Showing posts with label Perfect. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 31, 2024

Pop Culture Madness: Songs of the Year (1898-2024)

Pop Culture Madness:

Songs of the Year, 1898-2024

Pop Culture Madness bills itself as having charts which reflect continued popularity of songs, not just what was popular in its time. As such, their choices for best songs each year are often songs which never hit #1 on the charts. They have annual charts dating from 1955 to the present. With lists for 1900-1919 and another for the 1800s, that span can be stretched back to 1898.

Check out other “songs of the year” lists here.

2024: Chappell Roan “Hot to Go!”
2023: Miley Cyrus “Flowers”
2022: Harry Styles “As It Was”
2021: Dua Lipa with DaBaby “Levitating”
2020: The Weeknd “Blinding Lights”
2019: Post Malone with Swae Lee “Sunflower”
2018: Ed Sheeran with Beyoncé “Perfect”
2017: Ed Sheeran “Shape of You”
2016: The Chainsmokers with Halsey “Closer”
2015: Walk the Moon “Shut Up and Dance”
2014: Taylor Swift “Shake It Off”
2013: Robin Thicke with T.I. & Pharrell Williams “Blurred Lines”
2012: Psy “Gangnam Style”
2011: LMFAO with Lauren Bennett & Goon Rock “Party Rock Anthem”
2010: Katy Perry “Firework”
2009: Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling”
2008: Beyoncé “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”
2007: Cupid “Cupid Shuffle”
2006: Justin Timberlake “Sexyback”
2005: Gwen Stefani “Hollaback Girl”
2004: Usher with Lil’ Jon & Ludacris “Yeah!”
2003: Beyoncé with Jay-Z “Crazy in Love”
2002: Kelly Clarkson “A Moment Like This”
2001: Mr. C the Slide Man “Cha-Cha Slide”
2000: The Baha Men “Who Let the Dogs Out”
1999: Smash Mouth “All Star”
1998: Aerosmith “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
1997: Aqua “Barbie Girl”
1996: Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta “The Grease Megamix”
1995: Rednex “Cotton Eye Joe”
1994: Shery Crow “All I Wanna Do”
1993: Haddaway “What Is Love?”
1992: Sir Mix-a-Lot “Baby Got Back”
1991: Natalie Cole with Nat “King” Cole “Unforgettable”
1990: Marcia Griffiths “Electric Slide (Electric Boogie)”
1989: The B-52’s “Love Shack”
1988: Def Leppard “Pour Some Sugar on Me”
1987: Bon Jovi “Livin’ on a Prayer”
1986: Dionne Warwick with Elton John, Gladys Knight, & Stevie Wonder “That's What Friends Are For”
1985: Starship “We Built This City”
1984: Michael Jackson “Thriller”
1983: The Weather Girls “It’s Raining Men”
1982: The Sugarhill Gang “Apache (Jump on It)”
1981: Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’”
1980: AC/DC “You Shook Me All Night Long”
1979: Village People “Y.M.C.A.”
1978: Donna Summer “Last Dance”
1977: Abba “Dancing Queen”
1976: Wild Cherry “Play That Funky Music”
1975: KC & the Sunshine Band “Get Down Tonight”
1974: Lynyrd Skynyrd “Sweet Home Alabama”
1973: Marvin Gaye “Let’s Get It On”
1972: Gary Glitter “Rock and Roll Part 2”
1971: James Taylor “You’ve Got a Friend”
1970: The Jackson 5 “I’ll Be There”
1969: The Foundations “Build Me Up Buttercup”
1968: Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”
1967: Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”
1966: Frank Sinatra “Summer Wind”
1965: The Righteous Brothers “The Righteous Brothers “Unchained Melody”
1964: The Beatles “Twist and Shout”
1963: Boots Randolph & His Combo “Yakety Sax (Benny Hill Theme)”
1962: Dick Dale “Misirlou”
