Ed Sheeran has given us a peek at his past by sharing video and photos retrieved from his old phone — while announcing that “Old Phone,” the song inspired by those images, will be released on Thursday at 11 a.m. ET.
On Instagram, Ed has posted the images, including a photo taken years ago of himself with Taylor Swift, a photo of himself as a teen, an original draft of the lyrics to “Castle on the Hill” and more. In the lengthy caption, Ed reiterates a story he’s told several times: He stopped using the phone in 2015, but then had to turn it over to lawyers a couple years ago when he was sued for copyright infringement.
When he switched it on, he writes, “The first message was from my friend @jamaledwards, who had recently passed away. The second was from my ex girlfriend who I hadn’t been in contact with for years. The third was a family member I haven’t spoken to in a decade. And so on.”
He adds, “Turning it on really spun me out … I found old photos of me with people I was so close to then, but we’ve lost touch since. The whole experience was such an emotional journey.”
He adds, “It feels like a song that should’ve been on my debut album, but also a song I couldn’t have written until I experienced real life things happening to me. It makes me emotional to sing, I hope it finds some emotion in you too. Maybe it makes you switch on your old phone and have a look at where you were a decade ago too. Whatever it does, I’m glad I wrote it.”
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