Ed Sheeran: The A Team Meaning
Song Released: 2011
The A Team Lyrics
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 18
But...
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This song is about a girl who is forced to sell herself as a prostitute to make money for drugs. She wasn't always this way though, she used to be an "angel" daydreaming that she could change the world for the better but the world doesn't accept such good people. But because the world doesn't accept such people they need these people to get it back on track. Even though she conformed partially to this evil world, she still holds a slowly dying hope that the world will change and save her from the life that she is stuck in now.
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Well, I knew a girl that was addicted to meth. I think thats what this song is about as well. "Breathing in snow flakes" is reffering to the meth rocks that look like crystals or snowflakes. The girl I knew used to sell herself to get money for drugs. She would sleep with multiple men in a few hours just to get high. "Go mad for a couple grams" is referring to the measurement. Dealers weight their drugs in grams and ounces. Now, id go mad for a couple grams of weed, but its obvious this song is talking about meth. The way he describes her eyes and face and the fact she gave up in life.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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The song is about a girl Ed Sheeran met while playing at a homeless shelter. Only 18 himself at the time, Ed was shocked by her story and felt the need to write a song about it when he got home. The girl was addicted to crack, which is considered a Class-A drug. Rather than coming right out and calling her a crack addict, he says she's on the "A Team." Though the girl hated herself for it, she resorted to prostitution to maintain her status on this team.
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Your all morons... it's obviously about the holocaust
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the meaning of this song is drug addiction so the song is about a girl who takes drugs and she can't afford a house or clothes. tO GET MONEY SHE SELLS HERSELF OFF TO MEN AND SHE JUST CAn't live a normal life. She can't change the fact that she is losing her flesh and falling apart. Because she is so close to death she has no more chances to help herself to survive. People are talking about her behind her back because she's on class a drugs. Her face is now a delicate texture of pastry. She is sleeping on the streets and has no protection at all.
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a girl who is addicted to drugs :). i hoped that helped .
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The song is about a prostitute who sells herself to gain money for drugs. The title itself is a reference to class A drugs, and her addiction. She is trying to get out of her addiction, but dies in the end.
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It's basicly about a woman who has no life! She has no house, no money, no friends. She is a prostitute and uses the money to buy drugs because her life is really bad.
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Oh! "Go mad for a couple grams" I thought it was "gold mine for a couple grams".
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She doesn't want to live life this way and he is saying its to cold for someone to die. He is refering to her as an angel. He is saying latley she has been sad and depressed.
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It is about a prostitute who is addictied to drugs.
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I don't think the song is just about drugs and prostitution. It seems like this girl is really important to him but she doesn't know it, and he has to silently watch her suffer. She used to be good, but slipped into drugs and has no way to support herself other than prostitution. And it sounds like he is offering to help her, telling her not to go back outside, where it's cold, to stay with him. He loves her, and hates seeing someone he considers to be an absolute angel in pain and doesn't want her to die.
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It's very literal. It's too cold for Angel's to fly (she's dead so she can't get high anymore). Breathing in snowflakes (snorting blow). Her daydream is more than likely she lives a normal life and isn't on drugs. "she flies to the motherland or sells love to another man" (she either tripping or she's already thinking of how to get her next fix)
If you think about the parts where it says "Been this way since 18" , "the worst things in life come free to us", and "all under the upperhand", If I had to guess i would say she has been an orphan her whole life and if you're not adopted then the institution forces you out on your 18th birthday. I would say this is about a girl who's just been dealt a handfull of shit her whole life from the institutions of society and it made her a crackwhore. Which, girls who go through that mostly all end up resorting to prostitution then do drugs to try to make it easier to sell yourself. -
Overall i think this song is about a girl who is a cocaine addict and had to become a prostitute in order to survive. She doesn’t want to be this way and feels she should just give up on life. Here’s how I broke it down:
“White lips, pale face
Breathing in snowflakes
Burnt lungs, sour taste”
This part has a double meaning, so think of it as you will. White lips and pale face could be from the cold while it could also be from snorting cocaine. Snow is also slang for cocaine but obviously could also mean that it’s very cold outside. Burnt lungs come along with doing cocaine and there is that bitter taste that comes with it. I honestly don’t know what to think here. It could mean just one or even both at the same time. Ex: it’s so cold outside and she’s doing cocaine (making the situation much worse all together)
“Light's gone, day's end
