}
Ed Sheeran's 2025 song "
Old Phone" is from the album Play and captures the heavy weight of memory, regret, and time passing. The lyrics focus on an emotional moment triggered by finding an old phone filled with reminders of past friends, breakups, and family struggles. The song's meaning centers on what we lose and what we carry when we grow up.
The Lyrics of Old Phone:
I found my old phone today
In a box that I had hidden away
Nostalgia tryin' to lead me astray
Maybe I'll unwrite some wrongs
I charged the battery again
Combinations 'cause my passcode had changed
Opened up and saw familiar names
Now I wonder where they've gone
Conversations with my dead friends
Messages from all my exes
I kinda think that this was best left
In the past where it belongs
I feel an overwhelming sadness
Of all the friends I do not have left
Seeing how my family has fractured
Growin' up and movin' on
I found my old phone today
Arguments that I try to keep at bay
The ones who love me I just push them away
Couldn't tell the difference from the leeches
My closed hand still holds some mates
But if I'm open it gets smaller day by day
I can't tell if it is pleasure or pain
Tryin' to keep within my remain
Conversations with my dead friends
Messages from all my exes
I kinda think that this was best left
There in the past where it belongs
I feel an overwhelming sadness
Of all the friends I do not have left
Seeing how my family has fractured
Growin' up and movin' on
Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh ooh-ooh
I found my old phone today
So full of love yet so full of hate
I put it back inside there from whence it came
Nothing good will come from regretting
Conversations with my dead friends
Messages from all my exes
I kinda think that this was best left
There in the past where it belongs
I feel an overwhelming sadness
Of all the friends I do not have left
Seeing how my family has fractured
Growin' up and movin' on
I found my old phone today