{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Music Blog","provider_url":"https:\/\/freshsheetmusic.com\/blog","author_name":"James Noble","author_url":"https:\/\/freshsheetmusic.com\/blog\/author\/james\/","title":"The Story Behind Ed Sheeran\u2019s \u201cBad Habits\u201d Song | FreshSheetMusic.com Blog","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"Exk0NoIfEp\"><a href=\"https:\/\/freshsheetmusic.com\/blog\/the-story-behind-ed-sheerans-bad-habits-song\/\">The Story Behind Ed Sheeran\u2019s \u201cBad Habits\u201d Song<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/freshsheetmusic.com\/blog\/the-story-behind-ed-sheerans-bad-habits-song\/embed\/#?secret=Exk0NoIfEp\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;The Story Behind Ed Sheeran\u2019s \u201cBad Habits\u201d Song&#8221; &#8212; Music Blog\" data-secret=\"Exk0NoIfEp\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(c,d){\"use strict\";var e=!1,o=!1;if(d.querySelector)if(c.addEventListener)e=!0;if(c.wp=c.wp||{},c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage);else if(c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if(!t);else if(!(t.secret||t.message||t.value));else if(\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret));else{for(var r,s,a,i=d.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),n=d.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),l=0;l<n.length;l++)n[l].style.display=\"none\";for(l=0;l<i.length;l++)if(r=i[l],e.source!==r.contentWindow);else{if(r.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message){if(1e3<(s=parseInt(t.value,10)))s=1e3;else if(~~s<200)s=200;r.height=s}if(\"link\"===t.message)if(s=d.createElement(\"a\"),a=d.createElement(\"a\"),s.href=r.getAttribute(\"src\"),a.href=t.value,!o.test(a.protocol));else if(a.host===s.host)if(d.activeElement===r)c.top.location.href=t.value}}},e)c.addEventListener(\"message\",c.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),d.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",t,!1),c.addEventListener(\"load\",t,!1);function t(){if(o);else{o=!0;for(var e,t,r,s=-1!==navigator.appVersion.indexOf(\"MSIE 10\"),a=!!navigator.userAgent.match(\/Trident.*rv:11\\.\/),i=d.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),n=0;n<i.length;n++){if(!(r=(t=i[n]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\")))r=Math.random().toString(36).substr(2,10),t.src+=\"#?secret=\"+r,t.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",r);if(s||a)(e=t.cloneNode(!0)).removeAttribute(\"security\"),t.parentNode.replaceChild(e,t);t.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:r},\"*\")}}}}(window,document);\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/freshsheetmusic.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/ed-sheeran-bad-habits.jpg","thumbnail_width":500,"thumbnail_height":500,"description":"Few things are more paradoxically predictable at this point than artists reinventing themselves.On the one hand, if you play the same old songs and notes, you risk sounding stale and rote and the public becoming bored with you, or you becoming bored and burning out yourself. On the other hand, if you try and fail, you risk the public not just turning on your current reinvented persona but going back and retroactively deciding that your former songs weren\u2019t that great to begin with.  Some self-inventions become pop culture masterpieces. Consider David Bowie and his critically acclaimed journey from Major Tom to Ziggy Stardust to The Thin White Duke. Some self-inventions become pop culture punchlines. Consider Taylor Swift\u2019s meme-ably mocked \u201cLook What You Made Me Do,\u201d her most critically panned catastrophe this side of, well, Cats.  So where does Ed Sheeran\u2019s latest vampire pop reinvention \u201cBad Habits\u201d fall on that scale? To fully answer that question, we have to first look at the backstory to the song.While, as Elton John famously put it, \u201cSad Songs Say So Much,\u201d is it possible that they can be too sad and say too much in the Age of COVID? Ed Sheeran and Co. seem to think so, and that\u2019s a big reason why \u201cBad Habits\u201d exists as we know it.  It\u2019s fair to say that few things have reshaped society as radically as the COVID pandemic. It is still ongoing with the Delta variant still fueling cases, no matter how much some people (or governments) wish to pretend otherwise. Still, with vaccination rates above 50%, and Sheeran\u2019s native UK seeing restrictions loosen amid 75% of adults having received two vaccines as of the 11th of August, the mood around COVID has changed.  While nobody should be talking about \u201cthe end of the pandemic\u201d just yet, it\u2019s those restrictions loosening and accompanying good mood we have to thank for \u201cBad Habits.\u201d At least that\u2019s part of the inspiration, as related by Sheeran himself. As Rolling Stone reports, Sheeran and his producers initially conceived of another acoustic song in the vein of his past guitar-strumming hits. His acoustic style\u2019s what tends to lead searches for Ed Sheeran sheet music.  However, the UK\u2019s announcement post-February 2021 that they aimed to open up in June made them second guess that decision, with Sheeran himself saying \u201cI was like, \u2018I don\u2019t know if the world needs a depressing sad, slow acoustic song when it\u2019s all opening up.