1961: Etta James “At Last”
1960: Chubby Checker Chubby Checker “The Twist”
1959: Bobby Darin “Mack the Knife”
1958: The Champs “Tequila”
1957: Elvis Presley “Jailhouse Rock”
1956: Elvis Presley “Don’t Be Cruel”/“Hound Dog”
1955: Tennessee Ernie Ford “Sixteen Tons”
1954: Bill Haley & His Comets “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock”
1953:
1952:
1951: Tommy Edwards “It’s All in the Game”
1950:
1949: Vaughn Monroe “Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)”
1948: Art Mooney “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover”
1947: Nat “King” Cole “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”
1946: Johnny Mercer “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah”
1945: Les Brown with Doris Day “Sentimental Journey”
1944: Bing Crosby with John Scott Trotter’s Orchestra “Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral (That's an Irish Lullaby)”
1943: Alfred Drake “Oklahoma!”
1942: Bing Crosby with the Ken Darby Singers & the John Scott Trotter Orchestra “White Christmas”
1941: Artie Shaw “Stardust”
1940: Cliff Edwards “When You Wish Upon a Star”
1939: Judy Garland “Over the Rainbow”
1938: Seven Dwarfs “Whistle While You Work”
1937: Count Basie “One O’Clock Jump”
1936: Bing Crosby “Pennies from Heaven”
1935: Shirley Temple “On the Good Ship Lollipop”
1934: Guy Lombardo “Winter Wonderland”
1933: Dick Powell “The Gold Digger’s Song (We’re in the Money)”
1932: Fred Astaire “Night and Day”
1931: Ted Lewis “Just a Gigolo”
1930: Ben Selvin “Happy Days Are Here Again”
1929: Louis Armstrong “When You’re Smiling”
1928: Bertolt Brecht “Mack the Knife”
1927: Nick Lucas “I’m Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover”
1926: Vincent Lopez “Show Me the Way to Go Home”
1925: Ben Bernie “Sweet Georgia Brown”
1924: Al Jolson “California Here I Come”
1923: Paul Whiteman “I’ll Build a Stairway to Paradise”
1922: Al Jolson “April Showers”
1921: Marion Harris: “I Ain’t Got Nobody”
1920: Al Jolson “Swanee”
1919: Al Bernard “St. Louis Blues”
1918: Ernestine Schumann-Heink “Danny Boy”
1917: Douglas Furber & A. Emmett Adams (writers) “The Bells of St. Mary’s”
1916: Harry B. Smith & Victor Herbert “You Belong to Me”
1915: John McCormack “It’s a Long, Long Way to Tipperary”
1914: Kenneth J. Alford (aka Frederick Joseph Ricketts) (writer) “Colonel Bogey March”
1913: Chauncey Olcott “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling”
1912: Arthur Collins with Bryon G. Harlan “I’m Going Back to Dixie (aka ‘I Want to Be in Dixie’)”
1911: Victor Herbert “March of the Toys”
1910: Evan Williams “Because”
1909: Haydn Quartet Haydn Quartet “Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet”
1908: Billy Murray with Haydn Quartet “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”
1907: Billy Murray “Harrigan”
1906: Billy Murray “You’re a Grand Old Flag (aka “The Grand Old Rag”)”
1905: Billy Murray “Yankee Doodle Boy”
1904: Billy Murray “Meet Me in St. Louis, Louis”
1903: Dan Quinn “The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous”
1902: Edward Elgard (writer) “Pomp and Circumstance”
1901: Charles H. Loomis, Allan M. Hirsch, & G.L. Atwater Jr. (writers) “Yale Boola! (March and Two Step)”
1900: Paul Dresser (writer) “Give Us Just Another Lincoln”
1899: Cal Stewart “Uncle Josh in Society”
1898: Billy Golden “Bye Bye My Honey”

