How do you keep an impatient music star in the room while you write hit songs? Try a suitcase full of Legos.
That’s just one of the fascinatin’ facts in this truly wonderful New York Times report on how Ed Sheeran and his cohorts wrote “Shape of You,” the biggest hit of 2017. It’s a great song and a great story.
The official video has been viewed almost three billion times, and it performs the minor miracle of making Ed Sheeran look like a handsome boxer. (At least until the comical finale.)
Sheeran’s co-writer Johnny McDaid was worried that the lyric “I’m in love with your body” would seem to be objectifying women, so the boxing theme is probably no accident; it puts a clever empowering spin on the whole scenario.
Well, whatever. “Shape of You” is a very catchy tune indeed. It’s been on the Billboard Hot 100 for 49 weeks now and it’s still at 23.
See our biography of Ed Sheeran »