Afterglow

"Afterglow" is the 15th track from Taylor Swift's seventh studio album titled "Lover" Associating colors with feelings has been important for much of Swift’s discography—her album Red delved into all of the feelings the color encompasses, discussing it in the liner notes. Swift refers to her dispirited feelings as “blue” on “Cruel Summer,”: "It’s blue, the feeling I’ve got" Additionally, “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince,” describes her relationship as such: "We’re so sad, we paint the town blue" By “Afterglow,” blue has truly become to represent a dark point in a relationship. Imprisonment has often been a theme in Swift’s songs. In the music video for ‘Look What You Made Me Do’, she appeared to be held hostage in a golden cage, a lyric which also featured in her track ‘So It Goes’. Her personal poem ‘If You’re Anything Like Me’ also explored the idea of a jail cell as punishment for mistakes; "Each new enemy turns to steel They become the bars that confine you, In your own little golden prison cell… But darling, there is where you meet yourself." Swift notes that arguments with someone you don’t ever want to hurt is especially painful, and you have no protection from the knowledge that you don’t care for the person. She has discussed arguments in warlike terms before, such as on the leaked unreleased track "Let’s Go (Battle)". ...

[Verse 1] Walking through a crowd, the village is aglow Kaleidoscope of loud heartbeats under coats Everybody here wanted something more Searching for a sound we hadn't heard before And it said [Chorus] Welcome to New York, it's been waiting for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York Welcome to New York, it's been waiting for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat, beat, forevermore The lights are so bright but they never blind me, me Welcome to New York, it's been waiting for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York [Verse 2] When we first dropped our bags on apartment floors Took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer Everybody here was someone else before And you can want who you want Boys and boys and girls and girls [Chorus] Welcome to New York, it's been waiting for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York Welcome to New York, it's been waiting for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat, beat, forevermore The lights are so bright, but they never blind me, me Welcome to New York (New York), it's been waiting for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York [Bridge] Like any great love, it keeps you guessing Like any real love, it's ever-changing Like any true love, it drives you crazy But you know you wouldn't change anything, anything, anything [Chorus] Welcome to New York, it's been waiting for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York Welcome to New York, it's been waiting for you Welcome to New York, welcome to New York It's a new soundtrack, I could dance to this beat The lights are so bright, but they never blind me Welcome to New York (New soundtrack) It's been waiting for you Welcome to New York The lights are so bright but they never blind me Welcome to New York So bright, they never blind me Welcome to New York Welcome to New York