What does Give Me Love mean?

Ed Sheeran: Give Me Love Meaning

Album cover for Give Me Love album cover

Song Released: 2012


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Give Me Love Lyrics

Give me love like her,
'cause lately I've been waking up alone,
Paint splattered teardrops on my shirt,
Told you I'd let them go,
And that I'll fight my corner,
Maybe tonight I'll call ya,
After my blood turns into alcohol,
No, I just...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Mar 11th 2012 !⃝

    Song about really being in love with someone, however they don't feel the same - or they don't seem to be showing the same effort/feeling back to you.
    "Give me love like hers" - referring to an ex, or previous partner.
    "Give a little time to me or burn this out" - like an ultimatum - give me some of your time or stop leading me on/sending me mixed signals
    "We'll play hide and seek to turn this around" - hide and seek is a game about being lost and found. He wants to be found by her and only her.
    "blood is drowning in alcohol" he is drinking himself to drown his sorrows.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 8th 2012 !⃝

    in my own opinion give me love by ed sherran is a love song as all of you have rightly stated but to me its more than that. Yes its bout him still in love with his ex who may have also been his first love.. and you know what they say about first loves, you can never ever forget them, no matter how much they hurt you you as an individual will always have a special place for them in your hearts. so when he goes 'give me love like her' he's in search for love as sweet as hers something that can awaken his soul again..something that can keep him searching for more and more and the one that lights a bright flaming fire in his heart once again. He is searching for this kind of love once again. Now he is in a new 'realtionship' or as i may call it a 'replacement' relaationship, trying to find what was in his ex in this new girl who has come into his life after a while of him pondering on that one girl who broke his heart. This new girl is trying to show him as much love as she can but, its just not enough. Shes complained about it.Paint splattered teardrops on my shirt,
    Told you I'd let them go'. she knows he still loves his ex and the 'paint splattered teardrops' symbolise something that cannot be removed like a paint stain, the tears he cried for this one woman can never be erased orr forgotten; but he lied to this new woman that he will forget all about his ex and move on with life. Even though this is happening he loves the new girl in his life but is still holding on some sentimental parts of his past and he feels like if she gives him love that can overconme and overshadow his ex's then he'll be hers forever. All he wants is for her love to conquor through the pain.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 6th 2015 !⃝

    VERSE 1: I think this is him asking the girl he is in love with to give him some level of affection that he feels she isn't showing(maybe she's his ex or maybe they just have a broken relationship) To do so he references a past lover of his, who gave him that affection he craves. His evidence for her lack of affection being that she is never there. Maybe meaning she leaves before he wakes up (like a one night stand would) or just as a whole she is not there for him when he needs her. He then talks about how he's missed her and cried for her, while inferring they have talked about their problems prior to now as he tried to let go of their issues and possibly his feelings.

    HOOK 1: This is again referencing a past promise he made to this girl, maybe saying that he would always fight for her. However, after all that's happened he only could feel courageous enough to talk to her after drinking enough that his life system, his very self, has "turned into alcohol" Then the final phrase of the hook is almost him discounting everything he's previously said in the song. Like he's fighting with himself over whether he needs the affection he craves or if he'd rather have her in anyway he can. Even just to hold.

    CHORUS: This is him then asking her to make a decision. She either needs to try and fix whatever unhealthy relationship they have or leave him alone to "burn" her out of his system. Almost making her seem more like a drug than a person. He then continues to make suggestions as to how they could make their relationship better. Making hide and seek seem sort of symbolic, allowing them to truly find one another despite what they've previously kept hidden. Then in what almost appears to be a moment of weakness he confesses that she is all he wants. Just the "taste that her lips allow" This desire for her continues into the chanting of "My" and "Give me love" like he's pleading with her to give him what he so desperately needs.

    VERSE 2: This time when he asks her to love him he clearly states that the love he wants from her is something the two of them have never experienced for one another(or quite possibly for anyone) before. Again he states that he wants more in their relationship than whatever they have. He then proceeds to state that some time has passed in their relationship, either meaning they've broken up a while back, or more likely that they have been together so long that they are past the "honeymoon phase" of their relationship. Despite the passing of time however, his love for her remains the same. He then concludes this verse by once again tacking on an inkling of doubt (both the existence of this doubt in the song and the placement are very well done as people are so rarely 100% sure of themselves on anything, and very often their doubts are sort of after thoughts they use to question what they think) This doubt being him wondering if it would be healthier for him to just let go of his feelings for her and move on.