Resources/Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: “‘Songs of the Year’ lists”
Pop Culture Madness

First posted 4/12/2019; last updated 12/31/2024.

Sunday, May 7, 2023

Ed Sheeran: Top 50 Songs

Ed Sheeran

Top 50 Songs

Singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran was born on 2/17/1991 in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. He released his debut album, Plus (+) in 2011. His songs “Thinking Out Loud,” “Shape of You,” and “Perfect” are featured in the Dave’s Music Database book The Top 100 Songs of the Digital Era, 2000-2019. His albums Multiply (X) and Divide (÷) will both be featured in the upcoming Dave’s Music Database book The Top 100 Albums of the 21st Century.

For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs

Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists, appearances on compilations and live albums by the featured act, and songs’ chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards.

DMDB Top 1%:

1. Shape of You (2017)
2. Thinking Out Loud (2014)
3. Perfect (with Beyoncé, 2017)
4. Love Yourself (written by Sheeran, performed by Justin Bieber)

DMDB Top 2%:

5. I Don’t Care (with Justin Bieber, 2019)
6. Bad Habits (2021)

DMDB Top 5%:

7. Photograph (2014)
8. The A Team (2011)
9. Castle on the Hill (2017)
10. Shivers (2021)

DMDB Top 10%:

11. Don’t (2014)
12. Sing (2014)
13. Beautiful People (with Khalid, 2019)
14. River (with Eminem, 2017)
15. Lego House (2011)
16. Bam Bam (with Camila Cabello, 2022)
17. I See Fire (2013)
18. Everything Has Changed (with Taylor Swift, 2012)
19. Galway Girl (2017)

DMDB Top 20%:

20. Happier (2017)
21. Afterglow (2020)
22. Merry Christmas (with Elton John, 2021)
23. End Game (with Taylor Swift & Future, 2017)
24. South of the Border (with Camila Cabello & Cardi B, 2019)
25. Give Me Love (2011)
26. Dive (2017)

Beyond the DMDB Top 20%:

27. Cross Me (with Chance the Rapper & PnB Rock, 2019)
28. One (2014)
29. Supermarket Flowers (2017)
30. Lay It All on Me (with Rudimental, 2015)

31. Those Kinda Nights (with Eminem, 2020)
32. Peru (with Fireboy DML, 2022)
33. How Would You Feel (Paean) (2017)
34. New Man (2017)
35. What Do I Know? (2017)
36. Barcelona (2017)
37. Eraser (2017)
38. Hearts Don’t Break Around Here (2017)
39. Blow (with Chris Stapleton, 2019)
40. Make It Rain (2014)

41. Take Me Back to London (with Stormzy, 2019)
42. Eyes Closed (2023)
43. Own It (with Stormzy & Burna Boy, 2019)
44. Remember the Name (with Eminem & 50 Cent, 2019)
45. Afire Love (2014)
46. The Joker and the Queen (with Taylor Swift, 2021)
47. Candle in the Wind (2014)
48. Bloodstream (with Rudimental, 2014)
49. Antisocial (with Travis Scott, 2019)
50. Overpass Graffiti (2021)

Resources and Related Links:

DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Ed Sheeran
Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists”

First posted 5/7/2023.

Friday, July 29, 2022

Beyoncé: Top 50 Songs

Beyoncé

Top 50 Songs

Pop/R&B singer born Beyoncé Giselle Knowles on 9/4/1981 in Houston, TX. With the girl group Destiny’s Child before going solo. Married rap singer and record executive Jay-Z.

For a complete list of this act’s DMDB honors, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

Click here to see other acts’ best-of lists.

Spotify Podcast:

Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast The Best of Beyoncé, 1997-2022 based on this list. Debut: Aug. 2, 2022, at 7pm CST. New episodes based on Dave’s Music Database lists are posted every Tuesday at 7pm CST.

Awards:

Top 50 Songs

DMDB Top 1%:

1. Crazy in Love (with Jay-Z, 2003)
2. Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) (2008)
3. Perfect (with Ed Sheeran, 2017)
4. Irreplaceable (2006)
5. Independent Women (Destiy’s Child, 2000)
6. Say My Name (Destiny’s Child, 1999)

DMDB Top 2%:

7. Halo (2008)
8. Formation (2016)

DMDB Top 5%:

9. Baby Boy (with Sean Paul, 2003)
10. Telephone (with Lady Gaga, 2009)

11. Survivor (Destiny’s Child, 2001)
12. Check on It (with Slim Thug & Bun B, 2005)
13. Drunk in Love (with Jay-Z, 2013)
14. If I Were a Boy (2008)
15. Bootylicious (Destiny’s Child, 2001)
16. Savage (with Megan Thee Stallion, 2020)
17. Jumpin’ Jumpin’ (Destiy’s Child, 1999)
18. Beautiful Liar (with Shakira, 2007)

DMDB Top 10%:

