"Afire Love" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently re ...

for his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). The song is about Sheeran's late grandfather who suffered from

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. The record, which was produced by

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member Johnny McDaid, samples elements of "Remembering Jenny" composed by

Christophe Beck Jean-Christophe Beck (born November 30, 1972) is a Canadian television and film score composer and conductor. He is a brother of pianist Chilly Gonzales. He is best known for his collaborations with Disney and its subsidiaries, which include co ...

for the soundtrack to the American television series ''

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''. The song was released as an "instant grat" digital download to the

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on 16 June 2014, serving as the third of seven promotional singles from ''×''. Due to high

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content i ...

rates, all of the album's 12 tracks including "Afire Love" charted in the United Kingdom.

Background and composition

The song is about Sheeran's late grandfather who suffered from

for 20 years. He died of the disease in December 2013, two weeks after Sheeran began writing about it. Sheeran finished writing the song at his grandfather's funeral. Prior to the release of the album, Sheeran had also paid tribute at the

2014 Grammy Awards The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid compe ...

, in which he wore a necktie belonging to his grandfather. The lyrics discusses Sheeran's reaction to the disease as a child all the way up until his grandfather's funeral. In the verses prior to the first chorus, Sheeran recounts the circumstances present upon his grandfather's disease. For instance, he sings the moment when his grandfather lost his capability of recognizing the face of his grandson: "My father told me, son/ It's not his fault he doesn't know your face/ And you're not the only one." The chorus tells the "powerful love between his grandparents", in which his grandfather said to his grandmother: "Put your open lips on mine and slowly let them shut/ For they're designed to be together/ With your body next to mine, our hearts will beat as one/ And we're set alight, we're afire in love." The song concludes with Sheeran and his family seemingly singing "hallelujah" at the funeral. Sheeran recorded "Afire Love" in Cocoloco studio in Los Angeles, and Sphere and Metropolis studios in London. It was produced by

member Johnny McDaid, and engineered by Mcdaid and Geoff Swan. The track samples elements of "Remembering Jenny", which was composed by

for the soundtrack to the American television series ''

''. The ballad is piano-driven and has a "grooving" beat.

Release and reception

The song was released as an "instant grat" digital download to the

on 16 June 2014, serving as the third of seven promotional singles from his second studio album, '' ×'' (2014). It was available for digital download upon pre-order of the album. It topped the iTunes chart in the United States. Due to high

rates, "Afire Love" and the rest of the album's 12 tracks charted in the United Kingdom. It entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

at number 71 and rose to number 59. Neil McCormick of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' describes "Afire Love" an "anthemic singalong".

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from ''×'' liner notes: * Vocals by Ed Sheeran * Written by Sheeran, Johnny McDaid and Foy Vance * Produced by Daid * Engineered by Daid and Geoff Swan * Mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent * Mastered by Stuart Hawkes * Contains elements from "Remembering Jenny" composed by Christophe Beck for ''Buffy The Vampire Slayer'' * Guitar by Sheeran * Guitar, Bass, Backing vocals, Percussion, Piano, Programming and Hammond by McDaid * Drums by Geoff Leaa * Live Strings by Davide Rossi * Backing vocals by Foy Vance * Additional vocals and gang percussion by Coco Arquette, Courteney Cox, and Eamon Harkin

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

{{authority control 2014 songs Ed Sheeran songs Songs written by Ed Sheeran Songs written by Johnny McDaid Songs about death