Sheeran has won Brits, been nominated for the Grammys, toured with Taylor Swift and others, and is now selling out concerts all over the world
Great love stories in the movies also produce great theme songs. This was true of As Time Goes By from Casablanca back in the ’30s, also of Love Story and Where Do I Begin, Breakfast at Tiffany’s Moon River, The Way We Were, Superman’s Can You Read My Mind, Somewhere in Time and so on down to recent times with My Heart Will Go On from Titanic.
Now Titanic happened 17 years ago and while there has been no shortage of good music from the movies, we still have to come across a theme of the same tremendous impact as My Heart Will Go On. It must be because times have changed and films are not that romantic anymore. Also because film producers have discovered the marketing boost that old songs provide. Think of She in Notting Hill. This is sad but maybe Ed Sheeran and All Of The Stars from The Fault in Our Stars can change the situation.
The Fault in Our Stars is based on a best-selling book by John Green about two cancer stricken teenagers. Bright, attractive, very smart and with a uniquely humorous view of the world around them, Hazel Grace and Augustus meet and fall in love while attending a cancer support group. The story does not deal with changing the inevitable, it is instead about how these young people face life head on and make beautiful memories in their remaining days.
Only 23 years old, Sheeran is one of today’s hottest singer-composers. He has won some Brits, been nominated for the Grammys, toured with Taylor Swift and others and is now selling out concerts all over the world. He did I See Fire, the theme from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and had big sellers with Give Me Love, Sing, Lego House, Kiss Me and the sensational The A Team. He fell in love with The Fault in Our Stars and was inspired to write All Of The Stars for the movie version.
He says: “This movie is unconventional. It is so different and so human. It is not just the usual formula of two Hollywood A-listers falling in love and then having a little bit of a problem and then resolving everything at the end. Everything that’s happening in the story is realistic. It is about two kids who are desperately trying to find love and cling on to life. It’s heartbreaking but an amazing tale.”
The stars provided Sheeran with the inspiration for the song. “The tone is inspired by the final scenes of the film. There is a lot of stuff going on and it shows how wherever you are in the world, you’re staring at the same stars. I didn’t know which direction the song was going to take and then it ended up going in a kind of Coldplay Arcade Fire direction. I thought it was too simple to begin with, because it is not a very complicated chorus, but it actually just works. I’m excited about the way it turned out. I think it suits the movie, which is positive. I like it.”
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Sheeran has had his share of life changing experiences. “I think life-changing experiences and love changing love happen very rarely, but when they do happen, they put things into perspective. I’ve definitely been through both and they change your whole outlook on life. You can either get very insular and just focus on that one person or the relationship opens you up to everything else in life, which I think is a good thing.”
Prepare to have your life change when you watch The Fault In Our Stars. Not only in terms of the buckets of tears you will surely lose. Bring on the tissues or better yet hankies and save the trees. And also in the inspiring message of love for others you will surely learn.
For more of Sheeran and for a look at ‘x’ his new album, do check out the upcoming feature on MTV Pinoy on June 14 at 1 p.m. This is the debut of MTV’s new music-documentary franchise, Nine Days and Nights of Ed Sheeran, which will feature unmatched access to the chart-topping artist. This will show an illuminating portrait of this young man filled with the energy of a career that he hopes is largely ahead of him.
Fans will receive an intimate look at Sheeran, at a critical juncture in his life. See him at work in the studio, back in his hometown of Framlingham, Suffolk in England and while performing his new music publicly for the first time. That means in advance of ‘x’s worldwide release on June 23. Incidentally, the ‘x’ is pronounced multiply as in multiplication. Don’t think this strange because Sheeran’s first album was titled ‘+’. Makes me wonder what a title like ‘?’ will contain.
Nine Days and Nights is MTV’s new docu franchise. The series will capture the story of one artist at a turning point in their life and career. It is a continuation of the highly-rated, award-winning music documentaries that have captivated MTV viewers in recent years most recently with Miley: The Movement and with such superstars as Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears and Demi Lovato in the past.
Nine Days and Nights of Ed Sheeran is a production of MTV News and Docs produced by Radical Media with Dave Sirulnick, Jonathan Mussman and Joanna Bomberg as executive producers for MTV. It is directed by Mike Bonfiglio with Lindsey Panell as producer and Justin Wilkes and Jon Doran as executive producers for Radical.
