Music Review: Ed Sheeran "Sing"

Ed Sheeran

Sing

Album: x

Year: 2014

           Ed Sheeran chats up a young woman at the bar in the throbbing  “Sing.”

Vibrating synths open the single, setting a jumpy tone. The ice has melted in his drink. He guesses it must’ve sitting there for two hours. It’s close to midnight now. He huddles closer to her, leaning to her hear over the current contest going on. A server has walked by a couple times to ask for them another drink. However, he hasn’t even noticed her once. He sighs as people holler, annoyed with the noise. He would like to take her home with him. (“It's late in the evening/Glass on the side now/I've been sat with you/For most of the night/Ignoring everybody here/We wish they would disappear/So maybe we could get down now/And I don't wanna know/If you're getting ahead of the program/I want you to be mine, lady/To hold your body close/

Take another step into the no-man's land/For the longest time lady.”)

         In the pre-chorus, he waits for her to tell her that she’s enjoying the evening. She touches his arm and it sends a jolt through him. (“I need you darling/Come on set the tone/If you feel you're falling/Won't you let me know/If you love me come on get involved/Feeling rushing through you from your head to toe.”)

In the chorus, he wants to jump up and down, yelling that he has found the perfect woman at last. (“Sing! /Louder! /Sing!”)

             He says the heat is apparent to even the casual observer. They both know it but neither wants to be first to say it. Instead, they’ll talk and chainsmoke until the bar closes. He thinks how he might broach the subject of going out. When he first met her, she offered him a disguised bottle of tequila. He liked her right then and there. He calls a cab and go back to his place.There, they make out after some awkward conversation. (“This love is a blaze/I saw flames from the side of the stage/And the fire brigade comes in a couple of days/Until then we got nothing to say and nothing to know/But something to drink and maybe something to smoke/Let it go until I wrote a change /Singing we found love in a local rave no/I don't really know what I'm supposed to say /But I can just figure it out and hope and pray/I told them my name and said it's nice to meet ya/And then she handed me of a bottle of water filled with tequila/I already know she's a keeper/Just from this one small act of kindness, I'm in deep/If anybody finds out I'm meant to drive home /But I'm drunk and gonna live it now, not?/We just sit on the couch one thing /Led to another now she's kissing my mouth.”)

The pre-chorus and chorus are sung again.

        In the bridge, he says the men there are looking for women. He found her in the corner, by the wall and wanted to know more about her. (“Can you feel it? /All the guys in here don't really wanna dance/Can you feel it?/All that I can here is music from the back/Can you feel it?/Found you hiding here so hoped you took my hand/Before the beats kicks in again/Can you feel it?/Can you feel it?”)

           The pre-chorus is sung again to end the single.

        Sheeran’s finespun vocals are made with designer silk, draping the lyrics in its complicated yet flowing pattern. The rapping is the most difficult part and he pulls it off.  His soft-spoken nature also lets him remain a decent guy. Love is still a factor.

         The lyrics, however, are spotty at certain points. Sometimes, they are grammatically incorrect (“I been sat with you all night”) and are strung together with the thinnest coherent thought (“If anybody’s meant to drive home…”) It makes things hard to follow.

       The respectable “Sing” showcases Sheeran’s ability to adapt to any genre.