“Thinking Out Loud” is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, recorded for his second studio album, X (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. It was released in the US in September 2014 as the album’s third single. “Thinking Out Loud” is a romantic ballad with blue eyed soul influences. Sheeran referred to it as a “walking down the aisle song”. In the lyrics, Sheeran reflects on “getting older and fidelity and love in a fairly conventional context”, according to Eric Clarke, professor of music at the University of Oxford.
In February 2014, Wadge visited Sheeran at home for a “chilling-out time”. Around that time, Sheeran’s second studio album, X, was nearly completed. Wadge revealed that her visit was not supposed to be a songwriting session. While Sheeran was taking a shower, Wadge played a few chords on a guitar. The tune caught the attention of Sheeran and he ran downstairs. Sheeran suggested working with the tune, but only after returning home from dinner, work began. The melody developed from a simple. According to Sheeran, he composed the melody on a guitar in a manner which was “very Van-like”, referring to Van Morrison. The Irish musician has been an inspiration to Sheeran since a young age, and Sheeran wanted to capture that vibe when he composed the song.
In the UK, the song spent 19 weeks within the top 40 before peaking at number one in early November 2014; it became Sheeran’s second number one single there. The single has also reached the top spot in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia and South Africa, and peaked at number two on both the US Billboard and the Canadian Hot 100. It was Sheeran’s highest-charting single in North America until “Shape of You” topped the charts in both countries in 2017.
In June 2015, “Thinking Out Loud” became the first single to spend a full year in the UK Top 40. In September 2015, it also became the seventh single to have achieved triple platignum certification in the Uk during the 21st Century. In October 2015, the song became the first to be streamed over 500 million times on Spotify, is also one of the most streamed songs in the UK and has been viewed more than 3.3 billion times on YouTube as of November 2021. “Thinking Out Loud” won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance at the 58th Grammy’s.
Emil Nava directed the video accompaniment to the single. Most of it was filmed in the Crystal Ballroom at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The video was shot continuously using a 16mm film camera. Unlike Sheeran’s earlier videos, where he assumed a low profile, he took the lead role on “Thinking Out Loud”. In the video, Sheeran executes a contemporary dance with Brittany Cherry, a contestant from the televised American dance competition, So You Think You Can Dance. While on concert tour, Sheeran spent five hours a day for three weeks to practice with Cherry.
