ED SHEERAN No, your right. Almost all of my love songs on the album are about one relationship I had. For the most part every love song I’ve written is about her too. For example, “Wake Me Up” is a song about that relationship. INTERVIEWER Can you elaborate on the story behind that song. ED SHEERAN Yeah. So I actually wrote that song in LA, the first time I came over. It is about all of those little quirky things in a relationship that you miss when it is gone. INTERVIEWER So are all of the things you said in that song true? ED SHEERAN Yeah, they are. One of my favorite lines is “And I know you love Shrek ‘cause we’ve watched it twelve times.” I love it because it’s true and people think it’s not. I didn’t really think that it was going to a hit because it is so personal. It turned out that people were able to relate to the idea of all those little things rather than the things themselves. INTERVIEWER Are any of your song’s not about personal relationships? ED SHEERAN Some of them are. “The A Team”, obviously is one of them. “Small Bump” is also. That is a song about an unborn child, but I didn’t experience that. “Kiss Me” is also not about me. It is about two people that I am close too. INTERVIEWER Are there any songs on the album that you didn’t write? ED SHEERAN Actually there is one. I didn’t write “The Parting Glass.” It is an old Irish folk song. Honestly, it’s one of those old songs that no one knows who the writer is. INTERVIEWER That’s interesting that you would put an Irish song on the album, considering your English. ED SHEERAN I was raised in England, but both my parents are from Ireland and I have relatives there. So for me it really isn’t that far fetched. INTERVIEWER Oh, that makes sense. That also explains the ginger hair. So are there any other songs on the album you would like to talk about? ED SHEERAN I don’t believe we have talked about “Lego House” yet. INTERVIEWER No, we haven’t. Go ahead and tell us about that. ED SHEERAN Well I wrote this song about the time in a relationship where you come to a realization of where you are going, and maybe you want to save it. I tried to be very creative and imaginative with this song though. INTERVIEWER You defiantly succeeded in doing so, good job with that. Now, why do you sing about Legos. I’ve heard that you have an affinity for them. ED SHEERAN Yeah, I love Legos. I always did when I was a kid and they never wore off on me. I can sit for hours and play with them. They fit into the metaphoric idea too. I mean when you think about it Legos take hours to make a complex design. Yet in seconds all those hours of work can be destroyed. I feel like it is the same thing with a relationship, which was in a way the base for this song. INTERVIEWER That’s a really interesting way to look at Legos. I for one have never thought about it like that. Another love song on the album is “U.N.I”. Can you explain the story behind this song to us. ED SHEERAN The basis of “U.N.I” is in the title. It is about the stage in a relationship when it is time to go to university. Usually both people say that everything will be okay, and it’ll all work out. In reality, or at least for me, it never does. So the song is basically about a breakup because of university. INTERVIEWER That’s interesting. It seems like the majority of your songs on this album are love songs. Which ones, besides the “A team” and “You need me, I don’t need you”, aren’t. ED SHEERAN “The City” isn’t a love song. It is actually about not being able to get sleep when you are in the city. I wrote it while living in the city. It’s a pretty basic concept, but I really like the song so it made it to the album. INTERVIEWER I guess that does make sense based on the lyrics, “If the city never sleeps then that makes two.” ED SHEERAN Yeah, I didn’t try to hide the meaning or anything. INTERVIEWER I think that is all we have time for today. Thank you for joining us Ed. It was great to hear about your album, +. I wish you all the best of luck. ED SHEERAN Thank you for having me. I enjoyed being here. Have a nice day. INTERVIEWER To our listeners: there you have it, the story behind +. Thanks for listening, and be sure to tune back in later.