Meaning of “The A Team” by Ed Sheeran
The A Team is a song performed by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. The song is a true story about the life of a homeless prostitute called Angel. According to Sheeran, he met Angel while performing a gig at a homeless shelter and was “taken aback” by her sad stories and that of several other occupants of the homeless shelter.
In an interview Sheeran had with Billboard magazine, he explained the meaning of the song’s title “The A Team”. According to him, the term “A Team” refers to a “Class A drug”, which is inclusive of hard drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin. Sheeran said he deliberately used the term “A Team” to try to hide the prostitute’s addiction from the listener. Therefore in the line “She’s in the Class A Team” (which comes from the lyrics of A Team), Sheeran is basically talking of the prostitute’s addiction to hard drugs.
Our Favorite Line from the Song “The A Team”
Here is our favorite line from the song: 
Facts about “The A Team”
- The A Team was Sheeran’s debut single. It was officially released on 12th June, 2011.
- Sheeran wrote the song when he was 18 years old and working as a volunteer at a homeless shelter.
- According to Sheeran, the recording of the song did not cost him more than £200, whereas the shooting of the song’s music video, which took place in London, did not cost him more than £20.
- The song was very successful on the charts in many countries. For example, it debuted on the UK Singles Chart at the 3rd position.
- The song is the first track from his debut studio album + (plus)
- The song went on to become the most successful debut single of 2011. By early 2015, the song had sold over 2 million copies in just the United States.
- The A Team earned Sheeran his first Grammy Award nomination for the Song of the Year Award.
- Sheeran performed the song with legendary English musician Elton John at the 2013 Grammy Awards.
- Unlike in Sheeran’s home country, the United Kingdom, where the song became an instant hit, it was a sleeper hit in the United States.
5 Responses
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[…] Grammy Award for Song of the Year. In winning the award, the song beat other famous songs including The A Team by Ed Sheeran and Stronger by Kelly […]
Wow this is really interesting! Thanks! 😄
I cant believe the song was about this! Thank you for sharing!
i think it is importante that we bring awareness to these topic so thanks ed!
As someone in recovery from substance use disorder, I knew what this was about the first time I heard it. It’s very moving to me, I have it on my “recovery playlist”. The fact that he wrote this while being a volunteer is something I did NOT know, and makes me adore Ed Sheeran even more (I didn’t know that was possible)