With the re-release of Taylor Swift’s “Red” and Ed Sheeran’s new album “=” the artists have decided to collaborate once again on their newest song featured on Sheeran’s new album. The song is titled “The Joker and the Queen” and was released on October 21 2021 with the rest of Ed Sheeran’s album. However, this isn’t the first time they’ve worked together on a song.

The artists have a long history together. First became friends in 2012 and then decided to collaborate on multiple songs. Previously Ed Sheeran has been featured on many Taylor Swift songs such as “Everything Has Changed,” “End Game” “Run (From The Vault) (Taylors Version)” and “Everything Has Changed (Taylors Version).” 

Their newest release of “The Joker and the Queen” is a follow-up to the first song they made together, “Everything Has Changed.” The first song released in 2012 details a fast-moving relationship, as soon as the characters meet “Everything Has Changed.” The music video features childhood lookalikes of Swift and Sheeran who meet at school and instantly become friends and hint at a childhood romance. The end of the music video shows Swift and Sheeran picking up their “minis” and smiling at each other as both of them walk away. 

Their newest video features the same actors that played the children, showing them 10 years later. Both of them are now in separate colleges, they mouth along with the lyrics of the song as it plays in the background. Throughout the video we see them reminiscing about them as kids, but as the video continues we see they are still together. Completing the love song originally seen in the first song.

Throughout the song, Sheeran compares himself to a joker and mentions that the girl had many other options but instead chose the “unconventional” joker. The song is full of poker references along with the joker analogy. Prominently featured in the chorus is the line “When I fold, you see the best in me” meaning that even when Sheeran messes up, or must “discard cards” the girl still sees him as who he is.

The Newest “The Joker and The Queen” has been long awaited for fans of Swift and Sheeran. Finishing off the love story they originally started and staying consistent by keeping the same actor. In light of Taylor Swift’s Re-Recordings, the song provides a demonstration of how not only the actors have grown up, the musicians as well.