Songfacts®:

• After being told by his original managers that he needed to conform to succeed by dying his ginger hair and ditching his unique loop-pedal rapped delivery, Sheeran responded by penning this song. A live version of the tune, which Sheeran filmed for leading youth broadcaster SB:TV in February 2010, immediately racked up 100,000 hits in two days on YouTube.
  
  The live performance caught the attention of manager Stuart Camp and it's how Sheeran was discovered by his label, Atlantic. Camp subsequently masterminded the star's journey from bar gigs to record-breaking global stadium tours.
• The song was chosen as the second single and follow up to his breakthrough hit "The A Team." It was released on August 28, 2011 in the United Kingdom. "I was told by countless people that it wouldn't get anywhere and that I should stop playing it, so to actually have it as my second single is flippin' wicked" said Sheeran.
• The song is also known by its longer title, "You Need Me, I Don't Need You."
• The music video was directed by Emil Nava (Jessie J, Devlin) and features 17-year-old actor Matthew Morgan signing the lyrics to the song.
• Ed Sheeran sees his songs in color. "All my songs have colors," he's said. "'You Need Me I Don't Need You' for example is aubergine. It's a sad song about struggling."