\u2019\u201d  Fast forward to June 25th, when Sheeran appeared on James Corden\u2019s Late Late Show to debut the song on TV. In one sense, it was classic Sheeran, acoustic guitar and all. However, the song itself was a departure from earlier, slower, often more melancholic entries in Sheeran\u2019s discography. Despite the content of the song (as noted below) still touching on more serious themes, there\u2019s no denying that the music itself is a bit more pop-friendly and upbeat than previous Sheeran songs.  This is by design, and a direct response to the fear of sounding two downbeat amidst the upbeat mood anticipated by the UK\u2019s planned reopening following loosening COVID restrictions. As Sheeran puts it, \u201cI was in the studio and we created this song and it\u2019s just fun, I think.\u201d  Hence why \u201cBad Habits\u201d sheet music looks and sounds different, as the song\u2019s meant to be a fun beat fit for good times set to a song all about \u201cBad Habits\u201d and the negative feelings that accompany them.Those eased-up COVID restrictions had a big impact on the music video itself. The past year-plus of the pandemic and the prohibition against large crowds that\u2019s come with it has extended to the music world. They have made concerts and large group scenes such as those seen in \u201cBad Habits\u201d impossible until recently, making them all the more noticeable here.  Then there\u2019s the content of the music video itself. Months before the song\u2019s release, on April 23rd, Sheeran was spotted dressed as a vampire in London during the filming of the video. Two weeks before its release, on June 11th, a blown-up image of Sheeran in his pink-blazered vampiric getup graced the Tate Modern.  His vampiric appearance in the song is certainly fitting given the song\u2019s focus on late night activities. Besides the obvious association of vampires with the night and its \u201cBad Habits,\u201d there\u2019s musical precedent for such supernaturally nocturnal turns, from \u201cWerewolves of London\u201d to Michael Jackson\u2019s dancing zombies in the legendary music video to \u201cThriller.\u201d  And as in \u201cThriller,\u201d Sheeran juxtaposes typically dark imagery with a musically upbeat bop of a pop song, with both music videos only reinforcing the songs\u2019 aura of danger tinged with excitement. The world\u2019s full of songs about one or the other. It\u2019s the ability to present the paradoxical paradigm between the two which makes Sheeran\u2019s song and music video stand out.While in some ways \u201cBad Habits\u201d is a pop-ier departure from Sheeran\u2019s usual style, in other ways it\u2019s a continuation of themes he\u2019s explored before. For as different as they may be musically, there\u2019s definitely a thematic drinking and substance use-based through-line from an earlier work like \u201cDrunk\u201d and \u201cCastle on a Cloud\u201d to \u201cBad Habits\u201d tackling that subject matter in lines like:  \u201cMy bad habits lead to late nights, endin' alone  Conversations with a stranger I barely know  Swearin' this will be the last, but it probably won't   I got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do.\u201d  Lines such as those would fit right in with previous Sheeran songs\u2019 focus on substances\u2019 effects on their users and difficulty connecting with others. The latter is an irony with which anyone who\u2019s had enough drink-swilling, hit-taking, club-hopping late nights will be familiar. There\u2019s a special kind of loneliness that comes from being lost in a crowd, a kind of ironic melancholic negativity that comes from being surrounded by pulse-pounding positivity.  And indeed, Capital FM likewise speculated that this new musical tone may signal what\u2019s to come with Sheeran\u2019s upcoming album, Minus, an inversion of his best-selling album Plus. Then there\u2019s how the song connects to Sheeran\u2019s personal background. As with countless new parents before him, Sheeran recounted in a BBC interview how parenthood caused him to reassess his priorities and \u201cwhat was putting into body, be it food or alcohol.\u201d  Another lyric in the song referring to how \u201cNothing happens after two\u201d may also have a double meaning drawing on Sheeran\u2019s personal life. In that same interview, Sheeran noted how he used to favor late-night recording sessions more, ones which would finish at, yes, 2am. With the birth of his child, however, he has since changed to more traditional work hours.  And yet it\u2019d be easy for Sheeran to make an overly moralistic song about how parenthood has caused him to turn his back on debauchery. \u201cBad Habits\u201d isn\u2019t that. Nor is it a pure party anthem for the end of COVID because COVID isn\u2019t fully conquered, just as we so rarely conquer our \u201cBad Habits\u201d in life.  Sheeran has made a career out of walking a tightrope between popularity and complexity. Artists who attempt to reinvent themselves and fail often veer too much towards one more the other, usually trying to overcompensate for a perceived lack in either direction.  Just as his music video alter ego, Sheeran soars above that dichotomy with a song that responds to his musical past, has been shaped by our COVID-riddled present, and has fans and critics eagerly anticipating the future of his musical \u201chabits.\u201d"}