One thing Harry Styles knows how to do is entertain. Whether it’s on stage or in his music videos he always gives us something to talk about. His latest music video for his song “Music For A Sushi Restaurant” is definitely giving us something to talk about.
When Harry released the teaser video alongside a shot of him from the music video, we started coming up with theories. Let me just say none of our theories even came close to what the music video was. “Music For A Sushi Restaurant,” which is the first track and third single off Harry’s House, is a funky upbeat track. We expected the music video would have a bit of a club vibe and would more than likely take place inside a sushi restaurant. We just didn’t know Styles would be on the menu.
We’ve watched this music video several times since it dropped, and first of all, we didn’t have Harry Styles in squid form on our Bingo card, okay? If you can get past all the shots of raw seafood in various states being chopped up and cooked, there are some fun moments in the video. But, true to Styles’ form, it has a much deeper meaning. At least to us, it does.
As we watched the video for “Music For A Sushi Restaurant,” we started to realize that it’s a metaphor for Styles and his life. The music video opens with him being found washed up on a sandy beach, where he’s picked up by three fishermen. Then he’s taken to a sushi restaurant that looks like it would fail a few health inspections, and after the workers take a photo with their prize catch, they drop him on a table where they prepare to well, kill him and serve him up to the patrons.
Squid Harry is terrified watching the workers chop up all the seafood and knows he’s about to meet the same fate. That is until he opens up his mouth and begins to sing. Everyone is mesmerized, and he’s literally singing for his life. Because the workers all realize he can sing, instead of getting rid of him, they keep him around to entertain the customers because who wouldn’t want to see a singing squid?
As the video continues, Squid Harry becomes a bit of a diva the more popular he gets. And he isn’t too friendly to the people working for him. Everything seems to be going well for him until he loses his voice. The moment that happens, it’s obvious his life is over. You can see the fear and anxiety that takes over because he’s no longer of use to the people at the restaurant. Ultimately, he ends up being used for his original purpose, and if the Gills lounge sign with a chopped-up squid and the title changed to Gills Sushi at the end of the video doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, then you probably weren’t paying much attention.
Back to the meaning behind all of that. “Music For A Sushi Restaurant” is a representation of Harry’s fears. Everyone loved Squid Harry when he was singing and serving their purpose of entertaining the world. They were doting on him and giving him everything he wanted. When he lost his voice, that all stopped. That showcases that Harry has fears about what his life will be like when he is no longer able to sing for the world and where he will go. His fears are real ones, and he’s spoken about that before in interviews.
“Music For A Sushi Restaurant” is an odd video we won’t disagree with this, but, if you look past the surface to find the deeper meaning, you’ll see just how sad it actually is.
Check out the music video for “Music For A Sushi Restaurant” by Harry Styles HERE:
