“Afterglow” by Taylor Swift

“Afterglow” is a song in which Taylor Swift is basically acknowledging her own shortcomings in a romantic relationship. Or more specifically, she is for the most part taking the blame for the relationship with the man she loves dissolving. 

Thus she is apologizing to her lover and begging his forgiveness, as she is still very much in love. And via these requests, she is also implicitly asking him to exercise patience. In other words, it seems her tendency to habitually abuse him or at least overreact to conflicts they have is the true source of the high level of tension present in their relationship. 

She is therefore assuring him that, even if she does relapse and does something to hurt him again, in actuality he is her heart’s desire. And it would pain her greatly if she were to lose him forever.  

The title of this song, “afterglow”, seems to be symbolic of an ideological situation wherein they make up after one of her outbursts and are once again at peace in their love. That is to say that the “afterglow” is basically tantamount to a happy romantic relationship. And this is where Taylor wants her boo to “meet” her in contrast to say taking her disagreeable words and actions to heart.

Thus we can even conclude that the subject of the song, which is the singer herself, is suffering from a split personality if you will. On one hand, when tempers flare she can let it all hang out. But in actuality these are just fleeting emotions. And in her heart actually losing her lover, especially due to her own temperament, is more or less her worst nightmare.

“I don’t wanna lose, I don’t wanna lose this with you (Ooh)
I need to say, hey, it’s all my, just don’t go
Meet me in the afterglow”

A Healing Pill

“‘Afterglow’ took center stage when my wife and I worked on turning our abusive and traumatic marriage into a healthy one.

When you’ve been in such a relationship for some time, your mind occasionally goes into survival mode, and you start anticipating signs of trouble even when there aren’t any because that’s what you are used to. You may find yourself waiting for something to go wrong again and that ends up disrupting the peace. This is why it’s crucial to prioritize your healing and take care of yourselves first as you take responsibility for your actions and apologize accordingly. That’s one lesson ‘Afterglow’ teaches.”

– G. Spencer

The Lyrics of “Afterglow” Gave Me the Strength to Apologize

“For me, admitting to my mistakes, particularly in a relationship, required a great deal of courage which I often lacked. However, listening to ‘Afterglow’ for the first time made that process a lot easier for me.

The parts that say ‘sorry that I hurt you’ and ‘I don’t wanna lose this with you’ were clear indications that a simple apology had the potential of saving me from losing loved ones. It helped me find the strength to take responsibility for my actions. It takes humility to own up to our mistakes and apologize for them, and doing so can often be the key to repairing any relationship and moving forward in a positive direction.”

– Phil

Release Date of “Afterglow”

Taylor released this track as one of the song from her seventh studio album name Lover. Both song and album were officially released on 23 August 2019.

That said, it must be mentioned that “Afterglow” wasn’t released as a single. “ME!”, “Lover” and “You Need to Calm Down” were the only singles from Lover.

Interestingly enough, “Afterglow” was first teased in the music video to the actual song entitled “Lover”.

Song Creation

Taylor Swift not only wrote but also produced “Afterglow”. And she had help on both ends from Louis Bell as well as Frank Dukes.