The A Team

The A Team Songfacts explains the song is a true story and was written by Sheeran after meeting a homeless prostitute called Angel, whilst volunteering at a Crisis homeless shelter. The song became the highest selling debut single on the UK singles charts in the first half of 2011. 'The A Team' was the debut single release from twenty-year-old singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran and is a story about a girl he met whilst volunteering at a homeless shelter – it soared into the top three on its release in June 2011.

[Verse 1] White lips, pale face Breathing in the snowflakes Burnt lungs, sour taste Light's gone, days end Struggling to pay rent Long nights, strange men [Pre-Chorus] And they say She's in the Class A Team Stuck in her daydream Been this way since 18 But lately, her face seems Slowly sinking, wasting Crumbling like pastries And they scream The worst things in life come free to us [Chorus] 'Cause we're just under the upper hand And go mad for a couple grams And she don't want to go outside tonight And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland Or sells love to another man It's too cold outside For angels to fly Angels to fly [Verse 2] Ripped gloves, raincoat Tried to swim and stay afloat Dry house, wet clothes Loose change, bank notes Weary-eyed, dry throat Call girl, no phone [Pre-Chorus] And they say She's in the Class A Team Stuck in her daydream Been this way since 18 But lately, her face seems Slowly sinking, wasting Crumbling like pastries And they scream The worst things in life come free to us [Chorus] 'Cause we're just under the upper hand And go mad for a couple grams And she don't want to go outside tonight And in a pipe she flies to the Motherland Or sells love to another man It's too cold outside For angels to fly [Bridge] An angel will die Covered in white Closed eyes and hopin' for a better life This time, we'll fade out tonight Straight down the line [Pre-Chorus] And they say She's in the Class A Team Stuck in her daydream Been this way since 18 But lately, her face seems Slowly sinking, wasting Crumbling like pastries And they scream The worst things in life come free to us [Chorus] And we're all under the upper hand And go mad for a couple grams And we don't want to go outside tonight And in a pipe we fly to the Motherland Or sell love to another man It's too cold outside For angels to fly Angels to fly Fly, fly For angels to fly To fly, to fly For angels to die