Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift’s new collaboration “The Joker and the Queen” is on track for a No. 2 debut on the Official U.K. Singles Chart following Sheeran’s performance of the song at the 2022 BRIT Awards last week and its release last week.
The slow-paced folk ballad single, complete with piano at a waltz tempo and melodic strings is inspired by the 1950s. On Feb. 11, an accompanying music video starring was released as a sequel to the music video for “Everything Has Changed” starring the same actors.

The storyline continues from where Swift’s 2013 single featuring Sheeran, “Everything Has Changed,” left off with child actors Ava Ames and Jack Lewis playing the now grown-up versions of themselves. The video very films the text messages exchanged between the two characters, which is, in fact, a real exchange between the singers originally shared on Swift’s Instagram account in 2015. A framed photograph from the “Everything Has Changed” music video appears in the “The Joker and the Queen” video.

The song is an apt fit, in tune with Sheeran and Swift’s other three collaborations, “Everything Has Changed,” “End Game” and “Run.” Their latest single exemplifies their songwriting capabilities and creative imagination, items that both songwriters are known for.

The music video is a nostalgic piece that demonstrates the evolution of both Sheeran and Swift. The video captures emotional pain with the lead actors in their dorm rooms holding photos from their elementary school. Fans were quick to notice this from the “Everything Has Changed” video.

“Me and Taylor first met and wrote + recorded our first song together in 2012, ten years ago now, I’m so so honored to have her on this song,” Sheeran tweeted after the video premiered. “Not only is she the best singer/songwriter in the world but she’s also a very close friend, I’m very lucky to have her in my life.”