This document analyzes the lyrics of Ed Sheeran's song "Sunburn". It summarizes that the song is about Ed's nostalgia for his ex-girlfriend Alice and his inability to fully move on from their breakup. While he has found a new relationship, he still sees Alice when he looks at his new partner and his perceptions are blurred by his lingering feelings for his ex. The analysis suggests the song draws from Ed's personal experiences with a breakup.

1. Ed Sheeran-Sunburn
Lyric Analysis

2. Idiomatic
expression: to
conform to a rule
or standard.
He can not change
the past so he has
to conform to what
is expected-him
moving on and
finding someone
new.
You’re not her
Links to the line
Though I try to see you
“But things aren’t
differently
clear”.
I tow the line
You see, I’m searching for what
used to be mine
Sense of nostalgia. He
longs for the past which
he can not return to.
Possesive pronoun.

3. Alice is Ed’s ex
girlfriend. This
suggests the song
was inspired by his
personal experience
of his break up.
I saw your eyes
And then I sawAlicestaring back at me
And I will try to find another one
Who suited me as well as her
Sense of nostalgia-he is trying
to find some one who can
replace her, but nothing
compares to what they had.

4. He is trying to run from his past because
his ex haunts him. He can’t move on, so
he has moved away.
I've moved far away from you
And I want to see you here beside me, dear
But things aren’t clear
His perception of his new
relationship is blurred and
distorted by the memory
and longing for his exgirlfriend Alice.
Rhyme
Perhaps he is lost without
her?

5. Repetition of “we
never even”
When we never even tried
We never even talked
We never even thought in the long run
Wheneverit was painful
WheneverI was away
Past tense
I’d miss you
Repetition of
Repetition of
“whenever”
I miss you
“miss you”
Present tense

6. She was mine
I was hers
And all that’s in between
If she would cry
I would shelter her
And keep her from the darkness that will be
Metaphor

7. If I moved far away from you
And I want to see you here beside me, dear
But things aren’t clear
He see’s Alice in his new
girlfriend. So he see’s here
beside him but it is not clear.
It is just because he misses
her.
He has someone beside
him, but he is not
satisfied because it’s
not her.

8. We never even tried
We never even talked
We never even thought in the long run
Wheneverit was painful
WheneverI was away
I’d miss you
His future is not how
And I miss you
he expected it to be.
Now when he thinks
in the long run he
see’s it without her.

9. Don’t drop me in
It’s not my turn
If you cut deep
Then I might learn
If you scar and leave me
Like a sunburn
A sunburn scars and
sometimes peels, so like a
sun burn his heart will heal
and become new again with
time.

10. Don’t drop me in
It’s not my turn
If you cut deep
Then I might learn
You scarred and left me
Like a sunburn
A sun burn will scar
and peel, so your
skin is new again.
Whereas a deep cut
will heal over time,
but will leave a more
prominent scar.

11. The relationship
could have worked if
they had put more
effort into it.
We never even tried
We never even talked
We never even thought in the long run
Wheneverit was painful
WheneverI was away
I’d miss you
I miss you