The Songs That Take Us Home

Ed Sheeran’s hotly anticipated Divide comes to us on March 3rd, but thankfully, the down to earth star released the music video for lead single ‘Castle on the Hill’ on Monday, January 23rd. An ode to flat fields of suffolk, the video sees a grown up Ed walking and driving (at no doubt, 90mph) down the old country roads. Flashbacks show a younger, and very well cast, ‘Sheeran’ and his friends spending their days as many East Anglian teens know all so well; crappy pubs, banger racing and bonfires to escape from the ‘nothing-to-do’ attitude. 

Although universally appealing to nostalgic teens and young adults, the song seems to have struck up a chord with border-sharing counties Norfolk and Suffolk, where Sheeran first rose to fame.

Castle On The Hill is for all the Norfolk n Suffolk kids

— Olivia (@oliviamannall) January 6, 2017

listening to castle on the hill just makes me want to jump straight on the next train home to norfolk, gives me the feels 😌

— ✨Lauren ✨ (@x_laurenmoore_x) January 9, 2017

Castle On The Hill makes me so nostalgic, I missed Norfolk already like come on Ed

— Frodo, son of Drogo (@Squidsuckss) January 8, 2017

Caught up in the nostalgia and personal connection to the area, one of iCov’s writers decided to explore the songs that made our youth – and more importantly, took us back to them.

A song that reminds me of home, is Sticks’n’Stones by Jamie T, as it mentions Hampton Wick, which is a station I go through on my journey to University. I’ve lived in the area my whole life and attended primary school there, so it takes me back to the good old days.

Rob, Kingston Upon Thames

Whenever I hear this song it takes me back to summers in Norfolk as a teenager, dreaming of our big escape plans from what seemed like a dead end area. It was full of hope and promise, which is what we needed to get through the days – but looking back we had it pretty good. 

Georgina, Norfolk

I never hung out in parking lots but a lyric that always takes me back is ‘we did nothing, but it seemed like we did so much, back then’. Living rurally we had to make do without city lights and excitement on our door steps. Camping out, bonfires, getting drunk in fields dreaming of the world away from here – it’s very bittersweet to look back on now that I am out of there.

Rose, Coventry

This is a really nostalgic song for me and reminds me of a lot of friends from home. “We come from different towns, and recognise the sound of giving up” is a line that really resonates as it symbolised to me that my friends were always with me through struggles when we were teenagers.

Harriet, Liverpool

 This reminds me of childhood summers, going on holiday, driving down to Devon and staying in a caravan, sitting on the beach, climbing, exploring, and doing all the silly things a child does on holiday.

Wirette, via Reddit.

This might be a bit of an odd one, but I grew up around classic rock and still to this day love it. Def Leppard is a band that reminds me of home, and in particular my dad, but this song in particular takes me back to being a child. Apparently, if I was crying, this song would send me to sleep.

Sophie, Norwich

My parents are very chill and love the beach scene and everything about it and we have a pool in our backyard and we bbq very often in the summer and this song comes on all the time on Pandora and it just reminds me of chillin’ in the backyard by the pool talking with my parents and relaxing.

Soyance, via Reddit

This song reminds me of my wife. The Jam are her favourite band, and everything about this song just feels homely – the waves at the beginning and the guitar throughout. I want to move to france, so spend a lot of my summers touring there by bike, but she doesn’t and “no matter where I roam, I will return to my English rose.”

Alan, Breckland 

Holly McLaren