Ed Sheeran‘s not pulling any punches on the first single from his new album, except when it comes to the radio edit.
After all, the song (Ed wouldn’t reveal the title just yet) does feature several rather fantastic uses of the F-word, a fact that probably won’t go unnoticed by programmers at radio stations around the world. So, for the first — and perhaps only — time in his career, he was willing to compromise.
“I tried other words, I tried ‘mess,’ I tried ‘funk,’ lots of other things, but none of them worked,” he laughed. “I think if you’re going to swear on a track, make it worth it. There’s no point swearing just for the sake of it … but, if taking away a certain cuss word lightens the load of a song, I don’t agree with that. So, I’ve kept certain words in just because it makes the song what it is. But I’m I’m definitely giving radio and edit they can play, because I’d be mental not to.”
Of course, as his fans know, F-bombs are nothing new for Sheeran … but it’s the way they’re used in this new song — with a pissed-off purpose — that may come as a surprise. And, yes, even Ed will admit that the single will definitely raise a few eyebrows. That’s practically the point.
“When I wrote the first single, the album was pretty much done, and I was just going into the studio to vent; something frustrating had happened and I just wanted to get it all out,” he explained. “I find the best way to get over something is to just tackle it on a song. I just wanted to move on, so I wrote the song and finished it, kind of put it to one side and then a lot of people heard it and were like ‘That’s a great song! That should be on your record!’
“And then it ended up not only going on the record, but being the first single. It’s a punchy song, it’s got a bit of bite, and I’ve never shown people that side of me before,” he continued. “I’ve always been the sweet, innocent, ‘Oh my God, he’s English!’ kind of thing, so having a bit of bite, I don’t know how that’s going to go down, but based on the reaction of people that have heard it, I think it will go down just fine.”
And then, there’s the subject matter: Sheeran doesn’t skimp when it comes to details about hotel-room hookups and the inevitable fallout that follows. Yes, it’s about one person in particular, though if you think Ed’s going to tell us who, you’re wasting your time. Sufficed to say, however, the ex in question will definitely get the message.
“Naming and shaming, I’m not in the business of that. I can tell you one thing, it’s not about who people think it’s about; people won’t be able to guess. But the person who it’s about will probably be aware,” he said. “But when you’re a songwriter, and if someone’s dating you and they know you’re a songwriter, if good things happen, good songs get written; if bad things happen, bad songs get written. That’s just my job.”
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