Bad Habits

Album

=

Label

Asylum Records

Genre

Dance-pop

Media Type

AC

Duration

3:51

Composer(s)

Ed Sheeran;Johnny McDaid;Fred Gibson

Entered Chart

Jul 10, 2021

Peak Date

Aug 28, 2021

Released

25 June 2021

Recorded

January 2021

Catalog #

Asylum Records

This moody song finds Ed Sheeran in a deep internal conflict about his bad habits. His unhealthy lifestyle, such as nighttime drinking and partying, is leading him to make some poor choices, which he later regrets. Sheeran released the song on June 25, 2021 as the lead single off his Equals album. Part ballad and part dance track, it finds the singer-songwriter stepping away from his usual folk-pop music towards a more electronic sound with a bass-heavy beat. Sheeran had previously dipped his toes into EDM waters with a couple of tracks; his No. 6 Collaborations Project song "Way To Break My Heart" is a collaboration with electronic musician Skrillex, and his team-up with Eminem, "Those Kinda Nights," features a tropical house, club-based production. Sheeran wrote the song with Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid and songwriter/producer Fred Again in January 2021. He'd just about finished the album, but felt the record needed something unexpected. "People see me as the acoustic singer-songwriter who does ballads and there was just a lot of that," he told BBC Radio 1's Greg James. "So I wanted to go in the studio and make something that was totally different. I spent a month and just made lots of mad tunes - and this was one of the mad ones." Sheeran inserted a dancy vibe into "Bad Habits" inspired by the thought of clubs opening up again after the COVID lockdown. He told Audacy that before writing the song, "My first single at that point was this sort of lo-fi, quite sad tune. I was like 'I think we just make an upbeat dance tune.'" Though both McDaid and Fred Again are regular collaborators with the English singer-songwriter, this is the first Sheeran song they have written as a trio. McDaid first hooked up with Sheeran after he supported Snow Patrol during their 2012 tour. Their collaborations include "Bloodstream," "Photograph" and "Shape Of You." Fred Again worked on a dozen of Sheeran's No. 6 Collaborations Project tracks, including "I Don't Care," "Beautiful People," and "Take Me Back To London." Dave Meyers directed the video, which shows Sheeran dressed up as a pink-suited vampire, creating havoc in a crowded street. The clip was inspired by both the lyrics and the singer's love of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. "I wanted the video for 'Bad Habits' to play on the nature of habits in a fantastical way so I decided on vampires," he said. "It was mega fun getting into character except for the heights (that wasn't so fun)." Meyers previously filmed Sheeran's 2019 "Antisocial" visual. Fred Again and his brother have a dance group called Rain Radio, and this song came about after the producer played Sheeran some of their tunes. Sheeran explained to Apple Music's Zane Lowe that he told Fred Again, "Let's make the perfect Rain Radio tune for you guys." When they finished, Fred Again suggested making it into a country tune, so they did a version with lots of slide guitars and fingerpicking. "I say country but it was closer to Avicii's 'Wake Me Up ' than anything," Sheeran added. Sheeran and Fred Again eventually reverted to their original dance-pop version. Ed Sheeran performed "Bad Habits" for the first time during an appearance on the June 28, 2021 episode of The Late Late Show With James Corden. The singer-songwriter kicked off a week-long residency the show with a rendition of the EDM-influenced track alongside his backing band. The song sparked a TikTok trend where creators showcased their own personal "bad habits," ranging from never washing up to overeating. Equals racked up 139,000 album sales and streams in the UK, outselling the rest of the top 30 combined. It was the biggest opening week for an album in the UK since Sheeran's third album, Divide, back in March 2017. This won Best Song at the 2021 MTV Europe Music Awards. Sheeran also took the Best Artist trophy home from the ceremony. Ed Sheeran opened the BRIT Awards 2022 with an amped-up version of "Bad Habits." The rock band Bring Me the Horizon and a bevy of dancers joined Sheeran to help him deliver the thunderous rendition of his hit. "Oddly enough that's the kind of music I grew up listening to," Sheeran told The Metro. "I had a Kerrang! subscription and I listened to it constantly." Sheeran later performed another Equals track, "The Joker And The Queen," in a far quieter manner. Sheeran took home the Songwriter of the Year prize from the BRITS, but lost out on the Album of the Year award to Adele. The collaboration with Bring Me the Horizon came about after the BRITs organizers asked Sheeran to open the awards show. They wanted him to do "Bad Habits," but as the flame-haired superstar had played it so many times, he feared his performance could be predictable. So Sheeran told his manager he'll do it with a rock band. And in his mind, Bring Me The Horizon is the biggest English rock band in England. Following Sheeran's performance with Bring Me the Horizon at the 2022 BRIT Awards, they teamed up to release their hard rock studio version of the track on February 17, 2022 - Ed's 31st birthday.

Ooh

Every time you come around, you know I can't say no
Every time the sun goes down, I let you take control
I can feel the paradise before my world implodes
And tonight had something wonderful

My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone
Conversations with a stranger I barely know
Swearin' this'll be the last, but it probably won't
I got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do
My bad habits lead to wide eyes starin' at space
And I know I lose control of the things that I say
I was lookin' for a way out, now I can't escape
Nothin' happens after two, it's true, it's true
My bad habits lead to you

Whoa
Whoa

Every pure intention ends when the good times start
Fallin' over everything to reach the first time's spark
Started under neon lights and then it all got dark
I only know how to go too far

My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone
Conversations with a stranger I barely know
Swearin' this'll be the last, but it probably won't
I got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do
My bad habits lead to wide eyes starin' at space
And I know I lose control of the things that I say
I was looking for a way out, now I can't escape
Nothing happens after two, it's true, it's true
My bad habits lead to you

Whoa
My bad habits lead to you
Whoa
Whoa
My bad habits lead to you
Whoa

We took the long way 'round
And burned 'til the fun ran out
And we took the long way 'round
And burned 'til the fun ran out, now

My bad habits lead to late nights endin' alone
Conversations with a stranger I barely know
Swearin' this'll be the last, but it probably won't
I got nothin' left to lose, or use, or do
My bad habits lead to you

Whoa
My bad habits lead to you
Whoa
My bad habits lead to you
You
Bad habits lead to you
No, it's true
My bad habits lead to you