I first fell in love with Edward Christopher Sheeran when I heard “The A-Team” on the radio. The song was catchy and the lyrics stayed with me all day until I couldn’t bear it any longer and had to go look up who was behind the creation of such a song. And so began my transition into a full-fledged Sheerio (the nickname given to Ed Sheeran fans). My addiction has gotten so bad that I actually asked for his new autobiographical book for my last birthday. I regret nothing. Reading about his journey and struggles while beginning his career and even now as a famous person has made him even more of an inspiration to me and millions of other young people. His lyrics are so honest and down to earth when talking about love that they’ll make you want to grab a tissue box and cry about old loves or go out and experience it again a million times over. So prepare yourself for the emotional roller-coaster that these Ed Sheeran songs will take you on from the beginning to the end of a relationship.
When you realize you’re falling in love: “Kiss Me”
Best Lyrics:
“Yeah I’ve been feeling everything//From hate to love//From love to lust//From lust to truth//I guess that’s how I know you”
“My heart’s against your chest, your lips pressed to my neck//I’m falling for your eyes, but they don’t know me yet//And with this feeling I’ll forget, I’m in love now”
This song describes that bipolarity of feelings you get with that special someone. Do I like them? Do I hate them? Is it just a physical thing? But as you spend more time with them you realize that you love them, and you wouldn’t want to be with anyone else but them.
When you and your S.O. have to split up because of school/long distance: “U.N.I”
Best Lyrics:
“And there’s no chance that we’ll work it out//That’s why you and I ended over U-N-I//And I said that’s fine but you’re the only one that knows I lied”
“And I know you’ll say that I’m the only one//But I know that God made another one of me//To love you better than I ever will”
Sometimes things come between people and relationships that we can’t change and although you both decide to go your separate ways, you know it’s not really what you want to do. So you both have to suffer in silence, pretending like this is what is best for both of you.
When your relationship just ended but you want them back: “Give Me Love”
Best Lyrics:
“’Cause lately I’ve been waking up alone,//Paint splattered teardrops on my shirt,//Told you I’d let them go”
“And it’s been a while but I still feel the same,//Maybe I should let you go”
So now that your relationship is over, you’ve gone through all the stages of grief: you’ve erased them from all social media, drunk-dialed them a couple of times, had a few crying sessions at your BFF’s house but you still can’t seem to get over them.
When you try to replace an old love with a new one: “Sunburn”
Best Lyrics:
“When we never even tried//We never even talked//We never even thought in the long run”
“If you cut deep//Then I might learn//You scarred and left me//Like a sunburn”
You’re still stuck on that person that broke your heart so your friends tell you the usual “go out and meet new people so you can get over them faster!” What they don’t realize is that you would only be comparing every new person to your ex and putting a small Band-Aid over the gaping hole in your heart.
When you’ve found your soulmate: “Thinking Out Loud”
Best Lyrics:
“I’m thinking ’bout how people fall in love in mysterious ways//Maybe it’s all part of a plan”
“And darling I will be loving you ’til we’re 70//And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23”
You finally made it! All those years of heartbreak and blind dates and suffering have all led up to this one moment when you know you’ve found the one you were meant to spend the rest of your life with. Hopefully you can both grow old together and brush each other’s dentures.
When you’re reminiscing about old relationships: “Photograph”
Best Lyrics:
“And if you hurt me//That’s okay baby, only words bleed//Inside these pages you just hold me//And I won’t ever let you go”
“We keep this love in this photograph//We made these memories for ourselves//Where our eyes are never closing//Hearts were never broken//And time’s forever frozen still”
Having found the love of your life won’t mean that you’ll automatically forget everyone else that came before. You’ll always remember the person you shared your first kiss with or the first one to say “I love you,” and you shouldn’t be ashamed because all of those experiences are what brought you to your loved one in the end.
So to those of you who have survived this heart-wrenching pain, I applaud you. You are a true fan. But stay away from my flame-haired man.