Taylor Swift Taylor Swift - 'Lover' album cover
Afterglow is the fifteenth song on Taylor Swift’s Lover album. It covers a particularly moving and seemingly personal fear of Swift’s: that she’s creating fights in her head and accidentally “burning down” her relationship, then fighting to keep it together.
Swift has been increasingly candid about her own insecurities and emotions in this latest album, referencing herself as “overdramatic and true” in Lover and lamenting in Afterglow, “Why’d I have to break what I love so much?”
Swift notably spelled out “After Glow” on a Scrabble board in the Lover music video.
Here’s what you need to know:
Afterglow Full Lyrics: ‘Meet Me in the Afterglow’
Here are the full lyrics for Afterglow, per Genius:
[Verse 1]
I blew things out of proportion, now you’re blue
Put you in jail for something you didn’t do
I pinned your hands behind your back, oh
Thought I had reason to attack, but no
[Pre-Chorus 1]
Fighting with a true love is boxing with no gloves
Chemistry ’til it blows up, ’til there’s no us
Why’d I have to break what I love so much?
It’s on your face, and I’m to blame, I need to say
[Chorus]
Hey, it’s all me, in my head
I’m the one who burned us down
But it’s not what I meant
Sorry that I hurt you
I don’t wanna do, I don’t wanna do this to you (Ooh)
I don’t wanna lose, I don’t wanna lose this with you (Ooh)
I need to say, hey, it’s all me, just don’t go
Meet me in the afterglow
[Verse 2]
It’s so excruciating to see you low
Just wanna lift you up and not let you go
This ultraviolet morning light below
Tells me this love is worth the fight, oh
[Pre-Chorus 2]
I lived like an island, punished you in silence
Went off like sirens, just crying
Why’d I have to break what I love so much?
It’s on your face, don’t walk away, I need to say
[Chorus]
Hey, it’s all me, in my head
I’m the one who burned us down
But it’s not what I meant
Sorry that I hurt you
I don’t wanna do, I don’t wanna do this to you (Ooh)
I don’t wanna lose, I don’t wanna lose this with you (Ooh)
I need to say, hey, it’s all me, just don’t go
Meet me in the afterglow
[Bridge]
Tell me that you’re still mine
Tell me that we’ll be just fine
Even when I lose my mind
I need to say
Tell me that it’s not my fault
Tell me that I’m all you want
Even when I break your heart
I need to say
Afterglow Song Meaning & Hidden Easter Eggs
Taylor really made the letters add up to 15.
Track 15 is After Glow🌟🌟🌟 #LoverMusicVideo
Throughout Lover, Swift openly wrestles with the challenges of being in an intense relationship. She wonders aloud if other people are falling in love with her lover (presumably Alwyn) in Lover. And in Afterglow, she is perhaps the most vulnerable she’s ever been on a song, singing, “Tell me I’m all you want/ even when I break your heart”
The song is especially meaningful after so many albums’ worth of music dedicated to condemning the actions of exes. To be fair, much of that narrative reeks of sexist undertones — but this is certainly the first track in seven albums’ worth of Swift music where she so explicitly and fully takes blame for a catastrophe in a relationship, not to mention the first track where she mentions fights being “in her head” and admits “it’s all me.”
Expectedly, fans have been swooning for Afterglow. One fan wrote, “i really love afterglow wow”
Another fan noted, “Putting #Afterglow right before #Me! Makes so much sense lyrically and I love that.”
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