What is the meaning behind “You and me are thrifty, so go all you can eat Fill up your bag and I fill up a plate We talk for hours and hours about the sweet and the sour”? Shape of You by Ed Sheeran
- by imrk
- March 04, 2023
Dishes prepared in sweet and sour sauce are popular at Chinese all-you-can-eat buffets. The “sweet and sour” represent the good and bad things they share with each other about their lives. Sweet and sour are also considered opposite flavor profiles, which relates back to the chorus' image of their bodies being like magnets, pushing and pulling (another presentation of opposites) each other. By creating so many lyrical dichotomies, Ed puts forward the idea that their relationship is made up of opposing forces—and of course, opposites attract. Ed experienced financial problems during his teenage years, and was even homeless at one point. As a result, he’s well-versed in how to be frugal (“thrifty”).