The music video for the incredible song “Castle on the Hill” by Ed Sheeran depicts scenes of the famous Framlingham Castle in Framlingham, Suffolk (Sheeran’s hometown). It also includes various scenes portraying the life of a teenager Sheeran with his friends. The music video incorporates scenes of Ed Sheeran singing his song while reminiscing moments in his early life that are triggered by the sight of the castle on the hill.
At a young age of 26, Ed Sheeran has become one of the many successful singer/songwriters in the music industry. He has won numerous awards for his music and collaborated with other well-known artists such as Taylor Swift. Ed Sheeran is known for performing his meaningful songs to sold-out crowds around the world. As an artist, he has also achieved to break multiple records in a number of countries.
During an interview with BBC Radio 1, Ed Sheeren referred to this song as a “love song for Suffolk ‘cause I don’t think anyone’s ever done that”. The music video was inspired by his hometown and his childhood experiences of growing up. “Castle on the Hill” is to provide fans with insight into the community that Ed Sheeran grew up in and gives credit for influencing who he is today. The message of the music video is to express that regardless of where/who you are now, there is always going to be an iconic place or landmark that you can call home and remind you of your life growing up. The purpose of the message is to connect to listeners through the universal concept of growing up.
A major concept supporting the message of the music video is the use of semiotics. According to the Danesi text, semiotics is the science of physical and interpretative meanings of signs. The most important signifier is the castle on the hill (thus the reason for the title of the song). This would make the signified to be the literal and inferred meaning of the castle and how it further relates to the message of always having a place to call home. The castle on the hill denotes a famous building in a community. According to the text by Danesi, “connotations allow humans to expand the application of signs creatively”. A possible connotation that can be inferred from the semiotic that this building is the most important landmark of the city and that it represents the city. The goal of using the scenes of the castle as a symbol is to connote a recognizable landmark that represents and serves as a reminder of your hometown.
As “Castle on the Hill” is filled with different illustrations of semiotics, other important signifiers are the scenes of drinking beers and smoking cigarettes. These signifiers associate to the typical stages of growing up as a person. In connection to the music video, these scenes can be interpreted as signs of glamorizing aspects of his early life. On a literal level, these specific signifiers can be denoted as a general day or party action to relieve stress. A potential connotation of showing scenes of drinking beer and smoking cigarettes with friends could be actions involved in everyday social lives. On a more cultural level, these scenes can further be connoted as experimentation and getting into trouble at a young age. These scenes correspond to the lyrics “Fifteen years old and smoking hand rolled cigarettes…and getting drunk with my friends” relates to the concept that even though the experience was not formative, at least it is still memorable. This relates to the message that when you are reminded of home, you are also reminded of the memories of growing up into the person you have become today.
“Castle on the Hill” is the perfect way for Ed Sheeran to share memories of him growing up in his hometown with the audience. This song by Ed Sheeran is a great way to melodically honor his hometown and think about the memories of growing up. It is evident that the main concept of semiotics is used to portray the message of the music video. The use of the castle on the hill as the most important semiotic is a great way of representing the message, which is that a person will always have something symbolically iconic to remind them of their hometown and their childhood. Using scenes of drinking beer and smoking cigarettes is an effective method of representing the experimenting phase of growing up. Overall, this music video portrays an important message for listeners to connect to, which is remembering there is always something to remind us of home and the universal concept of growing up.
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