Shape of Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran, Subtract Album
Over time Ed Sheeran has grown into the man he is today, unfortunately a lot of tribulations have come with that, but in despite of those hard times he has come out on the other side stronger, and more confident in what his message is to others as a songwriter. His album “Subtract” has been mentioned throughout this series but I would like to go into it’s significance to this era of music.
The concept of this album was to strip away all of the ‘fluff’, each song on this album was put there because it was what Ed wanted to present, not what labels thought were the best for the product, it wasn’t about the money, it was about the music and it it’s message. This album covers topics of depression, greif, and pain, love, and joy, but most of all it discusses the waves of life, that these feelings will ebb and flow in life. His song “Boat” (linked below) recognizes this theme and is said to be one of the most honest songs of this day and age. Todays music charts are filled with pop hits that cover the surface, nothing dives deep into what it is really like to be human the way that this album does. Not only is this album written beautifully, but it is a inspiration to to other singer songwriters to really express themselves even the scrapped up, maybe bruised versions.
Ed Sheeran is a songwriter, and that is his primary passion, In a interview held by Apple Music, Ed discusses the court case as that he “Would never hold a court case against another songwriter.” He find that they are all using the same basics to write songs, people will come up with similar sounding work that is inevitable. He find that over the time of his career he misses it when he could enjoy just songwriting for himself and with other songwriter with no pressure of a career.
In this interview some of my most significant take aways is what Ed says about compartmentalizing the things we are struggling with, and in the wake of Jamals Edwards (Ed’s Friend) passing, Sheeran would put those feelings somewhere else because he wanted to be strong for his daughters. In the past Sheeran often wouldn’t share heavy emotion in interviews, but during this he allows himself to be upset about discussing his losses, and feeling his grief. Ed Sheeran is setting a example for others rising in the music industry, and I hope other follow in these footsteps to change the narrative of the expectations of this profession.
