After Sia”s “Chandelier,” Ed Sheeran”s new video for “Don”t,” may deliver the best dancing in a video this year.
The video plot doesn”t really follow the same narrative as the song”s lyrics, which are about Sheeran having a relationship with a fellow artist (reportedly Ellie Goulding) until she cheats on him. Instead, in the Emil Nava-directed clip, we watch a dancer move on up to the big time from the wrong side of the tracks to a mansion with a pool. His elastic contortions (a few aided by special effects) propel him from sleeping in a shanty to a progressively nicer homes. He pass through each house sometimes unnoticed, other times stopping for a little extracurricular activity and for the obligatory Beats headphones placement. He stops for good at the mansion, and after surveying his kingdom, he retires to the pool and the good life.
Sheeran only appears for a few seconds as a passenger in a car watching the dancer.
The story is a little inscrutable, but watching the dancer is very enjoyable and you”ll wonder why you”ve never tried to dance with a pizza box after you watch.
“Don”t is the second single from Sheeran”s chart topping album, “X.”