Ed Sheeran announced the release of his upcoming album Subtract earlier this month, and it didn’t take him long to give us a taste of things to come. The music video for the lead single “Eyes Closed” is here, and it sees the singer being followed by a big blue monster everywhere he goes.
The blue monster in Sheeran’s video looks quite adorable and it draws inspiration from the movie Harvey, but the symbolism behind it isn’t so light-hearted. The monster in the Mia Barnes-directed video was supposed to represent grief and sadness that grows bigger and bigger and takes up whole rooms.
“There’s also a book I read to my daughters where sadness is encapsulated by an imaginary creature. Often sadness is something that follows you around, engulfing the rooms you’re in, and you can feel and see it, but no one else around you can,” Sheeran told The Rolling Stone.
“Eyes Closed” was initially conceived as a breakup song, but Sheeran completely changed the concept in the wake of several personal tragedies in recent years. He described it as a song “about losing someone”, referring to the death of his close friend Jamal Edwards.
“Eyes Closed” will serve as the lead single on Sheeran’s deeply personal new album Subtract, set to be released on May 5.