Struggling to pay rent
Long nights, strange men”
This is pretty self explanatory. I think it’s showing her routine. During the day she handles her drug addiction which causes her to struggle to pay rent. Then she always has to face long nights with strange men is order to make money. This is the hint to the prostitution
“And they say
She's in the Class A Team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since 18”
“They” in this context means basically anyone talking about her or spreading rumors. Class A Team can mean two different things. A-Team could mean the class of drugs she’s taking or it is slang for people who take drugs to stay up at night; either could work. “Stuck in her daydream” refers to the state she’s in when she is on drugs. She loses touch with reality like a daydream. And she has been doing all this since she was 18 years old. So to some this up, when people talk about her this is what they say. This is how everyone thinks of her. This is her reputation
“ But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries”
She’s been doing all this since 18 years old but lately her face seems to be sinking. Sinking could mean showing sadness and no will to live anymore or just showing how she’s aging from the drugs. Her face is wasting and crumbling away just like pastries do. When you look at her you can see how much she is changing from drugs and that it’s definitely not for the better
“ And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
Cos we're just under the upperhand
And go mad for a couple of grams”
This part is definitely puzzling. I think “they” in this context also means any random people. These people are saying and almost making fun of her for all the bad stuff that has happened to her. Almost saying that she brought it on herself for “free”. It could also mean that “they”, as in the people who have bad stuff happen to them, are screaming this and saying that they don’t deserve this and didn’t even do (“pay”) for anyone of this to happen to them, therefore making it “free”. The upperhand means having power or control. So if you’re just under it, than you’re so close to having power or control. This girl is so close to being able to break out of her addiction but not quite there yet. She can’t ever get there because she goes “mad” or “crazy” for a couple grams, meaning grams of cocaine.
“And she don't want to go outside tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland
Or sells love to another man”
She doesn’t want to go outside tonight and do her prostitute “job”. “In her pipe she flies to the Motherland” means that when she does drugs she is in a alternate world which is the best of all worlds (motherland). “Or sells love to another man” means that when she’s not doing drugs than she has to “sell” her love to another guy for money (prostitution)
“It's too cold outside
For angels to fly
Angels to fly”
People say that Ed was referring to a girl named Angel but I honestly like to interpret this in another way. When I think of an angel, I think of pure, innocent, and good. “it’s too cold outside” to me means that its obviously winter but also that the world is a harsh place and she’s struggling. It’s too harsh of a place for angels to fly. Meaning it’s too harsh for this girl to become good, pure, and innocent so therefore she cannot “fly” or accomplish anything.
“Ripped gloves, raincoat
Tried to swim and stay afloat
Dry house, wet clothes”
She has ripped gloves on and a raincoat. This line just shows you more of how she is struggling. She is in the cold winter with ripped gloves and a raincoat (not suitable for cold weather). She tried to “swim” (live life) and “stay afloat”(or keep on living but couldn’t) But in the end she had this dry house(the world) and she had the wet clothes. Meaning that while everyone else sat dry she was the one getting “wet” or suffering.
“Loose change, bank notes
Weary-eyed, dry throat
Call girl, no phone”
All she has is loose change but she has these bank notes stating she has to pay money. She can’t afford to pay anything because she’s to caught up in her drug addiction and that is all she uses her money for. She has weary eyes from doing drugs and staying up all night to be a prostitute. She has a dry throat from all the drugs. A call girl is someone who makes money by talking to men over the phone. It’s saying she does this or would do it but she’s so poor she doesn’t even have a phone.
**CHORUS**
“An angel will die
Covered in white”
This also has a double meaning. I like to think it means that if she were to be an “angel” or a good innocent person, she would die because she is dependent on drugs. It also means that its to “cold” or “harsh” out in the world for her to be good or innocent and “fly” to accomplish anything
“Closed eye
And hoping for a better life
This time, we'll fade out tonight
Straight down the line”
She closes her eyes to die and hopes that her afterlife will be better or maybe in her next life she will be a better person. This time she will fade out and keep doing drugs “straight down the line”. I think this means she will just keep doing drugs until she dies. She won’t stop for anything or stall. It will be a straight dash for the finish line. Which in her case is her own death.
**CHORUS**
“For angels to fly
Angels to fly
To fly, fly
Angels to fly,
To fly, to fly
For angels to die”
It’s to “cold” or “harsh” outside in the world for her to be pure and innocent and “fly” like an angel. At the end it says “for angels to die”. I think this means that it’s too cold outside for “angels” or good girls to die. Because if you were a good girl in the cold harsh world you wouldn’t die. But since the main girl in the song is not good or innocent, she died at the end. It’s too cold outside for good girls to die, and since she’s not good, she died.
Make sense? This is just what I think. Everyone else has different interpretations. I hoped I helped at least one person find an idea behind the whole song or a part of it. Thanks for taking time to read (: . Happy thinking!
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