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"Don't" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran taken from his second studio album x (2014). It was written by Sheeran and Benjamin Levin and produced by Rick Rubin and Levin, under his production moniker Benny Blanco. The song samples "Don't Mess with My Man" by Lucy Pearl.
"Don't" was initially planned as the lead single for the album but was passed over in favour of "Sing". The song was instead released to iTunes on 13 June 2014 as the second "instant grat" promotional single from x. It peaked at number 8 on the UK Singles Chart. "Don't" officially impacted US contemporary hit radio on 15 July 2014 and was released independently on 24 August 2014 as the album's second single.
"Don't" is a song about a girlfriend who cheated on Sheeran with a close friend, and has been linked to several of Sheeran's fellow singers, including Ellie Goulding. Sheeran has said it is "100 percent not about Taylor". Having played the song for Swift he said, "She was just like, 'Whatever happens, ever, between us as friends, I never want to piss you off that much,'". The song started off "as a riff on his phone", and was recorded first with Benny Blanco, then again with Rick Rubin with the two producers coming together to produce the final cut. The song almost didn't make it onto the album, as Sheeran felt it was "a bit personal", but was urged by those who had heard the demo to release it, as it was "an alright song... so it ended up on the record".
An accompanying music video was released on YouTube on 4 August 2014. The video was directed by Emil Nava and follows a dancer (Philiph Chbeeb from I.aM.mE) going from poverty to wealth. Sheeran makes a brief drive-by cameo appearance. 4Music called it a "compelling watch".
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