"Photograph" Ed Sheeran, Friday, February 5, 2021

 

Before "Shape of You," Ed Sheeran was known primarily as a singer-songwriter. His albums + and X took clear influence from The Beatles, Carol King, Elton John, James Taylor, and the ballad writers of yesteryear. But he had a knack for throwing in a few rap bars along the way. With every record, Sheeran gained more acclaim. His sophomore record produced the mega Billboard #2 hit, "Thinking Out Loud," which won two Grammys including Song of the Year. The final single from the album, "Photograph" was written in collaboration with Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid. Sheeran drew inspiration from his long distance relationship with singer/songwriter Nina Nesbitt (the featured musician on Kodaline’s acoustic version of “Brand New Day”). The two spent five months apart. They would eventually break up, but the song remains a gem on Sheeran's second best-selling record. 

LOVING CAN HURT. "Photograph" was the song that introduced me to the talent of Ed Sheeran. Unfortunately, because of the hit “Shape of You” on his next album, Divide, I cast Sheeran aside and forgot about the truly inspiring lyrics on the X album. Songs like "Even My Dad Does Sometimes," "Tenerife Sea," and "Afire Love," and the song I chose today, “Photograph,” show of tenderness without gushing with sentimentality. The music video doesn't address the topic of the song. However, it shows young Sheeran with his first love--music. The video is a collection of old footage of Sheeran playing music throughout his childhood and teenage years.  This song was especially impactful to me in 2016. I had taken on the responsibility of coordinating the native English department at my Christian school. I was the only native English teacher who remained that year, so I was left with the task of assembling a new team. One coworker was particularly disrespectful and hard to manage. I was learning to work in a Korean system. But one other aspect of this year was particularly stressful. In February of 2016, my boyfriend of six months was conscripted. Korea has a mandatory military service that all Korean males must complete before the age of 30. This meant very limited phone conversations and not seeing him for six weeks at a time.

LOVING CAN HEAL. Unlike Ed Sheeran and Nina Nesbitt, we did not break up. The time we spent together, we used it to build our relationship. Because we had many common interests, we spent every moment doing this things together. Museums and discovering new places to find ____ foods, shopping, talking, going to the park. Simple but it kept us together. We made plans to watch shows together. We read the same books. We talked about them whenever we could. It may have been expensive with all of the traveling, but it was money I would gladly spend again. I don't wish for the hard times again. But when you go through the tough times, the lessons you learn are the most valuable. The mistakes you make are never erased but you can look at when you do it the right way, you remember why you don't do it the other way. 2016 was a year the built my future. It was a foundational year at work. I learned how and how not to be a leader. And I learned how to love deeper. Love isn't always the tender moments, but also the work in between. And you gotta pay the bills if you want to play on the weekends, hence long distance. I think love is really about balancing the sentimental with the practical. Swerve to the left, it's just a fantasy. Swerve to the right, it's just bitterness.