"The Joker and the Queen" | ||||
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Single by Ed Sheeran featuring Taylor Swift | ||||
from the album = (Tour Edition) | ||||
Released | 11 February 2022 | |||
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Genre | Folk | |||
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Ed Sheeran singles chronology | ||||
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Taylor Swift singles chronology | ||||
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"The Joker and the Queen" on YouTube |
"The Joker and the Queen" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran,taken from his fifth studio album, = ,that was released on 29 October 2021 by Asylum and Atlantic Records. Sheeran wrote and produced the song with Johnny McDaid,Fred,and Sam Roman. A duet version of the song,featuring American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift,was released on 11 February 2022 as the album's fourth single.
The single is a slow-paced folk ballad driven by a cinematic piano,waltz tempo,and 1950s-inspired strings. It marks the fourth collaboration between Sheeran and Swift,following "Everything Has Changed" (2012),"End Game" (2017),and "Run" (2021). An accompanying music video,a sequel to the video of "Everything Has Changed" with the same actors,was released on the same day as the song. The single was praised by critics for its pleasant sound. Commercially,it charted at number two in Japan and the UK;number three in Singapore;number five in Ireland,Lithuania and Malaysia;number 11 in Australia,Belgium,and Vietnam;number 12 in Canada;number 13 in India;number 15 in the Philippines;and number 19 in Hong Kong and Switzerland.
"The Joker and the Queen" is a song written and produced by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran,alongside his collaborators Johnny McDaid,Fred and Sam Romans. [1] After writing "Bad Habits",Sheeran thought that he finished writing for the day before Fred played him a piano instrumental created by Romans,which Fred found "very beautiful" but was never able to expand it into a song. Sheeran then spent about 20 minutes writing down various metaphors,including coming up with the song's title and the line "I fold,you saw my hand,you let me win,you put the cards on the table." Sheeran thought that the song was too easy to write and disliked it. However,Sheeran's brother Matthew created a string composition for the song,which Sheeran admired for sounding like an "old classic that had been around since the '50s". [2]
The song was recorded at Fieldwork Studio in London and Suffolk,Stamford Street in London,Promised Land Music Studios in London,Abbey Road Studios in London and Pixel in London. The mixing was handled by Mark "Spike" Stent at the Mixsuite while it was mastered by Stuart Hawkes at Metropolis Studios in London. [1] "The Joker and the Queen" was released on 29 October 2021 as the sixth track on Sheeran's fifth studio album = . [2]
Shortly after = was released,Sheeran confirmed that a new recording of the song featuring an American singer had been recorded and was set to be released in January 2022;however,he cautioned that it was not official as it had not been cleared for release. American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift,a frequent collaborator of Sheeran,began hinting that she was the featured artist on the song,using several easter eggs such as in Swift's music video for "I Bet You Think About Me" where she carves the equals sign on a wedding cake;the video's director Blake Lively promoted the video with the joker emoji on social media. Swift also released playing cards in promotion of her 2021 re-recorded album Red (Taylor's Version) . Additionally,in Sheeran's "Overpass Graffiti" music video,Swift's name can be seen in a newspaper column as well as on a leather jacket that Sheeran wears which also has joker and queen print. [3] [4] [5]
In December 2021,Sheeran confirmed that the duet "The Joker and the Queen" would be released as the fourth single from = in 2022. [3] [4] [5] On 1 February 2022,Sheeran revealed on social media that he was signing some CDs for a new project,which featured an artwork with a joker and a queen that resembled Swift. [6] [7] Four days later,the song credits in the lyric video for "The Joker and the Queen" showed "(feat. Taylor Swift)" in the title. [8] Sheeran officially revealed that the remix of "The Joker and the Queen" would feature Swift at the 42nd Brit Awards on 8 February 2022 in a red carpet interview with LADbible . [9] [10] Sheeran announced the single via social media the following day,set for release on 11 February 2022. [11] The single marked the fourth collaboration between Sheeran and Swift,after "Everything Has Changed" (2013),"End Game" (2017) and "Run" (2021).
