Ed Sheeran’s “Afire Love” Talks About Losing A Grandfather to Alzheimer’s

Ed Sheeran has been slowly trickling out songs from his new album, X (Multiply), which is set for release June 23rd.

“Sing” was on repeat and “Bloodstream” makes me wish the album was out already, but the song that really did me in was, “Afire Love.” With “Afire Love” Ed has written a beautiful song about life, love, and loss. For 5 minutes and 14 seconds he sings about losing his grandfather to Alzheimer’s.

“Things were all good yesterday
And then the devil took your memory”

I lost my grandmother in bits and pieces, as I can only guess many people who have a loved one with Alzheimer’s or dementia do. In all the ways that counted she was still my grandma, but it hurt to see her and know she didn’t fully understand the moment she was living in.

“And my father told me, son
It’s not his fault he doesn’t know your face
And you’re not the only one”

When I read the above lyrics, I know how hurtful that can be. It sucks when someone who’s seen you grow suddenly forgets major things about you – your name, your birthday, or who you are to them. It’s hard to be the only person who remembers moments you both once shared.

“Although my grandma used to say
He used to say

Darling, hold me in your arms the way you did last night
And we’ll lie in sight for a little while, he wrote”

With my grandmother, I always tried to bring her back to reality, make her laugh with stories we both once we knew, and remind her that she wasn’t alone. Two of my favorite lyrics sum up the entire song perfectly:

“And if you fell to your death today
I hope that heaven is your resting place”

“Things were all good yesterday
But then the devil took your breath away
And now we’re left here in the pain”

Ed Sheeran does a great job at capturing how up and down loss is. It has as many layers as this song does:

What do you think of Ed Sheeran’s song? Have you ever lost someone to Alzheimer’s? 

Vivian Nunez