    HOOK 2: This hook begins with him once again being self assured, his doubts forgotten. The slight changes from the first hook make an impact as he switches from saying this is what he told her, to saying that she already knows he is going to do these things. Like their never was another option for him.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 21st 2021 !⃝

    I think it’s about the girl A team about after her death. The first line is “give me love like her.” The A team girl who name was Angel died from a drug overdose, that why in both pre chorus Ed mention blood turning or drowning in alcohol.

  5. anonymous
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    Jul 18th 2020 !⃝

    The ending is what was confusing me for the longest time. Here's the lyrics:

    Of all the money that e'er I had
    I've spent it in good company
    And all the harm that e'er I've done
    Alas it was to none but me
    And all I've done for want of width
    To memory now I can't recall
    So fill to me the parting glass
    Good night and joy be with you all
    Of all the comrades that ever I had
    They are sorry for my going away
    And all the sweethearts that ever I had
    They would wish me one more day to stay
    But since it falls unto my lot
    That I should rise and you should not
    I'll gently rise and I'll softly call
    Good night and joy be with you all
    A man may drink and not be drunk
    A man may fight and not be slain
    A man may court a pretty girl
    And perhaps be welcomed back again
    But since it has so ought to be
    By a time to rise and a time to fall
    Come fill to me the parting glass
    Good night and joy be with you all
    Good night and joy be with you all
    ----------------------------
    Interpretation: Part of it almost sounds like a final goodbye. Almost like maybe this is taking place after a long time and he (the narrator) is old now, and even though possibly decades have passed, he still lives this girl. And now he's really old and he's dying and this is him saying goodbye.

  6. anonymous
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    Sep 15th 2019 !⃝

    The 1st couple times I heard this song, I thought there was a radio-station problem, that it it was skipping. If you read the lyrics &/or listen to it, you can tell why. It sounds like a broken record, which can only mean he REALLY wanted to convey desperation.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  7. anonymous
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    May 25th 2016 !⃝

    I believe this amazing song is in reference to a classic story of a bad breakup. "Paint splattered teardrops on my shirt", "maybe I'll call ya after my blood turns into alcohol" which is a greaving over the breakup. The chorus is asking the former partner for time to deal with the relationship. "We'll play hide and seek to turn this around" which means they are dodging each other until they are over each other, but the character in the song is begging for more love.
    And then the music video throws in a whole different vibe. Basically a story about Cupid going around making several couples fall in love. But she falls into depression because she can't fall in love. Then proceeds to go crazy with her power and begins making everyone fall in "love" before committing suicide with her own arrow. But when the medic comes in to investigate, the arrow disappears and she wakes up to her love.

  8. anonymous
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    Jun 27th 2015 !⃝

    Ed Sheeran, as we all know, gets drunk pretty often. This isn't his first song about drinking. I'm guessing he's been getting too drunk too often and it very much upsets his girlfriend. I think it's n apology in a way for her because he's trying not to.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  9. anonymous
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    Jan 30th 2015 !⃝

    "Give me love like her"``this starting part of the the song hide its true meaning. How it should be viewed is like this "give me/love like her".. He, i mean HE is begging another GUY to love Him like how the GUY loves his girl. The desperation of the song shows that there is no way, no chances of him to be loved by the guy..this song is about a man who loves a man that loves a woman..that is how beyond heart ache, this is a death equivalent.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  10. michelle1234
    click a star to vote
    Jan 2nd 2015 !⃝

    Personally I think it's about a guy who is currently in love with a girl who isn't showing the love they once had. In other words it's been a few months later and they are distant now. Give me love like her, that line indicates he knows this girl, knows how she can love, and wants that back. I have never wanted an Ex's love before so I don't think it's about an Ex it's about a girl who is currently there but their relationship to him is troubled and he is hurting. Waking up alone but still with her. This relationship took a terrible turn in his view, paint splattered tears, fighting his corner, are signs he cried yet he can give in to someone who won't fight back. Then he drowns his sorrows to find her at the bottom of the bottle making him only wanting to call her then he realizes no I actually want to hold her. They must go days without talking then touch base to only go back to not talking. The lyrics give a little time to me or burn this out we can play hide n seek to turn this around are true signs that they have a communication issue. Back n forth and he gives the space hopping absence will make her heart grow fonder or turn it around as he says.