"The Joker and the Queen" is a folk waltz. [12] [13] It has been described as a "cinematic" piano ballad. [2] In the duet remix,Swift takes over the second verse with a female perspective,replacing Sheeran's original lyrics. The lyrics explain love using a card game analogy. [14]
The track received positive reviews. Melissa Ruggieri of USA Today said the duet is a tender,heartfelt ballad,accentuated by "a sumptuous piano melody with a cinematic swoosh of strings". [13] Billboard writer Hannah Dailey wrote that the song is a delicate piano ballad about rekindling lost love. [15] Jason Brow of Hollywood Life described it as "another great addition to the Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift lore". [16] Michael Major of BroadwayWorld dubbed the track a beautifully reimagined version of the original album track. [17] Robin Murray of Clash called it an "undiverting ear-worm",claiming it was "pleasant but definitely not distracting,sitting more in Sheeran's MOR vein than Taylor's recent reclamation work." He said Swift and Sheeran are "relishing classicism,utilising form to craft a gentle delight". [18] Gulf News labelled it a "soothing romantic ballad" and a "Valentine's Day gift to (their) fans". [19]
Upon the release of =,the album version of "The Joker and the Queen" debuted at number 66,78,and 99 on Australia's ARIA Singles, [20] Canadian Hot 100, [21] and the Billboard Global 200 charts, [22] respectively. Following the release of the duet version,"The Joker and the Queen" reached a new peak of number 11 in Australia, [23] and debuted at numbers two and five on the UK Singles [24] and Irish Singles charts,respectively. [25] It debuted at number 15 on Billboard Philippine Songs chart and reached number 10 on the Billboard Global 200.
The music video of "The Joker and the Queen" continued the storyline from the video for Swift's 2013 single featuring Sheeran,"Everything Has Changed";the child actors who resembled Swift and Sheeran in the latter video—Ava Ames and Jack Lewis,respectively—play the grown-up versions of themselves in the former. [26] [27] The video shows a text message between the two characters,which is a real text-exchange between Sheeran and Swift that was shared to Swift's Instagram account in 2015. A screenshot of the "Everything Has Changed" music video also appears as a framed photograph in "The Joker and the Queen" video. [28]
Sheeran performed "The Joker and the Queen" at the 42nd Brit Awards on 8 February 2022, [29] and in Paris,Stade de France on 30 July 2022.
Credits adapted from Spotify and the liner notes of =. [1]
Weekly charts | Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Canada (Music Canada) [68] | Platinum | 80,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [69] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label | Ref. |
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Various | 11 February 2022 | [10] | ||
United States | 14 February 2022 | Adult contemporary radio | Atlantic | [70] |
Italy | 18 February 2022 | Radio airplay | Warner | [71] |
Various | CD |
| [72] |
Edward Christopher Sheeran 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 released the extended play No. 5 Collaborations Project. He signed with Asylum Records the same year.
The discography of English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran consists of seven studio albums, seventeen extended plays, one video album, sixty-five singles, eight promotional singles, one box set, and seventy-one music videos. As of October 2021, Sheeran has sold over 150 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists in history. According to RIAA, Sheeran is the 13th best-selling digital singles artist in the United States with certified sales of 80.5 million.
"Everything Has Changed" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift featuring English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. Taken from Swift's fourth studio album, Red, it was released as the sixth single from the album on July 14, 2013. A music video for the song was released earlier on June 6, 2013. Produced by Butch Walker, "Everything Has Changed" is a guitar-led folk-pop ballad. Its lyrics are about wanting to know a new lover better. The song received mixed reviews from critics, who either complimented or criticized the production.
"Thinking Out Loud" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran recorded for his second studio album, × (2014). It was written by Ed Sheeran and Amy Wadge, and produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling. It was released in the US on 24 September 2014 as the album's third single.
"Bad Blood" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her fifth studio album 1989 (2014). Written by Swift and producers Max Martin and Shellback, it has lyrics about betrayal by a close friend; media outlets speculated that American singer Katy Perry was the song's subject. The album track is a pop song with stomping drums and surging keyboards. A hip hop remix of "Bad Blood", featuring American rapper Kendrick Lamar and additional production by Ilya, was released as the fourth single from 1989 on May 17, 2015, by Big Machine and Republic Records.
"I Don't Wanna Live Forever", alternatively titled "I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)", is a song recorded by English singer Zayn and American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for the soundtrack to the 2017 film Fifty Shades Darker. It was written by Swift, Sam Dew, and Jack Antonoff, who also produced the song. The single was released on December 9, 2016, by Republic Records to international commercial success. "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" is a sultry electro-R&B and electropop ballad that sees Zayn and Swift exchange romantic overtures. Its accompanying music video was released on January 27, 2017.
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"Perfect" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran from his third studio album, ÷ (2017). After the album's release, it charted at number four on the UK Singles Chart. On 21 August 2017, Billboard announced that "Perfect" would be the fourth single from the album. The song was serviced to pop radio on 26 September 2017 as the third single from the album in the United States. Originally peaking at number four in March 2017, the song re-entered the UK charts later that year. It eventually reached number one on the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100 in December 2017. "Perfect" became the UK Christmas number-one song for 2017 and also peaked at number one in sixteen other countries, including Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand.
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