On the witness stand in Manhattan federal court on Thursday, Ed Sheeran played the chord progression of his smash song “Thinking Out Loud” and sung a few of the words during a trial over whether he stole Marvin Gaye’s classic “Let’s Get It On.”
The British singer-songwriter detailed his approach for producing the song about everlasting love in 2014, just after he began a new romantic relationship after his grandfather died, as the first witness in his own defense.
“I draw inspiration a lot from things in my life and family,” said Sheeran, who is being sued by heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend, Gaye’s co-writer on the 1973 song. The heirs are seeking a share of profits from “Thinking Out Loud.”
Sheeran stated that during a visit to his home in England, his friend and collaborator Amy Wadge began strumming the chords for the song, and they collaborated on the lyrics.
On the stand, he sung the phrase “I’m singing out now,” which he said he learned from Wadge during a songwriting session. He stated that the remark sounded like “I’m thinking out loud,” which became the title.
“When I write vocal melodies, it’s like phonetics,” Sheeran said.
He then took a guitar from behind the witness stand, played the song’s chord pattern, and sang the first line: “When your legs don’t work like they used to.”
Lawyers for the heirs earlier this week released a video of Sheeran flawlessly shifting between “Thinking Out Loud” and “Let’s Get it On” during a live performance, which they claimed amounted to a confession that he had stolen the music.
On Monday, the trial is scheduled to resume.
