Eyes Closed (Ed Sheeran song)

"Eyes Closed" started in 2018 as a collaboration between Sheeran and pop producer Max Martin. Originally a love song, it was reworked in 2022 by Sheeran and Dessner, with a different instrumentation and lyrics detailing the loss of a dear friend.^[1][2] Sheeran announced the song alongside the album on 1 March 2023, setting up several pre-order opportunities.^[3] On 9 March, he shared a preview of the song on his socials, performing parts of the song on an acoustic guitar and a piano.^[4] In a TikTok posted on the same day, it was revealed that it will be the lead single of the album.^[5]

The song pays tribute to his former music entrepreneur and close friend Jamal Edwards, who died in February 2022 from a drug overdose.^[6] He had been exchanging text messages with Edwards about an upcoming music video, while having dinner with Taylor Swift and Joe Alwyn, and then he learned the next day that his best friend was gone.^[7] Talking about the loss, Sheeran revealed, "Blue was Jamal's colour, but now is all I feel.^[7] And I guess music helps heal, so I'm dancing with my eyes closed to try get through it".^[8] Edwards' funeral was the first one Sheeran had ever attended in which the deceased was not cremated, which means he remembers the moment he placed dirt on his friend's grave.^[9] In addition to the death of Edwards, his wife Cherry was diagnosed that same month with a tumour that could not be operated on until after she had delivered their second child in June, and then his friend Shane Warne died in early March.^[7] He has cited his feelings of "fear, depression and anxiety" as the inspiration behind the song.^[10]

The song was prominently featured in the first trailer of Sheeran's Disney+ documentary, Ed Sheeran: The Sum of It All, which explores details of his private life.^[11]

In the song, Sheeran's voice has a rich timbre and his falsetto softens when he sings the refrain on the chorus, "I keep dancing with my eyes closed".^[12] Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis noted that the song featured percussive guitar playing and that the chorus was "insistent" and "radio friendly".^[13] Originally written as a breakup song, it took on new meaning after Sheeran suffered personal losses. The lyrics feel "more personal" and "explicitly linked to a very specific event", that of the death of Jamal Edwards.^[13][12]

Roisin O'Connor of The Independent, rated the song four stars and wrote that "much of the emotional heft" of the song was in Sheeran's delivery.^[12] In a mixed review, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis gave the song three stars out of five, writing that "you already know if you'll love it, loathe it with every fiber of your being" or "simply marvel at its effectiveness without being moved."^[13]

The Harvey-inspired music video for "Eyes Closed" was released alongside the single. Directed by Mia Barnes, the video depicts Sheeran being followed by a big blue monster that only he can see during his night out, representing his grief. He soon finds other people with their own monsters, before finally facing his own and singing the song's final line, causing it to disappear.^[14][15][16]

"Eyes Closed" was performed on 1 April 2023 on The Jonathan Ross Show and on 7 May on American Idol.^[17]