There isn’t a lot of romance in Gracie Abrams’ new album Daughter From Hell. Even though she’s been in a relationship with Paul Mescal for two years, most of the songs are pointed at toxic ex-boyfriends. Surprisingly, even the song that Abrams and Mescal wrote together is about failed past loves. But there’s one notable exception: on “Afflictions,” Abrams gives into a rare romantic optimism when singing about her boyfriend.
Prior to the release of Daughter From Hell, Abrams revealed that “Afflictions” is the only true love song on the album. “There’s other songs about relationships, but that is the love song,” Abrams said in a July 7 Spotify interview. “Because I can’t write about it much. I find it kind of diminishes what it actually feels like.”
But, true to form, even the sweetest love song will get a tiny morbid twist from Abrams, as she compares falling for her partner as developing an illness, but she can’t resist the afflictions of this lovesick state. It’s the first verse that makes it clear Abrams wrote the song about Mescal, as Abrams sings, “I thought you lived for suffering / But thank God I was wrong.” The cheeky line is a reference to Mescal’s penchant for playing depressed characters in nearly all his famous acting roles.
In the same verse, Abrams muses: “Your family feels like family.” This may be a nod to Abrams’ bond with Paul’s sister Nell Mescal, who used to cover Abrams’ songs on social media and is now one of Abrams’ close friends.
Naturally, the song’s swoon-iest lyrics are in the bridge, in which Abrams credits Mescal’s emotional stability and support with making her “brave once again.”
It’s the shape of your hands / Made me brave once again / You became where I land / Now you hold all of it
In the closing lines, Abrams confesses she “was burning out” before meeting her partner, who helped her to “leave the light on.” She concludes the song by pleading to stay in this loving state as long as her partner will have her: “I’ll go if you asked me to, but then again / Don’t drop me off.”