    This song hits the nail on the head for me and brings tears to my eyes. True Heart felt yearning for love of another that's simply not there. He wants to let go but fighting his coner is what he rather do. He wants what he wants and it's love like her!

  11. anonymous
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    Dec 26th 2014 !⃝

    I think this song is simply about hunger.

    Hunger for love, hunger for acknowledgement, hunger for something lost that s/he never noticed until it was gone.

    I think this song/video is about being hungry and eventually starving to death.

  12. anonymous
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    Aug 2nd 2014 !⃝

    I believe his song describes he has found someone new but he wants parts of his old love to be inserted I to his new love. the new woman has told him he needs to let go of his ex, because it's written all over his face, the past, how hurt he was, even though it wasn't all bad. He just wants to be selflessly loved, it will be a different love and she will show a different love until he realises she will give him the love he craves when he stops beating himself up with the past, accept what what was and have faith in what will be.

    I get the impression that the new woman hurts because they've argued about this raw page in his life, it's affecting her too. But he maybe doesn't realise this. And drinking doesn't help the situation.

  13. anonymous
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    Aug 20th 2013 !⃝

    For me this song is about defining the line between physical love and emotional love. It is one thing to want the taste someones lips allow or not wanting to wake up alone, but it is a different kind of love if there is one person you want to give you love. There is a point where you realize how desperately you want a particular person to love you as much as you love them. You reach a point where you scream give me love!! The real kind that makes you alive and emotional and exhilerated by the fact you can give love away so completely. All you can do is hope they give their love back to you.

  14. anonymous
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    Apr 30th 2013 !⃝

    The video interpretation (not the song):
    The girl gets depressed because of his boyfriend cheating and halucinates that she becomes cupid. She shoots all this people and they 'fall inlove'.
    She finally got very envious that other people are becoming happy so she tries the arrows to herself... She becomes really happy. She strucks the arrow to herself, then... She died. Meaning all those people didn't fall inlove. They all dropped dead.

  15. anonymous
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    Apr 26th 2013 !⃝

    I think that he just wants someone who was as perfect as she was. They were playing games and now it is over. He is lonely and doesn't know what to do, so he drinks. He is unsure if he should move on or keep trying but he is sick of the games. You can really hear the pleading in his voice near the end of the song, as all he wants is somebody to be his.

  16. anonymous
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    Feb 16th 2013 !⃝

    Well i think that its about some one who just cant seem to find love watch the video

  17. anonymous
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    Jan 8th 2013 !⃝

    This song is about desperation. I think the first verse is talking about how much the singer needs the love of one person. He tries to fill the voids with another, but "lately he keeps waking up alone."
    In the chorus he is begging the girl to "give a little love to him" or just let all the feelings "burn out." He wants her to find him and give him everything that he is desperate for.
    The second verse takes place after a little bit of time passes. He expresses to the listener that "it's been a while but he still feels the same." He knows that nothing is changing, so maybe he needs to let everything go. Let her go, let his fantasy of her go.
    The end is just him begging her to give him everything. He keeps saying "m-my-m-my give me love," over and over again.
    The pause, to me, his the singer taking his last breath of needing her and the ending stanzas are him saying goodbye to everything that has to do with her.

  18. anonymous
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    Dec 30th 2012 !⃝

    I think it is about a lover who refuses to be with him until he stops drinking. He's madly in love with her, but she wants him to 'fight his corner,' or fight his urge to drink. He wants the alcohol to 'give me love like hers' because he's 'waking up alone' since he can't get it under control. When he says 'give a little time to me or burn this out' I think he means that he needs time to recover and then they can be together, or their love will be burnt out by this barrier. All he wants is to be with her, but he is also hooked on drinking. When he says 'it's been a while but I still feel the same, maybe I should let you go', he means that after all this time he still can't stop drinking, so maybe he should just give up and let her go. By the end of the song, he becomes desperate for her love.

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