Songfacts®:

• Ed Sheeran penned this aching, raw song as a tribute to his beloved grandmother Anne on the day she died. Speaking to British newspaper The Sun about writing the heartfelt tune he said, "That was the day my gran passed away. I was at my home. It's just a knee-jerk reaction. You can be really upset and dwell on something or you can put all the good memories in one song."
• It was Anne who inspired both Ed and his brother Matthew, a classical composer, to pursue a career in music. Ed celebrates here the impact she had on him. "I just wanted to make a tribute to my gran," the singer explained. "She was the musical one in my family. Hopefully I will pass that on to my kids."
• Sheeran explained the song title: "My gran passed away and we were clearing out her hospital room and the supermarket flowers from the windowsill and having that moment," he told Nova FM.
• This is not the first time that Sheeran has honored his Irish grandparents in song. The x track "Afire Love" was written about Anne's husband Bill, who died in 2013. Also the track "Nancy Mulligan," on the deluxe version of Divide, tells the story of how the Irish couple fell in love despite their Catholic-Protestant divide.
• Speaking to Apple Music, Sheeran said, "My grandfather just turned to me [at the funeral], he was like, you have to put that out, that has to go on the record. It's such a good memory, that's why it's ended up on there." >>

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  Katie - Maryland
• According to a chart published by Co-op Funeralcare in 2019, this was the sixth most popular funeral song in the UK. In case you're wondering, Frank Sinatra's "My Way" topped the list.