Songfacts®:

• They say for every up side there's a downside, and for Ed Sheeran this was indeed the case. Having achieved success with his breakthrough single, "The A Team," the English singer-songwriter found himself splitting up with his girlfriend of three and a half years as he was so busy gigging every night. Sheeran explained to The Sun that this tune is a love song written about her: "I picked out every little thing about my ex-girlfriend that I thought was wicked and put it into a song," he said. "There's a lyric about New Year's Day on Southwold beach when I made her a necklace from two bits of chalk, which I carved into a heart."
• In 2010 Sheeran fled to Los Angeles, looking to escape the parochial confines of the UK scene. He ended up meeting actor and singer Jamie Foxx through a chance encounter at an open-mic night. Impressed, Foxx not only invited Sheeran on to his radio show but let him loose in his home studio. This song was written beside Foxx's pool.