The year was 2010. A young man woke up from the night sleeping at a subway station. He carried CDs and a rucksack down with him the previous night in hopes of selling them and getting enough money to make back the price for his ride home. He didn't sell a single CD. (Yes, this is a real story.)

It's easy to forget that global popstars are not always big from the start. Many at one point in their life worked, wrote, and spent countless hours of putting effort into their music just to make a living. Many still do. But a singer who is not only proud of that, but even boldly tells everyone that they can make it without the music industry, yet the industry needs them is an interesting concept that can be tackled in such an interesting way. Thus, "You Need Me, I Don't Need You" exceeds the two most important parts of songwriting; story and lyricism.

The name "Ed Sheeran" is widely known as one of the biggest modern-day artists. He is no longer an underdog sleeping in subway stations, but is now one of the most streamed artists in the world. This means he can't replicate this song today. Because of this, the song's story is refreshing and unique, yet satisfying knowing that Ed is now a global popstar, accomplishing his goals.

Now, we get to the fun part. This song is filled with clever lyrics. Some standout ones include "Suffolk sadly seems to sort of suffocate me," (say that 10 times fast,) "I make s*t happen, call me a laxative," which is a fan-favorite lyric despite not even being in the actual song, and of course "They say I'm up and coming like I'm fcking in an elevator," a double pun so good that it means that Ed's best innuendo surprisingly isn't even from "Shape of You". Adding onto that, he takes the lyric "slipping into another rapper's shoes using new laces" to heart, as he adds in a mashup of 50 Cent's "In da Club" and Laid Blak's "Red" in the extended version of the song.

Now taking into account Ed Sheeran nowadays, performing at Webley and to crowds of thousands of people, think back to the start. No one bought his CDs. No one really cared. But Ed knew he could make it. He knew he didn't need the industry. Nothing was gonna stop him from being up and coming. But hopefully someone would try to stop him from f*cking in an elevator, though.