“Thinking Out Loud” is Sheeran’s smash hit about lifelong love. Though he was just 23 when he wrote it, he imagines the love lasting well into his later years. The message resonated with fans, and it shattered several records—it was the first song to spend a full year in the UK Top 40, and the first song to reach 500 million streams on Spotify (the service also deemed it the top “first dance” song in the world). Sheeran wrote the song about his then-girlfriend Athina Andrelos.

lyrics

Open in browser ↗

View on Last.fm →More by Ed Sheeran →x (Deluxe Edition) →