Songfacts®:

• For a decade, Ed Sheeran poured his heart and soul into crafting the ultimate acoustic album, – (pronounced Subtract). But when February 2022 hit, it felt like fates were against him. His pregnant wife, Cherry Seaborn, needed surgery for a tumor but couldn't have it until after giving birth. His best friend, Jamal Edwards, passed away, and to top it off, he was battling a plagiarism lawsuit. The final straw was losing another friend, Australian cricket star Shane Warne, in March.
  
  This barrage of tragedy left Sheeran feeling like he was drowning under the waves of fear, depression, and anxiety. But from the depths of his despair, he emerged with the poignant track, "Boat." Written by the English seaside amidst the extreme elements of winter, the song serves as a metaphor for Sheeran's depression. Released on April 21, 2023, it's the second single from Subtract.
• Written by the English seaside amidst the extreme elements of winter, the song serves as a metaphor for Sheeran's depression. Released on April 21, 2023, it's the second single from Subtract.
• The more that I love, the less that I feel
  The times that I jumped never were real
  They say that all scars will heal, but I know
  Maybe, I won't
  But the waves won't break my boat
  
  From the bleak conditions of the English winter seaside, Sheeran learned a valuable lesson: a wounded heart won't shatter him. Just like a boat that can weather rough waves and remain intact, Sheeran realized that depression and painful memories won't "break his boat."
  
  "'Boat' is basically a song about resilience," explained Sheeran on Instagram. "Feeling at your lowest, and wondering if you can get through it, basically. I wrote the song and finished it by the English seaside. Which is, I think very beautiful, it is quite a bleak and cold place in Winter. I was looking out at the sea, and we saw waves crashing down. I sort of felt like, that was a good metaphor of what was happening, at the time with me. And that's where the line 'The waves won't break my boat" came from.'"
• Sheeran is resolute in his commitment to keep depression from breaking him or robbing him of his ability to love, regardless of whether he defeats it or not.
  
  "It's basically about feeling very low and not knowing how to make it feel better, but being determined it wasn't gonna be the end," explained the singer-songwriter. "The waves won't break my boat."
• Sheeran wrote "Boat" himself and co-produced it with Taylor Swift's Folklore and Evermore partner, Aaron Dessner.
  
  Swift originally hooked Sheeran up with Dessner to work on the Swift-Sheeran co-write "Run," for her Taylor's Version remake of Red. Swift then suggested that they work on Sheeran's music. The two finally met for a sushi dinner in New York in late 2021, and shortly after, Dessner sent fully arranged instrumental tracks to Sheeran.
  
  Amid Sheeran's month from hell, he set aside all the tracks he'd written for Subtract and started writing new lyrics over Dessner's tracks. "Boat" is the album's oldest song, excluding "The Hills of Aberfeldy," written in the early 2010s.
• Sheeran disclosed to Rolling Stone, that he wrote "Boat" over "a piano-and-drums bed created by Dessner," but reworked it as a somber blend of strings and soft guitar.