“Thinking Out Loud” is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It features production from frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. The song was released as an “instant grat” digital download to the iTunes Store on 18 June 2014, serving as a promotional single from his second studio album x (2014).
The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 26 upon release of the album, and has since peaked at number one. “Thinking Out Loud” impacted Australian radio on 14 August 2014, and was released as the third single off x, the second track to go to number one from the album.
“Thinking Out Loud” was the last song written for the album x, and it is also Sheeran’s favourite. Written about Sheeran’s then-current girlfriend after the recording sessions with Rick Rubin were over, it is a “soul” song, and Sheeran “pinned [it] as the ‘walking down the aisle’ song.” He described it as “the only happy song on the album”, and he wrote it in his kitchen.
“Thinking Out Loud”, was sent to Oceanian radio on 21 September as the third single off Sheeran’s album. The official music video was released on 7 October.
Background and release
Sheeran has described the piece as a “walking down the aisle song” [for a wedding]. The song is a romantic ballad. It has been confirmed as the album’s third single, with the music video premiered on 7 October 2014. The song claimed the title of the longest ever climb to the top of the UK Singles Chart, spending 19 weeks in the top 40.
The song was released as part of the Record Store Day Black Friday 2014 on a 7" vinyl.
Critical reception
The Washington Post writer Allison Stewart has hailed the song as “a blatant and mercilessly effective bid for ‘I’ll Be’-style wedding-song immortality.” Although the song clearly borrows from and sounds similar to Marvin Gaye’s ‘Let’s Get It On’ (song), it retains a sleek unique quality. Billboard’s Jason Lipshutz commented that Sheeran “pushes this bold stab at romance past its sappiest moments, and ends the album on a likable note”.
Music video
On 8 October 2014, a music video was released for the song. It features Sheeran and his ballroom partner Brittany Cherry dancing, with choreography by Nappytabs and training help from Paul Karmiryan. After only sixteen hours, the video hit 2,000,000 views on YouTube.
Live performances
Sheeran performed the song on 26 October 2014, in the third live results show of series 11 of The X Factor. He also performed it on 9 November 2014 in the 2014 MTV Europe Music Awards. Furthermore, Sheeran performed the track on the Christmas Special of The Jonathan Ross Show on 20 December 2014.
Chart performance
“Thinking Out Loud” has topped the chart in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom. On 2 November 2014, the Official Charts Company announced that “Thinking Out Loud” topped the UK Singles Chart in its 19th week in the UK Top 40, therefore breaking the record for the longest ascent to number one. The single held pole position in the chart for a single week, being replaced by Cheryl’s “I Don’t Care”. The song returned to the top of the UK Singles Chart on 7 December 2014, five weeks after it first reached number one. On its return to number one, it also became the first song in UK chart history to peak at number one due to streaming. It has claimed the record for the most streams in a single week, overtaking Mr. Probz’s single, “Waves”, with over 1,638,000 streams. In the week of its return to the top spot, the song had been streamed 1,672,000 times.
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