"Castle on the Hill" is a song by English singer-songwriterEd Sheeran. It was released on 6 January 2017 as one of thedouble lead singles from his third studio album÷ (2017), along with "Shape of You".[4] "Castle on the Hill" was written and produced by Ed Sheeran andBenny Blanco. The song refers toFramlingham Castle in Sheeran's adopted home town ofFramlingham inSuffolk, and reminisces tales of his upbringing in the town. The BBC states, "the song has been described as a love letter to Suffolk."[5]
Released on the same day as "Shape of You", "Castle on the Hill" reached number one in Iceland, Scotland and Israel. The song also reached number two in a number of countries, including the UK, Australia and Germany, while "Shape of You" debuted at number one. It was the first time in the history of the UK, Australian and German charts that an artist has taken the top two chart positions with new songs.[6][7][8] The song debuted at number six in the US, while "Shape of You" entered at number one; this made Sheeran the first artist ever to have two songs simultaneously debut in the US top 10.[9] "Castle on the Hill" iscertified nine-times platinum in Australia, Diamond in Canada and 6-times platinum the UK, and multiplatinum in numerous other countries.
The theme of the song surrounds Sheeran's home town ofFramlingham, and he reminisces tales of 'smoking hand-rolled cigarettes' and getting 'drunk [with] friends' at this place, living life as a teenager. The castle mentioned in the song isFramlingham Castle, and in January 2017, Sheeran was invited to perform at the Castle.[10]
The song was written and recorded in 2015. Sheeran revealed that despite a similarity to the music ofU2, the direct influence of the song came from "Fallen Empires" bySnow Patrol, a band he had toured with. He said: "I grew up on Snow Patrol, I didn't grow up on U2, but I know that Snow Patrol grew up on U2, so I know [where] that influence had come [from]." He also said he wanted to make a song like "The River" byBruce Springsteen, a song with similar reflective element.[11]
Jon Caramanica fromThe New York Times said, "'Castle on the Hill' hasU2 influenced nervous guitar builds and wistful, largely generic lyrics about the people who shaped him."[12]Billboard's Taylor Weatherby wrote about the song saying, "'Castle on the Hill' has aTrain like vibe with a fast-paced, yet powerful melody that builds to an epic chorus that's just as Sheeran as all of his past singles. Needless to say, Sheeran is telling the world he's back in compelling fashion."[13] Jeremy Gordon ofSpin gave the song a positive review, stating that the song "sort of sounds like late period Coldplay, big, broad stroke music for arenas and Wembley performances. There's a lyric about driving down a country road while listening to Elton John's 'Tiny Dancer,' because Ed Sheeran sawAlmost Famous once."[14] Adam Starkey from news websiteMetro states that it "'has echoes ofMumford & Sons with the kind of climbing drums and soaring chorus sure to win over festival crowds, recalling how far he's come from 'smoking hand-rolled cigarettes' and 'running from the law in the backfields'."[15]
"Castle on the Hill" debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart on 13 January, selling 193,000 combined units in its first week. Sheeran also debuted at number one with "Shape of You", making him the only artist in UK chart history to debut in the top two positions in the same week.[16] The song was certified silver in the first week due to selling 200,000 units. The song remained at number two in its second week, selling 100,000 units. The song spent a further three weeks at number two, and spent fourteen weeks in the top ten altogether. As of September 2017, the song has sold 1.7 million combined units in the UK, 479,000 of these are actual sales, with 119 million streams.[17] On the Scottish Singles Chart, "Castle on the Hill" debuted at number one, ahead of "Shape of You".[18]
The song debuted at number six on theBillboard Hot 100, selling 171,000 downloads and gaining 13 million streams in its debut week in the US.[19] Sheeran also became the first artist to debut two songs in the top 10 in the same week in the history of the Hot 100, with "Shape of You" also debuting at number one.[19] As of September 2017, "Castle on the Hill" has sold 821,000 downloads in the US.[20]
Enclosed children's play area at Eastward Ho!, Felixstowe. Location is featured in the music video.
"Castle on the Hill" was accompanied by a lyric video on 5 January 2017 with "Shape of You" upon its release.[21] By March 2018, it had amassed over 300 million views onYouTube.[22]
The official music video for the song was released on 23 January 2017. It was directed by George Belfield and produced by Tom Gardner, and it features a group of adolescents living their youth with parallels being made to Sheeran's own youth.[23] The video was filmed throughoutSuffolk with locations including Framlingham,Boyton marshes,Mildenhall Stadium andFelixstowe. The final shot showsFramlingham Castle.[24] Ed Sheeran stated onThe Graham Norton Show that the young man playing him in the video went to the same school as Sheeran,Thomas Mills High School.[25]
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 20. týden 2017 in the date selector. Retrieved 22 May 2017.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 02. týden 2017 in the date selector. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 06. týden 2017 in the date selector. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
^"ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic.Note: Select 2. týden 2017 in the date selector. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
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