Ed Sheeran, English singer-songwriter and Rupert Grint look-alike, has been one of my favorite artists for years. The first song I ever heard by him was “The A Team,” which I found on YouTube, and I immediately searched for the rest of his music.
Ed’s genre is best described as folk and acoustic, but there are definite pop and hip-hop influences to be found throughout many of his songs.
His first studio-produced album, “+,” was released in 2011, and “The A Team” was by far its most successful track. “The A Team” tells the story of a girl who is suffering from a drug addiction. Ed purposely made the song sound upbeat, as the subject is so heavy. He also uses many euphemisms throughout the lyrics, such as “breathing in snowflakes” instead of smoking cocaine and “the Class A Team” instead of using Class A drugs. The song also treats the girl kindly, and instead of condemning her, the lyrics sympathize with her.
Another great song by Ed is “Small Bump.” Like “The A Team,” it deals with a very heavy topic but soothes it with an upbeat and catchy sound. The majority of the song is actually rather happy, as it describes a soon-to-be father’s hopes and excitement for the birth of his child. But the last two lines of the song reveal that the baby was actually miscarried. In fact, the song was dedicated to one of Ed’s friends, who suffered a miscarriage.
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Both of these songs deal with extremely sad topics, as do many of Ed’s songs, which is actually one of the reasons why Ed is one of my favorite artists. He manages to take these tragedies and treat them so respectfully, and he writes such beautiful and poetic lyrics to accompany them.
However, not all of Ed’s songs deal with such serious topics. Some deal with more traditional subjects for songs, specifically relationship troubles. “Drunk,” “Wake Me Up” and “Little Bird” are all in this category.
Another one of Ed’s songs that deals with relationships is “Give Me Love,” which also happens to be my favorite song by him. The entire song is beautiful, and the chorus especially provides a sweeping sensation. The violin accompaniment gives it a distinct sound from the rest of Ed’s songs. And the intense climax really ties the whole thing together.
One of my favorite things about Ed is that he writes all of his own songs. So many artists nowadays have people who write most of their songs for them, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s refreshing to see this kind of consistent originality.
He also performs these songs by himself. He has no band backing him up. It’s just him, his guitar, and his loop pedal.
The loop pedal is yet another detail that sets Ed apart from other artists. It allows him to record part of a song as he’s performing and then replay it later, layering his voice multiple times. He uses it during many of his live performances, and it almost makes you forget he’s the only one on stage.
Ed Sheeran has been relatively well known in the U.S. since 2012 when “The A Team” became a hit, but he has recently become even more famous through his collaborations with other very popular artists.
Ed has written several songs for One Direction, including “Moments” and the wildly successful “Little Things.” And in 2012, he co-wrote and sang “Everything Has Changed” for Taylor Swift’s album, “Red.” He also opened for her 2013 “Red Tour.”
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More recently, Sheeran has released “I See Fire” for “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” soundtrack. As a Tolkien fan, this was understandably pretty exciting for me.
Ed will also be releasing his second album, though he’s still keeping the date and the title a secret. It is expected to be released later this year.
“Melanie on Music” is a weekly column about McGinniss’s favorite bands and her thoughts on them. It will be running every Friday for the next three weeks. McGinniss is a senior at Red River High School. She can be reached at melaniemcginniss2448@gmail.com .