19. Hymn for the Weekend (with Coldplay, 2015)
20. Lose My Breath (Destiy’s Child, 2004)

21. Black Parade (2020)
22. Bills, Bills, Bills (Destiny’s Child, 1999)
23. Mi Gente (with J. Balvin & Willy William, 2017)
24. Countdown (2011)
25. Sweet Dreams (2008)
26. Love on Top (2011)
27. ’03 Bonnie & Clyde (with Jay-Z, 2002)

DMDB Top 20%:

28. Déjà Vu (with Jay-Z, 2006)
29. Naughty Girl (2003)
30. Soldier (Destiny’s Child with T.I. & Lil Wayne, 2004)

31. Run the World (Girls) (2011)
32. 7/11 (2014)
33. No, No, No Part 2 (Destiny’s Child with Wyclef Jean, 1997)
34. Sorry (2016)
35. XO (2013)
36. Me, Myself and I (2003)
37. Emotion (Destiny’s Child, 2001)
38. Best Thing I Never Had (2011)
39. Hold Up (2016)
40. Partition (2013)

41. At Last (2008)
42. Cater 2 U (Destiny’s Child, 2004)
43. Break My Soul (2022)
44. All Night (2016)
45. Girl (Destiny’s Child, 2004)
46. Flawless (with Nicki Minaj or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2013)

Beyond the DMDB Top 20%:

47. Apeshit (with Jay-Z, 2018)
48. Listen (2006)
49. Diva (2008)
50. Bug a Boo (Destiny’s Child, 1999)

Resources and Related Links:

DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Beyoncé
DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Destiny’s Child
DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Jay-Z
Dave’s Music Database: “Acts’ Profile Pages and Best-of Lists”

First posted 7/29/2022; last updated 8/2/2022.

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Top 50 Songs of 2017

Dave’s Music Database:

Top 50 Songs of 2017

These are the top 50 songs of the year based on their overall performance in Dave’s Music Database, which is determined by combining chart data, sales figures, streaming, video views, and aggregates from year-end lists.

Check out “Top Songs and Albums of the Year” lists here.

DMDB Top 1%:

Ed Sheeran “Shape of You”
Luis Fonsi with Daddy Yankee & Justin Bieber “Despacito”
Ed Sheeran with Beyoncé “Perfect”
Maroon 5 with Cardi B “Girls Like You”
Camila Cabello with Young Thug “Havana”
Post Malone with 21 Savage “Rockstar”
The Chainsmokers with Coldplay “Something Just Like This”
Bebe Rexha with Florida Georgia Line “Meant to Be”
Cardi B “Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)”
Kendrick Lamar “Humble”
DMDB Top 2%:
Lizzo “Truth Hurts”
Portugal.the Man “Feel It Still”
Imagine Dragons “Thunder”
Imagine Dragons “Believer”
DJ Khaled with Justin Bieber, Quavo, Chance the Rapper, & Lil Wayne “I’m the One”
Sam Hunt “Body Like a Back Road”
DMDB Top 5%:
Dua Lipa “New Rules”
Taylor Swift “Look What You Made Me Do”
Charlie Puth “Attention”
DJ Khaled with Rihanna & Bryson Tiller “Wild Thoughts”
Lil Uzi Vert “XO Tour Llif3”
Logic with Alessia Cara & Khalid “1-800-273-8255”
Future “Mask Off”
Harry Styles “Sign of the Times”
Sam Smith “Too Good at Goodbyes”
French Montana & Swae Lee “Unforgettable”
NF “Let You Down”
Ed Sheeran “Castle on the Hill”
Taylor Swift “Delicate”
Demi Lovato “Sorry Not Sorry”
Imagine Dragons “Whatever It Takes”
Camila Cabello “Never Be the Same”
Zedd with Alessia Cara “Stay”
Keala Settle & the Greatest Showman Cast “This Is Me”
Julia Michaels “Issues”
Måneskin “Beggin’”
Brandi Carlile “The Joke”
Kendrick Lamar “DNA”
Lorde “Green Light”
Khalid “Location”
Khalid “Young, Dumb & Broke”
G-Eazy with Halsey “Him & I”
G-Eazy with A$AP Rocky & Cardi B “No Limit”
Bazzi “Mine”
Niall Horan “Slow Hands”
U2 “You’re the Best Thing About Me”
Arcade Fire “Everything Now”
Beck “Up All Night”
Kendrick Lamar with Zacari “Love”
Taylor Swift “Ready for It?”

