The singer-songwriter traces his Irish heritage to Wexford and Belfast
Pop superstar Ed Sheeran has revealed that his famous song Galway Girl was nearly named after another Irish town. The hitmaker thought of changing the name because other music acts had already released songs called Galway Girl.
Ed, 34, who traces his Irish heritage to Wexford and Belfast, considered naming the song either Sligo Girl or Portlaoise Girl.
He revealed all in an interview on The 2 Johnnies Podcast for exclusive chat ahead of his album Play being released this Friday and upcoming show in Dublin.
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Sheeran said: “I have family from all over. There’s also a bunch in Cork, Dublin and Galway. We tried Sligo Girl, Kerry Girl, Portlaoise Girl. The song Galway Girl is so polarising. There is no-one in the middle with that song.
“People definitely have opinion on it. It brings a lot of joy. It meet kids now who have got into trad by listening to that song. It is like a gateway to much wonderful music. It was really big in Ireland, the UK. Pretty much everywhere that song was big. It’s just a happy, upbeat song.”
Ed also recalled a memorable moment from his performance in Croke Park two years ago, when the spinning stage broke mid-show and had to be manually pushed around by crew members underneath. Plus, he named Vicar Street in Dublin as his favourite venue in the world, explaining that it was the reason he chose to start his last world tour there.
On Irish music, he said he’s currently listening to Amble and Aaron Roe. He said: “I’ve been listening to Amble and Moncrief. I have a healthy balance between old music and new music. I found out about Aaron Roe too. He’s such a nice guy.”
He added: “I always used to lose my voice when I came to play in Ireland. I would get too excited on day one. I’d go out until 7am, smoking cigarettes. Nowadays, I have two young kids, and I’m pretty healthy. I’m not really drinking at the moment.”
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