Harry Styles is an incredibly talented man. We’ve been riding with him since his 1D days and have witnessed his musical transformation with each solo project he’s done. His latest album titled Harry’s House is another one that we know is going to showcase a completely new side of him.
In the weeks leading up to the announcement of his third album, Harry put us through a series of cryptic messages and had us following all the posts from a website titled youarehome.co. If you go to the Instagram, there’s nothing but a series of half open doors and we’re all still speculating they could be in relation to the tracks on the album which are unknown at this time. On the Twitter account, there’s a bunch of quotes like my personal favorite “every place you’ve ever been will never stay the same and neither will you.” There’s such a deep meaning behind that and that’s all Harry. Now we finally have the first track off of his third album.
‘As it Was’ is the title of Harry’s first single and we honestly couldn’t think of a more fitting way to be welcomed into Harry’s House.
Take a look at the music video below.
Harry really does take us on some journeys with his music videos and this one is no different. The song which was produced by Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson has a bit of an 80s pop vibe to that sort of makes us think of A-Ha’s “Take On Me.” Though the song has a poppy feel, ‘As it Was’ has lyrics with a deeper meaning.
Holding me back,
Gravity’s holding me back,
I want you to hold out the palm of your hand,
Why don’t we leave it at that?
Nothing to say,
When everything gets in the way,
Seems you cannot be replaced,
And I’m the one who will stay
‘As it Was’ feels like Harry is truly baring his soul to us in a way he hasn’t before. We know he’s done it in previous tracks like ‘Falling’ but this one seems to really be homing in on how isolated he feels at times. In the music video directed by Ukrainian music video director Tanu Muino, Harry is literally being held back by gravity. The woman portraying his love interest is just beyond reach. Each time he goes for her, she slips out of his grasp, and they even seem to be running in two different directions never quite catching up.
It’s not until we see Harry eventually strip down to his most vulnerable self that the two are able to connect. It’s definitely a metaphor of how he seems to feel he is the one holding himself back from connecting with someone. ‘As it Was’ feels like a bit of a reminder that the more things change around us, the more we can feel stuck. Seeing Harry share that he too has those struggles is why we love him. At the 2:18 mark, he seems to have found a sense of freedom as he frolics around happily, and he gives into gravity’s pull but in a way that he makes it his own. Instead of letting it drag him down, he lets it push him forward into the next chapter whatever that may be. We don’t know what is to come with this latest album from Harry but, as they say, home is where the heart is.
