“The Joker and the Queen” by Ed Sheeran
It has been put forth that who Sheeran is addressing on this track would be his wife, Cherry Seaborn. That is to say that “The Joker and the Queen” is a love song. And as implied by the title, its gimmick – as we refer to motifs sometimes – centers around metaphors. And these metaphors in question are related to a standard deck of playing cards, which itself is related to royalty.
So we are treated to such colorful language as the vocalist asserting that the addressee “could fall for a thousand kings” or more simply put had a plethora of romantic options available. But instead she chose him, “the joker”, a nickname that implies that Ed was actually one of more humble alternatives available.
And yes, a multimillion dollar singer who is known all over the world referring to himself as a “joker” compared to his romantic rivals may read like a stretch. But keep in mind that Cherry Seaborn is someone he has known from youth.
Also, Ed doesn’t really come off as being the aggressive or pretentious type. In fact if anyone knows his vulnerabilities, it would be his wife. And that’s why in the chorus, this time using a metaphor more specifically inspired by the card-related game poker, he lets it be known that it is she who keeps him encouraged at times when Ed loses heart.
Indeed reading in between the lines, the addressee actually appears as the bolder of the two. And that would likely be one of the main reasons why the singer is referring to her as a “queen”, i.e. a lady who is exceptional in his eyes.
Facts about “The Joker and the Queen”
The creation of this song actually traces back to a piano instrumental created by one of its co-producers, Romans.
Fred Again introduced said instrumental to Ed Sheeran, who took a liking to it and swiftly went about composing a song around it, alongside Fred and Johnny McDaid.
So at the end of the day Sheeran, McDaid and Fred are all credited as both writers and producers of this track.
And just to note, they put it together on the same day they had composed the hit song “Bad Habits“. “Bad Habits” is the lead single from = Equals, i.e. the album from which “The Joker and the Queen” is derived.
Moreover Ed’s older sibling, Matthew Sheeran, who himself is a musician, is credited with the string arrangement and
Asylum Records and Atlantic Records, both of which are part of the Warner Music Group, were responsible for making this song public on 29 October 2021.
In relation to our theory, as buttressed by the lyrics, that Cherry Seaborn may be more the assertive of the two, to note she was actually a celebrated field hockey star, having played for Duke University as well as England’s successful Under-21 squad of the early 2010s.
Remix of “The Joker and The Queen”
On 11th February, 2022, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift released a remix version of this song. Speaking to Capital FM in October of 2021, Ed for the first time talked about a pending remix of this song, featuring another popular singer. However, he never revealed the identity of the singer who he was collaborating with on the remix. It was a couple of months later that fans actually got to know that this mystery collaborator was none other than Taylor Swift.
The music video for this remix is actually a “part 2” or rather a sequel to that of another Ed and Taylor collaboration titled “Everything Has Changed” which was released in 2012. The video to the aforementioned 2012 song featured two kids named Jack Lewis and Ava Ames who were friends with each other. Now, the video of the remix of “The Joker and the Queen” features these same kids (Ava and Jack). However, considering this is 10 years later, the kids are now fully mature teens and in college.
