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
everyone around him in pain over the mental loss of his grandfather, reminiscing on happier times when his grandfather was whole. The boy is blaming the devil for his grandfather’s Alzheimer's, showing that he has a very basic and naive knowledge of not only religion, but of life. The boy in the song believes that, “the devil took,” his grandfather’s memory.
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
one,” Fast-forward to the funeral of his grandfather, and the listener can see the changes in his family. His family is choosing to remember the whole man that his grandfather was, as opposed to the man he had become due to Alzheimer’s. He notices that his family feels whole again, even in the absence of his grandfather. His family was torn apart by the mental loss of his grandfather, but they were, “stapled together with the strangers and a friend,” after the loss. In the passing of his grandfather, they were able to fill the gap that was left with memories of the man in his wholeness. When his grandfather developed Alzheimer’s, it caused his grandfather to not fit into his family’s puzzle anymore. The boy’s entire family felt that hole; the hole that could not be filled by any other person. Whenever his grandfather died, they were able to fill the hole with the memories they knew to be true of his character. By the end of the song, the listener is able to see the family in its wholeness once more. The entire family had been torn apart through the loss, yet they are still able to see that God is working behind this anguish to make them stronger. Sheeran paints the picture of his whole family, and the congregation at his grandfather’s funeral, singing Hallelujah. Hallelujah is an exclamation of faith, meaning, “God be praised,” The boy sees that his family is able to come together and praise God for making his grandfather and his family whole again.