After three years of waiting, lifelong fans who grew up with the star Harry Styles have been blessed with a song. A single song that has unsurprisingly soared straight to Spotify’s most streamed song for the US in a day in Spotify history.
For years, fans have awaited this moment, patiently and excitedly waiting for a song they can cry to or a new summer hit that’ll knock “Watermelon Sugar” off repeat for a bit. Fans weren’t sure what the new vibe around Style’s next album would be. There has been massed discussion. Maybe a rock album? Maybe an album surrounding love? Although the remaining 12 songs have yet to be released, it’s safe to presume that “Harry’s House” will be an unforgettable one.
The song, “As It Was” has an uplifting beat with words that are almost muted within it. A classic Styles move to surround a sad song with happy instrumentals to mask it. The song reminds me a lot of a fan favorite, “Golden” that appeared on his last album, “Fine Line” because just like this song, “As It Was” is a song where its meaning might not be so apparent on the first listen.
In an interview with Hits Radio, Styles explained that “As It Was” encapsulates the overall message of “Harry’s House.” He went on to say that the song that has been on a consistent loop for a countless number of people is, “about embracing change, losing oneself, finding oneself, a shift in perspective — lots of different things.”
In the music video, we see Styles running on a spinning platform that probably symbolizes his struggle to move on from his past, but then we also see a woman who has been sort of tagging along beside him during the entirety of the video. There are different interpretations, but this woman might represent his past self that he can’t seem to escape; it follows him everywhere.
Toward the end of the video, we see Styles leaping and dancing in pure joy. We can see his acceptance to the way it was and the way things are.
“As It Was,” just like Styles’ past songs, have only proven to be a gateway where more and more people are starting to see what others have seen for years. As someone who has been a fan of Styles since his X-factor days, it was nice to scroll on TikTok and see so many videos of people saying that this song made them understand why everyone is so obsessed and in awe with Styles.
Nineteen-year-old Dylan Cienfuegos said, “I’m not normally the biggest fan of his but the song makes me want to drive around with the windows down”.
The full album is released on May 20 of this year and until then, I for one will be looking through all the doors being posted for us online because these “You Are Home” pages by Styles and his team are inviting us to move forward with our lives alongside our favorite pop artist.