What do the Ed Sheeran Photograph lyrics mean? This haunting ballad is not only one of the greatest songs about photography ever written, it also uses the power of music to convey the power of pictures – with the titular photograph representing love, longing, memories, healing and hope.
Ed Sheeran's Photograph lyrics were co-written by the English singer-songwriter in collaboration with Irish musician Johnny McDaid – a member of the band Snow Patrol, who has also written songs with the likes of P!nk.
Sheeran toured with Snow Patrol in 2012, as a special guest on the band's Fallen Empires Tour. It was during this time, in the Intercontinental Hotel in Kansas City, that Sheeran and McDaid began putting the song together – inspired by the singer's lovesickness being away from his partner.
During this time Sheeran was romantically involved with Scottish singer-songwriter Nina Nesbitt. Between guesting with Snow Patrol and conducting his own solo tour, he maintained a long-distance relationship with Nesbitt for almost six months. Thus came the inspiration for the lyrics to Photograph.
Ed Sheeran 'Photograph' lyrics
Loving can hurt, loving can hurt sometimes,
But it's the only thing that I know.
When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes,
It is the only thing makes us feel alive.
We keep this love in a photograph,
We made these memories for ourselves.
Where our eyes are never closing,
Hearts are never broken,
And time's forever frozen, still.
So you can keep me
Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans,
Holding me closer 'til our eyes meet
You won't ever be alone, wait for me to come home.
Loving can heal, loving can mend your soul,
And it's the only thing that I know (know).
I swear it will get easier,
Remember that with every piece of ya,
Hmm, and it's the only thing we take with us when we die.
Hmm, we keep this love in a photograph,
We made these memories for ourselves.
Where our eyes are never closing,
Hearts were never broken,
And time's forever frozen, still.
So you can keep me
Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans,
Holding me closer 'til our eyes meet
You won't ever be alone.
And if you hurt me
That's okay, baby, only words bleed.
Inside these pages, you just hold me
And I won't ever let you go.
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home.
Oh, you can fit me
Inside the necklace you got when you were sixteen,
Next to your heartbeat where I should be
Keep it deep within your soul.
And if you hurt me
Well, that's okay, baby, only words bleed.
Inside these pages, you just hold me
And I won't ever let you go.
When I'm away, I will remember how you kissed me
Under the lamppost back on Sixth Street,
Hearing you whisper through the phone
"Wait for me to come home."
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