"Castle on the Hill" | ||||||||||||||
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Single by Ed Sheeran | ||||||||||||||
from the album ÷ | ||||||||||||||
Released | 6 January 2017 | |||||||||||||
Format | Digital download | |||||||||||||
Recorded | 2016 | |||||||||||||
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Length | 4:21 | |||||||||||||
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Ed Sheeran singles chronology | ||||||||||||||
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"Castle on the Hill" is a song by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. It was released as a digital download on 6 January 2017 as one of the lead singles from his upcoming third studio album ÷ (2017), along with "Shape of You".
The theme of the single surrounds Sheeran's home town of Framlingham, and he reminisces tales of 'smoking hand-rolled cigarettes' and getting 'drunk [with] friends' at this place. The castle mentioned in the song is Framlingham Castle, and in January 2017, Sheeran was invited to perform at the Castle.
"Castle on the Hill" was accompanied by a lyric video upon its release. As of 10 February 2017, the lyric video on YouTube has amassed over 106 million views in a period of 36 days.
"Castle on the Hill" debuted at number two on the UK Singles Chart on 13 January, selling over 193,000 copies in its first week. Sheeran also debuted at number one with "Shape of You", making him the only artist in UK chart history to debut in the top two positions in the same week. "Castle on the Hill" debuted at number one on the Scottish Singles Chart behind "Shape of You". The song was certified silver in the first week due to selling over 200,000 units. The song remained at number two in its second week, selling over 100,000 units. The song debuted at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, selling 171,000 downloads and gaining 13 million streams in its debut week in the US. Sheeran also became the first artist to debut two songs in the top 10 in the history of the Hot 100, with "Shape of You" also debuting at number one.
The official music video for the song was released on 23 January 2017. It was directed by George Belfield and produced by Tom Gardner, and it features a group of adolescents living their youth with parallels being made to Sheeran's own youth. The video was filmed throughout Suffolk with locations including Framlingham, Mildenhall Stadium and Felixstowe. The final shot shows Framlingham Castle. Ed Sheeran stated on The Graham Norton Show that the young man playing him in the video went to the same high school as Sheeran. As of 10 February 2017, the music video on YouTube has amassed over 45 million views in a period of 19 days.