THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

355-George Ezra-Paradise.

2018-Number 2 single.

Best Bit-At 0.49. Paradise, and not a dashboard light in sight.

George Ezra Barnett was born on June 7th, 1993, in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England., he cites his youthful obsession with the music of Bob Dylan (see also best songs 792-621-358-103-36 and 7) as a major influence. Dylan himself, of course was influenced by the American Folk, and Blues artists of the early to mid 20th Century, such as Lead Belly, Woody Guthrie, and Howlin’ Wolf, and this led to Ezra checking out their music. Ezra bought a Lead Belly (see also best songs 431) compilation, and on the sleeve it said that Lead Belly’s voice was so big, you have to turn your record player down. Ezra has said,’I liked the idea of singing with a big voice, so I tried, and I could.’At the time of writing George Ezra has released two studio Albums to date, ‘Wanted on Voyage’ in 2014, and ‘Staying at Tamara’s’ in 2018, both Albums have reached the Number 1 spot in the UK. He has also released 10 singles to date between 2013-2021, with seven of them making the UK top 40, including his 2018 Number 1 ‘Shotgun,’ while in America his only charting single to date is ‘Budapest,’ which reached Number 32 on Billboard in 2013.

‘Paradise’ was released as the second single from George Ezra’s second studio Album ‘Staying at Tamara’s’ from 2018, the song was co-written by Ezra, and Shane Marriott, and produced by Cam Blackwood. After Ezra finished touring his debut Album in 2014, he set about writing for the follow up. He went to Barcelona for a month, but instead of booking into a hotel, he looked on the internet, and found a stranger called Tamara who was renting her spare room, and this was where the Album’s title came from. Ezra has said,’I thought if she’s a bit crazy, if she’s a bit unhinged, I can just leave. Her friends were all musicians, artists and designers, and her apartment really felt like HQ. It helped slow me down. There was a point about halfway through the trip where I was like, this trip has proved to be really important, and the Album’s name came to me like that, I love it.’

‘Paradise’ is a love song, Ezra wrote the song while dating Florrie Arnold, who was the drummer on this song, as well as providing background vocals, the song was written with her in mind. Ezra has said the song was aiming to capture ‘A feeling that takes over when you’ve fallen in love.’ He has said that the lyrics were ‘Not looking at a particular love story, but more the effect that love has on your psyche. You become a mess, but it’s good. It doesn’t matter what’s going on around you, you’re in your own little world.’ Ezra described ‘Paradise’ as the ‘Perfect love song version’ of ‘Staying at Tamara’s’ themes of ‘Escaping and dreaming, and taking yourself away a little bit.’

‘I know you heard it from those other boys, but this time it’s real. It’s something that I feel and I know you heard it from those other boys, but this time it’s real, it’s something that I feel.’