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Hear The Ballad Ed Sheeran Calls ‘The Best Love Song’ Of His Career

He wrote it with the sole intention of ‘beating’ ‘Thinking Out Loud’

Well, guys, he did it: Ed Sheeran made a song more overwhelmingly lovey-dovey than “Thinking Out Loud.”

The feline-friendly singer-songwriter unveiled his third album, ÷ (Divide), on Friday, which includes the rapped inner-monologue “Eraser,” the sultry single “Shape of You,” and the achingly sweet “How Would You Feel (Paean).” As adorable as that latter tune is, though, it’s no match for “Perfect” (no, it’s not a One Direction cover), which is tailor-made for future brides’ grand entrances down the aisle.

“Perfect” is packed with passionate vows and Disney-esque strings, and it’s easily Sheeran’s most romantic ballad since “Thinking Out Loud” swept onto wedding playlists three years ago. In fact, Sheeran’s exact intent when crafting the tune was simply to one-up “Thinking.”

“I just wanted to beat ‘Thinking Out Loud.’ I wasn’t in any other mind,” Sheeran admitted during a recent interview with Zane Lowe. “I wanted to beat ‘Thinking Out Loud’ because I know that song was gonna define me. ... With ‘Perfect,’ it was like, ‘I need to write the best love song of my career.’”

Weirdly enough, he added that the inspiration for the song came from a visit to James Blunt’s house, where they jammed on the lawn to Future.

“‘Barefoot on the grass dancing to our favorite song’ happened to be Future’s ‘March Madness,’” he said. “But I had that ‘We were just kids when we fell in love, not knowing what it was, I will not give you up.’... And I had that and I was like, right, let me just flesh that out. And the song happened and was sort of finished that day. I knew it was special.”

So, there you go. You can slow-dance to “Perfect” in the warm arms of your boo all you want, but just remember that it was all inspired by listening to Future rapping about "dirty soda in a styrofoam."

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