Songfacts®:

• Jessie Ware wrote this song with Ed Sheeran in about 45 minutes in New York. The "The A Team" songwriter also plays guitar on the track. Ware told MTV UK, "it was one of those serendipitous moments where somebody somewhere was on our side."
• Speaking to The Daily Star about her collaboration with Ed Sheeran, Ware said: "The way Ed writes and his work ethic is incredible. I have to give him so much credit for being able to write something that's so right for me and elevates the way I sing - he really pushed me hard."
• The song's music video was directed by the Tell No One duo of Luke White and Remi Weekes, who collected the Golden Lion at the 2013 Cannes Festival for their short film Metamorphosis. The clip has a natural history museum setting. "When I found out Tell No One were interested in directing 'Say You Love Me,' I was so confident they would deliver something visually beautiful and provocative," Ware said. "They are such talents and I have been a fan of their work for a while."
  
  "It was probably the most technically challenging thing I have worked on, but for them, it looked like a walk in the park," she added. "They have such confidence in what they do, it was inspiring to watch."
• Jessie Ware told DIY magazine that she admired how comfortable Sheeran is with being a songwriter. "It was amazing to watch," she said. "I didn't want to deny myself a song that's so beautiful. And it was so easy to write, which makes it even sweeter."
  
  "It wasn't this thing where we were sitting down going, 'How are we going to pull at people's heartstrings?!'" she added. "You know. It was literally instinct and that's so brilliant."
• The closing section that sounds like a gospel choir is in fact just the voices of Ed Sheeran, Jessie Ware and co-producer Benny Blanco's own father and brother layered many times.