Ed Sheeran admits he originally thought Shape Of You was ‘cookie cutter’ and ‘lazy’

Ed Sheeran has admitted that he initially thought his Shape Of You hit was “cookie cutter” and “lazy.”

The hitmaker, who released the song in 2017 as part of his album Divide, admitted he thought it was just a “throwaway pop song.”

During an interview on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music 1, to be released Friday, Ed confessed that he originally wanted to release Castle On The Hill, and then his love song Perfect, as singles.

But record executives were eager to release Shape Of You, and after it rose to the top of the charts, Ed admitted he was “wrong” about the song.

He told Zane, “I don’t want to speak for artists or what they feel, but I’m just, I’m not pressured sometimes, but sometimes a record label will listen to a bunch of songs and say ‘This is him'”.

And it happened with Shape of You. And I will admit I was wrong there.

Zane asked Ed, “So you didn’t want to stand behind that song?”

The hitmaker then replied, “No, because I was kind of like, Divide was a different album in my mind.” I wanted to go to Castle on the Hill first and then to Perfect.

“They said, ‘You have to agree to this.'” And we reached a compromise…’

Zane explained that both Shape Of You and Castle On The Hill were released at the same time.

He then asked Ed, “Are you any closer to figuring it out at that point, because I feel like that was the absolute pinnacle of a pop star’s launch pad into space, what was holding you back?” Was there a fear somewhere deep down about that song?’

“No, I just thought it was cookie cutter and lazy. It was so easy. I was like, this is the kind of music people are listening to right now and I’m going to write this for this artist so they can sing it,” Ed told Zane.

“And in my mind I was like, I’ve worked so hard to make Divide what it is and to make it, set that up, we wrote five songs that day.

Open: The hitmaker, who released the song in 2017 as part of his album Divide, admitted he thought it was just a “throwaway pop song”

Revelation: Speaking in an interview on The Zane Lowe Show, Ed confessed that he originally wanted to release Castle On The Hill, and then his love song Perfect, as singles

Outspoken: But record executives were eager to release Shape Of You, and after it climbed to the top of the charts, Ed admitted he was ‘wrong’ about the song

“We wrote 25 songs that week, me and Steve and Johnny were just writing. And to me it was just a throwaway pop song that I had written. And I now realize that I was wrong, of course.’

Zane sat down with Ed for an in-depth conversation ahead of the release of his new album, Subtract on Friday.

After its release, Shape Of You rose to number one on the charts and became the most-streamed song of all time for a time.

The song also won Ed a Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance.

Ed’s song was also the subject of a Supreme Court case against a grime artist, with Sami Chokri and Ross O’Donoghue alleging that he ripped off their 2015 song Oh Why.

The pop star slammed the “unfounded claims” against singer-songwriters “with the idea that a settlement is cheaper than a lawsuit.”

Sheeran also opened up about the “hurt and pain suffered” in his own lawsuit brought by the grime artist and a producer, which he won.

He said he was “obviously happy with the outcome,” but added: “I’m not an entity, I’m not a company, I’m a human being, I’m a father, I’m a husband, I’m a son .’

Stellar! After its release, Shape Of You rose to number one on the charts and became the most-streamed song of all time for a time

But in a ruling on Wednesday, Mr Justice Zacaroli concluded that Sheeran “neither intentionally nor unknowingly” copied a sentence.

He said, “While there are similarities between the OW Hook (Oh Why) and the OI Phrase (Shape of You), there are also significant differences. I am convinced that Mr. Sheeran did not unwittingly copy Oh Why when creating Shape.’

Sheeran was expected to be able to reclaim £2.2 million in royalties for the song that was frozen during the lawsuit.

Listen to the full interview on The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music 1 today at 5pm BST. Tune in to the show here apple.co/_Zane.