You Need Me, I Don't Need You

Here's another part of the song that I've found:

"I don't want to bruise your ears Or hurt you again But I got back-stabbed by a black cab When I needed a friend"

So yeah, it's like Ed was betrayed/back-stabbed or something like that.

"And I can’t, no, I won’t hush I’ll say the words that make you blush"

Like Ed's trying to tell other what the other dude did (I guess so)

"You need me, man, I don’t need you, at all"

I think it's sorta like the other dude regrets what he's done and he wants to befriend Ed again but Ed doesnt need him anymore.

wow... i think y'all might be over analyzing this... is pretty self explanatory, or at least for me it is.. you see, ed was homeless for a while, when he was totally broke, and that was the inspiration for many/most of his songs. A-team was the story of a prostitute he met in a shelter, etc. This song i believe was just kinda something he wrote when he stared to grow and collect a fan-base. Its meaning to me is a type of "this-is-me-and-my-life-and-if-you-dont-like-it-then-suck-it" for the beginning of his career. what a kick off right? but i do like it...its an edgy, i-don't-care-what-you-think-because-i-have-talent-and-i'm-not-fake.... kinda like jennifer lawrence... brutally honest, but thats why people like them, because they have a human side, and they aren't perfect and they show their flaws instead of trying so hard to hide them

This sounds like it could be about someone who he used to maybe write songs with or was in band with or something. Then the partnership ended badly. Ed's saying how it's the other guy that needs him not the other way round.

this song is about how he doesn't need a record label or anything like that to be famous. he wrote this because before any record labels had even heard of him, etc. he was already selling cds and selling out shows and stuff and then obviously a lot of labels wanted to sign him but he didn't need them. he was doing more than fine on his own.

(Think this is right) Apparently he wrote it because a previous record label that tried to sign him told him that he had to dye his hair and stick to one genre. He refused and instead wrote various different songs in different genres, including YNMIDNY. Either that or someone really pissed this Ginger Jesus off :D <3 x

I think that the song means, my the lyrics "Your name's on the credits but you didn't write nothing", that it means someone's trying to ask Ed to write a song for them and taking 100% credit for the work. Or, it might not be just one specific artist. It could be a warning to ALL artists. OR, it could be the record label route. He doesn't need someone to give the money he works for to. He's doing fine on his own.

He once said or it was suggested that the song was about his management 'modest management'. They wanted him to become big and change himself so they could profit from his talent. Obviously Ed didnt agree with this and is very genuine to himself as an artist and a unique individual.

I know that the cat is out of the bag on this song meaning; I cannot even listen to any Ellie Goulding music because of what she did to Ed.

It's pretty self explanatory song I think; it's squarely aimed at the music/celebrity industry 'production' and those individuals that want to take him from his humble beginnings to make him a 'star'.

He's pointing out that he's doing it, as he always has, his way and is determined to remain his own man throughout. Those keen to 'manage him' a certain way think that Sheeran (and his ilk) need the execs, the production show, the hype and the perks of the industry ("I can't last if I'm smoking on a crack pipe") all of which is BS and Ed knows it. So he makes it clear, he doesn't need them, they (the execs etc.) if anything need him. They are ultimately talentless and present nothing but illusion.

In response Sheeran points out the 'reality' of his story, his music and his journey with and through music which is worlds apart from the 'empty hype' the 'celebrity industry' presents. So again, they think that Sheeran needs the 'industry' to be of substance, but he doesn't (nobody does). It's ultimately empty, they, in the end, need people like Sheeran to have any chance at justifying their existence.

Half of the lyrics are missing. The rest of them:

‘Cause you need me, man, I don’t need you You need me, man, I don’t need you You need me, man, I don’t need you, at all You need me, man, I don’t need you

You need me, man, I don’t need you You need me, man, I don’t need you You need me, man, I don’t need you, at all You need me

Cause with the lyrics I’ll be aiming it right I won’t stop till my name’s in light At Stadium Heights with Damien Rice On red carpets, now I’m on Arabian nights Because I’m young and all my brothers gonna give me advice Long nighter, short height and I’m gone hyper

Never be anything but a singer-songwriter The games over but now I’m on a new level Watch how I step on the track without a loop pedal

People think that I’m bound to blow up I’ve done around about a thousand shows But I haven’t got a house plus I live on the couch So you can be the lyrics when I’m singing them out (wow)

From day one, I’ve been prepared With vo5 wax for my ginger hair So now I’m back to the sofa giving a dose of what the future holds

Cause it’s another day Plus I’ll keep my last name forever keep the genre pretty basic Gonna be breaking into other people’s tunes when I chase it And replace it with the elephant in the room with a facelift Into another rappers shoes using new laces Selling cds from my rucksack aiming for the papers Selling cds from my rucksack aiming for majors Nationwide til’ we’re just jack, soon as I get the bus back

Clean cut kid without a razor for the moustache I hit back when the pen hurts me I’m still a choir boy in a Fenchurch tee I’m still the same as a year ago But more people hear me though According to the myspace and youtube videos I’m always doing shows, if I’m not I’m in the studio Truly broke, never growing up call me *Ruffio Melody music maker Reading all the papers They say I’m up and coming like im fucking in an elevator .

Cause you need me, man, I don’t need you You need me, man, I don’t need you You need me, man, I don’t need you, at all You need me, man, I don’t need you

You need me, man, I don’t need you You need me, man, I don’t need you You need me, man, I don’t need you, at all You need me, man, I don’t need you