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Song Stories

“Me and My Woman”

Roy Harper | 1971

Roy Harper's vocals and transcendent acoustic guitar work carry this 13-minute epic. "Me and My Woman" is full of folk music elements, but there are also weird, unsettling strings and odd vocals floating in the background of this densely layered song about the environment. Talking about this song, Harper said, "What is our destiny? Does it matter? Is it bound up with 'our' planet? In my opinion, yes." This songs and the other three tracks on the album Stormcock feature fellow guitarist Jimmy Page (billed as "S. Flavius Mercurius"), who had earlier paid homage to his friend on "Hats Off to (Roy) Harper," from Led Zeppelin III.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

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