Resources/Related Links:

Dave’s Music Database: Top Songs and Albums by Year lists
Dave’s Music Database: Songs of the Year lists

First posted 12/26/2021; last updated 1/17/2023.

Saturday, December 23, 2017

Ed Sheeran hit #1 with "Perfect"

Perfect

Ed Sheeran with Beyoncé

Writer(s): Ed Sheeran (see lyrics here)

Released: September 26, 2017

First Charted: March 25, 2017

Peak: 1⁶ US, 1⁹ BA, 1⁸ DG, 1¹ ST, 1² RR, 1²² AC, 1⁹ A40, 1⁶ UK, 1⁶ CN, 1⁸ AU, 12 DF (Click for codes to charts.)

Sales (in millions): 10.0 US, 2.4 UK, 21.4 world (includes US + UK)

Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 4.0 radio, 4807.0 video, 2548.03 streaming

Awards:

Click on award for more details.

About the Song:

“Perfect” first hit the charts in March 2017 when Ed Sheeran’s third studio album, Divide (÷) was released. All sixteen of the album’s tracks debuted in the top 20 in the UK and Sheeran occupied nine of the top 10 slots that week, with “Perfect” coming in at #4. ^WK In the U.S., ten of the album’s songs debuted on the charts with “Perfect” launching at #37. ^WK Six months later it was officially released as a single and in December an acoustic duet version with Beyoncé was released. The latter pushed the song to #1 on the pop charts in the U.S. The song also topped the charts in the UK and nineteen other countries. ^WK

The song became Sheeran’s third to spend more than a year on the Billboard Hot 100, following “Shape of You” and “Thinking Out Loud.” He was the first solo artist to do so with three separate singles. ^SF

“Perfect” was the first Sheeran wrote for his third album, was a romantic ballad about his girlfriend Cherry Seaborn. He initially met her in school and then then reconnected when she was working in New York. He said the lyrical inspiration came from a visit to fellow singer James Blunt’s house in Ibiza, where they listened to the music of rapper Future, ^WK specifically “March Madness.” ^SF After he wrote it, he sent it to Cherry in New York, but didn’t get to see her reaction to the song. ^SF He told Zane Lowe in an interview that he wanted to outdo previous ballad “Thinking Out Loud” because “I know that song was going to define me.” ^WK

As a final wish of his grandmother, Sheeran collaborated with his brother Matthew, who provided string orchestration on the song. ^WK The full orchestration was used in a third version of the song, known as “Perfect Symphony,” which featured Andrea Bocelli. Parts of the instrumentation were used in the original version. ^WK

The video was directed by Jason Koenig, who also helmed Sheeran’s chart-topping “Shape of You.” It was filmed at an Austrian ski resort and depicted Sheeran and actress Zoey Deutch on a ski trip, dancing in the snow, and ending up in a cabin together. MTV UK’s Ross McNeilage called the video a “Christmas dream.” ^WK It wasn’t actually a Christmas song or video, but the snow gave it a wintery theme.

Resources:

^SF Songfacts
^WK Wikipedia

Friday, March 10, 2017

3/10/2017: Ed Sheeran’s Divide hit #1 in UK for first of 20 weeks

Divide (÷)

Ed Sheeran

Released: March 3, 2017

Charted: March 10, 2017

Peak: 1² US, 1²⁰ UK, 1⁹ CN, 1²⁷ AU

Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 3.71 UK, 13.28 world (includes US and UK)

Genre: pop

Tracks:

Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts.

