Songfacts®:

• Ed Sheeran had been working on Subtract for a decade, trying to sculpt the perfect acoustic album. Then, as the dawn of 2022 emerged, a seismic shift shook Sheeran's life to its core. A cascade of traumatic events reshaped him, leaving an indelible mark on his mental well-being. In the company of Taylor Swift collaborator Aaron Dessner, Sheeran embarked on an intense studio session that spanned an entire month. Together, they birthed over 30 songs, each bearing the weight of Sheeran's deepest and darkest thoughts.
  
  These new creations supplanted a decade's worth of labor and devotion. Sheeran found solace in the raw honesty of his deepest emotions as he fearlessly unveiled his innermost demons. Amidst this profound transformation, a solitary tune emerged from the wreckage, unscathed and resilient: "The Hills of Aberfeldy."
• Written with Foy Vance in 2012, Sheeran had always intended "The Hills of Aberfeldy" as Subtract's closing track. The heartfelt composition exudes a rustic charm, woven with a tapestry of Celtic flavors. Its melodic embrace weaves a tale of enduring love, even in the face of separation.
• Sheeran's voice carries the weight of longing and nostalgia, painting a portrait of a man yearning for his beloved, from whom he has been torn asunder. He expresses his hope for a future reunion amidst the picturesque beauty of the hills of Aberfeldy.
• Aberfeldy, a quaint market town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, nestles along the banks of the River Tay. The town has left an impression on Ed Sheeran, who has returned time and again to its picturesque embrace. Sheeran's connection to Aberfeldy is so profound that he immortalized the town's essence with a tattoo of the local whiskey on his arm.
• Northern Ireland singer-songwriter Foy Vance and Ed Sheeran are close friends and collaborators. Their paths have crossed on multiple occasions, including when Vance served as a support act during Sheeran's 2013 tour. The connection between these two artists grew even stronger when Vance signed with Sheeran's Gingerbread Records in 2015.
  
  "We were on tour and he'd just moved into the highlands of Scotland, and he was like, 'come up to the highlands, man, and let's just f--king hang and jam and jump in the loch and drink whiskey and do all of these things,'" recalled Sheeran.
  
  "I was 21, and I grew up listening to Foy, going to his gigs. The reason I was so obsessed with the loop pedal is Foy was one of the people I saw with a loop pedal, and I used to cover his songs in gigs," he continued. "You can imagine I was buzzing to be in his presence and that he wanted to write a song with me. So, we were up there, we were in the hills of Aberfeldy, and we wrote this song."
• "The Hills of Aberfeldy" and Sheeran's 2017 collaboration with Northern Irish trad-folk band Beoga, "Galway Girl," share a similar thematic focus. Sheeran's love of the Celtic countryside inspired both songs.
  
  Foy Vance also had a part to play in "Galway Girl." He and Sheeran were on tour together when they played some of Beoga's tracks in the van. Sheeran was impressed with the band's music, so he later emailed them and asked if they would like to collaborate on a song.