Review: Ed Sheeran – Shape of You (Pop)

This review covers the pop track Ed Sheeran – Shape of You.

This track was released in 2017 as a single.

This track starts off with a more tropical sound in the background. The vocals is overlayed on top of these minimal sounds. The lyrics cover the topic of physical love.

Apart from the occasional backup vocals from time to time, there isn’t a whole lot of variance in the track itself. The only part that is really any different at all was the last part of the track which is just the vocals repeating words over and over again. The repetition seems to be more about filler than anything else.

The biggest problem with this track is the lyrics. It is as if the person thought of the title first, then built the track around that title trying to make it fit. I can positively say that the title is an interesting start to a track. Unfortunately, this is where things seem to go off the rails.

There are plenty of metaphors that could have been used. The human body has a lot of potential when it comes to lyrics. Unfortunately, the writer of the lyrics decided to just look at what is found in other trashy pop tracks and use that as a cookie cutter for creating the lyrics. As a result, the lyrics end up being uninspired and simply not creative because it takes the rout of talking about how the singer is getting laid. From what I’ve heard in other pop tracks, these kinds of themes are boring and a dime a dozen.

Alternatively, the writer could have taken a much more creative approach and talked about different body parts. It doesn’t have to be sexual, but it could have been inviting. Example might have been the depth of the eyes, the curve of the side, the red pillow lips, the warm breath, the smooth legs, or the soft feet. Just those examples alone can make for some alluring lyrics. Since the writer wants to use this track to talk about desire, the human body is a garden of creativity. It is leaps and bounds better than meeting a girl at the bar, taking her home and getting laid. That’s what I mean by the lyrics of this track are boring and trashy.

Another problem with this track is the selection of instruments. Not only does it take the most minimal approach, but it also seemingly left on autopilot for large chunks of the time. It’s like there was minimal effort put into this one. Since this is talking about the human body, in this case, I would advocate for some smooth sounding instruments like a violin or even a brass instrument somewhere in the background. It makes more sense musically for me if this took a more orchestral sound given the subject in question.

Overall, this track seemingly took an interesting concept of the shape of someone’s body and turned it into a largely forgettable, bland, and trashy track. The flatness of the seemingly uninspired lyrics is only matched by the choice of instruments and flow. Because of that, this track is boring and forgettable.

Score
4/10

Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Google+.