"I'm a Mess" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

for his second studio album, '' x'' (2014). It features production from frequent collaborator

Jake Gosling Jake Gosling is an English music producer, songwriter, remixer, manager, and publisher best known for his work with artists such as Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, The Libertines, James Bay, Shawn Mendes, All Time Low, One Direction, Major Lazer, Christ ...

. It entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number 72 and rose to number 49 due to strong download sales.

Writing and production

Following the release of his debut studio album, '' +'', in 2011, Sheeran started writing material for his next release. Instead of rush-run and launch an album the next year, the singer decided to take time and focus on writing material that would help expand his career in the United States, like fellow British musician

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...

and band

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

. "I'm a Mess" premiered on 22 June 2014 via MTV, a day before the release of '' ×'', his second album in the United Kingdom and the United States. The track together with "

Thinking Out Loud "Thinking Out Loud" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, recorded for his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. It was released in the ...

" were the last songs he wrote for ''×'' and were inspired by his then-girlfriend, Athina Andrelos. On 16 July 2014, during the album unveiling in a room in RAK Studios, he noted that he wrote "I'm a Mess" while he was in the shower. In an interview with ''

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation of all newspapers ...

'', he described "I'm a Mess" as him being in a bad situation after he hurt a person, "I think it's important to stay double-sided. I'm very aware I have a lot of flaws too and I think I wear them on my sleeve with this album." Talking to

News.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...

, he identified the song as "fairly self-explanatory" and recalled, "'I’m a Mess' was definitely written at my lowest point. It actually turned out a lot nicer than what was going on at the time, the lyrics aren’t too mental. That came at the end of a lot of things meeting. After that I was fine. Writing that song sorted everything out." Sheeran said that "I'm a Mess" is his favourite track from ''×''. The production of "I'm a Mess" was done by Sheeran's regular collaborator,

and was recorded at his

Sticky Studios Sticky Studios is an independent music recording studio located in Windlesham, Surrey. The studio is owned by music producer, songwriter, remixer, manager and publisher Jake Gosling. Sticky Studios is most notable for its work with artists such as ...

in Windlesham, Surrey. Gosling together with Geoff Swan served as the song's

engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the ...

while William Hicks did the vocal editing and provided additional vocals.

Mark "Spike" Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed She ...

mixed the track at Mixsuite UK whilst Stuark Hawkos mastered it at Metropolis Mastering in London. All the programming and

instrumentation Instrumentation a collective term for measuring instruments that are used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities. The term has its origins in the art and science of scientific instrument-making. Instrumentation can refer to ...

was provided by Sheeran, Gosling and Chris Leonard. A live version of "I'm a Mess" was released as a B-side on the 7" release of "Thinking Out Loud".

Composition

"I'm a Mess" is a

pop song Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

with

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

influences and a length of four minutes and five seconds. Its instrumentation included

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

notes, backing vocals and a beating drum. According to

Sony/ATV Music Publishing Sony Music Publishing (formerly Sony/ATV Music Publishing) is the largest music publisher in the world, with over five million songs owned or administered as of end March 2021. US-based, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is itself owned ...

's digital sheet music for the song, "I'm a Mess" is composed in the key of C# minor and set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

signature, and has a

groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station ...

of 140

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

. Sheeran's vocals span from the low note of B_b3 to the high note of B_b5. Neil McCormick of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' described "I'm a Mess" as an "edgy, rocky drama", whilst according to Jason Lipshutz of '' Billboard'' Sheeran uses his "classic folk voice and sensibility" to deliver the song's lyrics. MTV News' Emily Blake noted that the stripped-down production of the song helps the focus to be on Sheeran's voice. She further elaborated, "like most of his folk-leaning pop numbers, it’s a track that makes you feel like Sheeran’s singing just to you" and " when his voice comes down to a near whisper — making the whole thing that much more intimate." According to Caitlin White of the same publication, "I'm a Mess" is a "lovelorn song" which shows a different side of Sheeran; instead of being brokenhearted, "he’s the one that messed up". He is "self-reflective" and "self-critical" with one of the verses contain lyrics as, "And oh, I’ve only caused you pain" and the chorus features the line, "Easy baby, maybe I’m a liar". ''Billboard''s Colin Stutz concluded, "Sheeran's intimate voice carries over simple guitar strokes as he describes a night of loneliness and longing that erupts with fiery passion."

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''×''. Locations *Recorded at

, Windlesham, Surrey *Mixed at Mixsuite UK *Mastered at Metropolis Mastering, London Personnel *

Songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

– Ed Sheeran *

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

– Jake Gosling *

Engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

– Jake Gosling, Geoff Swan *Vocal editing – William Hicks * Mixing –

* Mastering engineer – Stuart Hawkos * Programming and

– Ed Sheeran, Chris Leonard, Jake Gosling *Additional vocals – William Hicks

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

Ed Sheeran - I'm A Mess (x Acoustic Sessions)
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Ed Sheeran - I'm A Mess (Live From Wembley Stadium)
on YouTube {{authority control 2014 songs Ed Sheeran songs Song recordings produced by Jake Gosling Songs written by Ed Sheeran