Ed Sheeran wrote this waltz-time love song for his girlfriend Cherry Seaborn, who is an old school friend. After writing it he had no idea whether or not she really likes the track. "I just recorded it and sent it because she was living in New York at the time so I didn't see her reaction," he told BBC Radio 2. "I think she liked it, it's a good'un (good one)."

The wedding song looks forward to a future of children and family and growing old together. Sheeran penned the tune solo having set out to write the biggest song of his career. "I just wanted to beat 'Thinking Out Loud'. I wasn't in any other mind," he told Beats 1's Zane Lowe. "I wanted to beat 'Thinking Out Loud' because I know that song was gonna define me and that was gonna be the song in fifty years like when you have one song like that you're that artist but when you have two or three songs like that that's when you start to be like Van Morrison."

"Thinking Out Loud" was co-written with folk singer Amy Wadge and Sheeran told the BBC that he wants the biggest song of his career just to have his name on the credits. "I need to write the best love song of my career," he said, "and I need to do it one hundred percent me so everyone will listen to it and be like 'oh f--k, no, he actually can do it.'"