Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last six months, by now you’ve probably heard Major Lazer‘s latest hit with Justin Bieber and MØ, “Cold Water.” The song topped Spotify’s global 200 chart last summer, while its lyric video has garnered over 500 million views on YouTube. Considering the heavy exposure “Cold Water” has achieved, it’s hard to imagine how it could slip out of anyone’s memory, but that’s exactly what happened to co-writer Ed Sheeran.
In a new interview with Billboard, the singer-songwriter revealed that he actually forgot that “Cold Water” was one of his songs until it became a hit. The tune was apparently drafted with producer Benny Blanco at a time when the two were cranking out tons of new material, and by the time Diplo reached out to Sheeran about producing “Cold Water,” the vocalist had already forgotten that it existed.
“Cold Water” was a weird one because I didn’t even know that song existed. It was a song I must’ve half-written somewhere at a time where I was writing a lot of songs and I did it at Benny Blanco’s house and then I got an email from Diplo just being like, ‘Yo! That ‘Cold Water’ song is dope! Can I have it?’ And I was like, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about,’ so I just didn’t reply.
Blowing off a hitmaker like Diplo is funny enough in its own right, but the producer apparently managed to get his hands on the song anyways, and it wasn’t until it topped the charts that Sheeran remembered his role in its creation.
And then the song came out and it was number one and I was like ‘Oh, that song!’ I remember doing it, but it was really, really slow. I remember hearing it and being like ‘That kind of sounds like me. Oh wait, it was me.
It’s hard to imagine forgetting a song like “Cold Water,” the hooks of which are firmly implanted in the minds of anyone with a radio, but when you’re as busy as Ed Sheeran it’s a bit more understandable.
