The A Team

Song meaning of The A Team by Ed Sheeran

The folk ballad "The A Team" centres on a sex worker who becomes addicted to crack cocaine, a Class A substance. Sheeran wrote it after learning about some of the life stories of those who had been living in a homeless shelter during his stay. After giving a last-minute performance at a homeless event, he created the song.

Sheeran said the song came from "an experience I had when I did a gig at a homeless shelter". He explained, "I was 18 at the time and kind of quite naive. So, I was a bit taken aback by some of the stories that I heard. I wanted to write it so it sounded kind of upbeat, so you wouldn't really know what it's about, because it's quite a dark subject."

Australia, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom all saw it break into the top 10.

The A Team lyrics by Ed Sheeran

White lips, pale face

Breathing in snowflakes

Burnt lungs, sour taste

Light's gone, day's end

Struggling to pay rent

Long nights, strange men

And they say

She's in the Class A Team

Stuck in her daydream

Been this way since eighteen

But lately her face seems

Slowly sinking, wasting

Crumbling like pastries

And they scream

The worst things in life come free to us

'Cause we're just under the upper hand

And go mad for a couple grams

And she don't want to go outside tonight

And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland

Or sells love to another man

It's too cold outside

For angels to fly

Angels to fly

Ripped gloves, raincoat

Tried to swim and stay afloat

Dry house, wet clothes

Loose change, bank notes

Weary-eyed, dry throat

Call girl, no phone

And they say

She's in the Class A Team

Stuck in her daydream

Been this way since eighteen

But lately her face seems

Slowly sinking, wasting

Crumbling like pastries

And they scream

The worst things in life come free to us

'Cause we're just under the upper hand

And go mad for a couple grams

And she don't want to go outside tonight

And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland

Or sells love to another man

It's too cold outside

For angels to fly

An angel will die

Covered in white

Closed eye

And hoping for a better life

This time, we'll fade out tonight

Straight down the line

And they say

She's in the Class A Team

Stuck in her daydream

Been this way since eighteen

But lately her face seems

Slowly sinking, wasting

Crumbling like pastries

They scream

The worst things in life come free to us

And we're all under the upper hand

Go mad for a couple grams

And we don't want to go outside tonight

And in a pipe we fly to the Motherland

Or sell love to another man

It's too cold outside

For angels to fly

Angels to fly

To fly, fly

For angels to fly, to fly, to fly

For angels to die