Acceptance

the times today make
you crave acceptance from the
society at large

Caricature

They say, I talk too much

They say, I laugh too much

A caricature, a side-character

Is that all I am?

They say I have too much time on my hands

They say I’m there at all of their plans

Sometimes I’m there even if I’m not wanted

Is that how you see me?

Would you like it if I kept mum?

Say nothing out of turn, molded into a shape of your desire

But then I’d just be a shadow of me

Is that what you truly wish?

I can’t keep quiet even if you want me to

I can’t stop loving even if you want me to

That’s just the way I am

That’s just the way I am

We keep these memories for ourselves...

I’ve made up notes, I know what to write, I have some witty one-liners I want to put into the article, but my hands will not type. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I prefer to retain these memories in my head instead of on (proverbial) paper. Maybe it’s because I don’t know how to convey the emotions I felt when I saw him come up on stage. It’s a mix of pride and happiness and please let me stay in this moment forever because his voice is so good.

It’s been ten days since I went for the Ed Sheeran Concert, and damn, but that night was one of the best ones of my life.

Okay, now that I’ve started writing, I might as well finish everything up.

This concert is the third one I’ve been to. The first one was Yanni, which was a sit-down concert and absolutely ethereal. The second was David Guetta, which could have gone much better. I had some concerns due to this, but I was going with friends, so it was bound to be fun. Right?

I actually got so much into it that I painted a t-shirt for me. My friend asked if I would do it for him too, and thus, we stand, with the chorus of “The City” and “I See Fire” respectively:

No one tells you how much your legs kill to stand up for five hours straight. I wonder how they stand outside the Buckingham Palace, when I had to stretch my legs every five minutes while scream-singing at the top of my voice. I had to sit down at one point because I just couldn’t do it anymore. But then I stood up, because I couldn’t miss him singing the dulcet tunes of “Thinking Out Loud” now, could I?

He wore a blue kurta, and looked adorable in it while strumming his guitar. This was the tour for his X (Multiply) album, but he sang songs from his previous album as well. He knew how to engage the audience very well.

There was this moment when he spoke about how people raising their hands up and down during hip-hop concerts made him feel awkward if he didn’t play along with them. Saying that, he told us to do the same when the beat dropped during “Bloodstream”. My hand goes up and down subconsciously every time I listen to it now. (Whoops, I had put Ed Sheeran’s songs on shuffle and Bloodstream just came on. What a coincidence... honestly).

During "Give Me Love", there’s this part in the middle that goes Amamaya amamaya amamaya gimme love love. The whole audience sang it with him, and that feeling of togetherness, the harmonies being formed without even realizing is something you don't find every day.

 (Smau, if you’re reading this, I hate you for what you sang about this song. It’s stuck in my head now.)

"Lego House" had lego versions of Ed Sheeran and Roonil Wazlib displayed on the screen, which were the cutest ever. Tenerife Sea had Ed’s blue blue eyes on the screen when the line “The way it brings out the blue in your eyes” played. Sadly, he didn’t play Small Bump, but there were so many other favorites of mine that I was happy. Especially with “You Need Me”, when I happily screamed out the last line despite the fact that the tween in front of me was giving me major side-eye. (If you want to know, it’s the They say I’m up and coming line.)

But, man, the best one ever was… I see Fire. That song just gives me chills and when he played it, I just died. Bonus points was Smaug appearing on screen since the song was on the Hobbit soundtrack.

I am a sucker for covers of songs, especially by artists I know. I do not feel guilty to say that I went searching for his, and found a lot! He makes them sound so brilliant. (That article of MTV that showed 10 songs that he covered? I knew all of them and more... :D) I have heard them enough times to know when the lilt of his voice goes up while singing “Feeling Good”.

Listening to it on YouTube and having him sing it live is another thing though. There’s this part where he goes very high-pitched, singing “It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life, and it’s alllll for me.” (Comes at 2:23 in the link above) He did that during the concert and I sang my heart out, high-pitched, probably screechy, and I didn’t care.

Other bonus covers were Superstitious by Stevie Wonder, No Diggity by Blackstreet and Fancy by Iggy Azalea.

I must mention that he sang In Da Club in the middle of “You Need Me”, but that part is there in the EP version of the song, so not sure if it counts separately (Yes, I know different versions of the same song – there’s three versions of this one)

We got in at 5 pm, came out at 10, and now I know I can look at this article if I want to remember. I don’t think it’ll be necessary though – all these memories play in my mind every time one of the songs plays on.

Leaving you with this song, because it describes my feelings perfectly about this concert

Bright smile, Sad Eyes

She looks up, a puzzle piece falling out of her hand.
A hint of a frown mars her face.
She is used to this by now,
And yet it isn't the same.

He picks her up, hugs her
Bright smile, a contrast against his sad eyes
The quotidian questions are asked
It is rote to them by now

One question always stays in her head
One she knows not to ask now
“When is Mommy coming home?”
She’s a kid, but she isn’t curious anymore.