Eraser (3/25/17, 90 US, 14 UK, 36 CN 31 AU, UK sales: 0.2 million)
Castle on the Hill (1/6/17, 6 US, 7 AAA, 2 UK, 2 CN, 2 AU, worldwide sales: 3.9 million)
Dive (3/25/17, 49 US, 8 UK, 19 CN, 5 AU, UK sales: 0.2 million)
Shape of You (1/6/17, 1¹² US, 1²⁴ AC, 1¹² A40, 1¹⁴ UK, 1¹⁶ CN, 1¹⁵ AU, worldwide sales: 17.03 million)
Perfect (remix with Beyonce, 3/25/17, 1⁶ US, 1²² AC, 1⁹ A40, 1⁶ UK, 1⁶ CN, 1⁸ AU, worldwide sales: 13.5 million)
Galway Girl (3/17/17, 53 US, 2 UK, 16 CN, 2 AU, worldwide sales: 2.546 million)
Happier (3/25/17, 59 US, 6 UK, 22 CN, 16 AU, UK sales: 0.4 million)
New Man (3/25/17, 72 US, 5 UK, 21 CN, 20 AU, UK sales: 0.4 million)
Hearts Don’t Break Around Here (3/25/17, 93 US, 15 UK, 42 CN, 32 AU, UK sales: 0.2 million)
What Do I Know? (3/25/17, 83 US, 9 UK, 26 CN, 24 AU, UK sales: 0.4 million)
How Would You Feel (Paean) (2/17/17, 41 US, 2 UK, 19 CN, 2 AU, worldwide sales: 0.51 million)
Supermarket Flowers (3/25/17, 75 US, 8 UK, 31 CN, 19 AU, UK sales: 0.4 million)

Total Running Time: 46:14

Rating:

3.607 out of 5.00 (average of 33 ratings)

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album:

With his sophomore album, X, Sheeran soared to new heights any pop star would envy. In his native UK, every song from the album either charted or sold 200,000 copies. With Divide (÷), a Grammy winner for Pop Vocal Album, Sheeran replicated that feat in the UK, but also pulled it off in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. All 16 songs from the deluxe edition hit the top 20 in the UK. Sheeran set a record by landing 9 songs in the top 10 simultaneously when the album debuted. ^WK His dominance on the UK chart was so prevalent, the Official Charts Company changed their rules for streaming songs to hit the charts. ^WK

“Sheeran long ago perfected his rapping busker schtick, which frees him to fulfill his destiny as an adult alternative troubadour.” ^AMG He blends “acoustic sensitive-guy vibes with digital-age craft” ^RS to help “make over pop’s sound.” ^RS “Like its predecessors, …[it] is colorful and lithe, casually hopscotching from style to style without ever drawing attention to its range.” ^AMGIt all helps to make this “his easiest album to enjoy.” ^AMG

Rolling Stone’s Maura Johnston noted that on Divide “Ed is still showcasing pop savvy.” ^WK Rosie O’Connor of The Independent praised it as “astonishing for its sheer ambition alone.” ^WK NME’s Jordan Bassett said the album “somehow adheres to his perfect pop template while also being quietly weird.” ^WK Mark Kennedy of the Associated Press said the album would “definitely multiple [Sheeran’s] bank account.” ^WK

His biggest hit from X was “Thinking Out Loud,” a ballad which hit #2 on the US charts and would, for most artists, be their career song. Sheeran, however, topped that feat in the US with two #1 hits from Divide: the “beat-heavy, body-focused track” ^RS Shape of You and Perfect, “a lushly arranged love song that evokes golden-age pop.” ^RS

The former was one of two lead singles to support the album. Castle on the Hill was released simultaneously. “Castle” “balances jittery guitars and a massive chorus” ^RS as it “strives for a Glastonbury-ready rock grandeur à la U2, Arcade Fire and Mumford & Sons.” ^RS

Galway Girl was the official follow-up single to the one-two punch of “Shape” and “Castle.” Sheeran puts “his own spin on the Irish drinking song to the present-day pop world in a modern-day jig that recalls a synthesis of Justin Timberlake meets the Pogues.” ^RS The song “pays tribute to a fiddle-playing Irish lass who isn’t above chowing down on Doritos when bringing a guy home – and it even brings some Emerald Isle-inspired bounce into the mix.” ^RS

“Dive finds Sheeran easing into old-fashioned Memphis soul.” ^AMG “The deceptively breezy alt-acoustic New Man is an acidic rebuke of an ex’s new boyfriend’s faults.” ^RS “The album closer, Supermarket Flowers, is a wispy ballad Sheeran wrote as a tribute to his late grandmother, a retelling of the aftermath of her funeral from the perspective of his mother.” ^RS

Resources and Related Links:

Other Related DMDB Pages:

First posted 3/7/2019; last updated 4/30/2022.