Afire Love Analysis
Madi Leonards
There is a certain pain that is felt whenever a loved one passes. Beyond sadness, it is hurt, it is anger, it is confusion, and an almost unidentifiable emptiness where the lungs should be. People who have not experienced such loss have a happy, if hazy, view of the world. Then, there are those who lose someone… a major someone... so very special. They do eventually move on, but the pain alters them forever. Ed Sheeran, in the song “Afire Love,” illustrates how the loss of an individual can impact everyone around them, young and old. Sheeran begins the song by comparing the wholeness he remembers his grandfather to be to the broken remnants of him that are left by Alzheimer’s. Though only six years old, the boy in the song can tell that there is something missing in his grandfather. The boy sees …show more content…
The boy is struggling to process the idea that you can mentally lose someone without physically losing them. Unable to wrap his mind around it, he attempts to understand the loss through simple and familiar symbols. One of the first things taught to Christian children is the concepts of Heaven, Hell, God, and the Devil. By Sheeran mentioning these basic roots of Christendom, it gives the listener a flashback into the times when they too, were naively blaming the wrong people and always hoping for the best. In comparison to the boy’s misconception of Alzheimer’s, his family understands the natural process that is happening to his grandfather. The boy’s father attempts to console him by saying, “it’s not his fault he doesn’t know your face,” it is the fault of the disease. The father is teaching the boy that you have to look past the disease to see the man that his grandfather was, is, and will continue to be in passing. Though the disease has temporarily altered his grandfather’s state of mind, he remains the same man that sang to his wife, “Our hearts will beat as
There is a certain pain that is felt whenever a loved one passes. Beyond sadness, it is hurt, it is anger, it is confusion, and an almost unidentifiable emptiness where the lungs should be. People who have not experienced such loss have a happy, if hazy, view of the world. Then, there are those who lose someone… a major someone... so very special. They do eventually move on, but the pain alters them forever. Ed Sheeran, in the song “Afire Love,” illustrates how the loss of an individual can impact everyone around them, young and old. Sheeran begins the song by comparing the wholeness he remembers his grandfather to be to the broken remnants of him that are left by Alzheimer’s. Though only six years old, the boy in the song can tell that there is something missing in his grandfather. The boy sees …show more content…
The boy is struggling to process the idea that you can mentally lose someone without physically losing them. Unable to wrap his mind around it, he attempts to understand the loss through simple and familiar symbols. One of the first things taught to Christian children is the concepts of Heaven, Hell, God, and the Devil. By Sheeran mentioning these basic roots of Christendom, it gives the listener a flashback into the times when they too, were naively blaming the wrong people and always hoping for the best. In comparison to the boy’s misconception of Alzheimer’s, his family understands the natural process that is happening to his grandfather. The boy’s father attempts to console him by saying, “it’s not his fault he doesn’t know your face,” it is the fault of the disease. The father is teaching the boy that you have to look past the disease to see the man that his grandfather was, is, and will continue to be in passing. Though the disease has temporarily altered his grandfather’s state of mind, he remains the same man that sang to his wife, “Our hearts will beat as