"This is a dark parade / Another rough patch to rain on, to rain on," Ed Sheeran sings on "Overpass Graffiti," via Genius. He also happens to add, "I know your friends may say / This is a cause for celebration, hip-hip-hooray, love." That might make you think that this is a relatively happy, fun-loving kind of tune, however, while writing about the song for Apple Music, Sheeran revealed that it is actually "about a breakup that was years ago."
Beyond that, when you really listen to the lyrics, you realize that he's singing about a romance that, in his opinion, never stood a chance. "Photographs in sepia tones / It's so still, the fire's barely fighting the cold alone / There are times when I can feel your ghost / Just when I'm almost letting you go," he tells the person who he's singing to in the first verse, before adding, "The cards were stacked against us both."
While Sheeran is apparently willing to admit that the relationship seemingly wasn't meant to last, he does also admit in the second verse, "This is a g*****n shame / I never wanted to break it or leave us tainted / Know I should walk away / But I just can't replace us or even erase us." Indeed, although the star is willing to reflect on the past in the song, what he says in the chorus reveals what's really going on.
