"As It Was" by Harry Styles; analysis and its powerful message about letting go.

Hi, ReadCash friends, glad to be here again writing this! This time I would like to talk to you not only about a song, but about an artist that I really like. Last week he headlined the first day of the renowned "Coachella" event and since then he has been on everyone's lips, and has been the main image in various digital media in recent days. Former member of one of the most recognized boybands worldwide (One Direction), he is now the #16 most listened artist on the Spotify platform, actor, songwriter, fashion icon and deserving of a guiness record for his latest single titled "As It Was" which I will be analyzing today.

The song, along with the music video, was released globally on April 1st (according to the time zone of his native United Kingdom). The song starts with the voice of a little girl who says "Come on, Harry, we wanna say goodnight to you!" (Harry himself clarified that this voice belonged to his goddaughter, and was from a night where he did not answer her call, a ritual that they kept every night), in the video clip we can see how Harry is behind a glass door and then begins to walk with other people, with a serious look and flashy outfit, while the "catchy" rhythm of the song begins. From one moment to the next, while the people around him move forward, he moves backwards intoning the phrase "Gravity's holdin' me back" until he crosses the door and enters another room, along with another red outfit more "liberating" and stripped down than the previous one.

In this new space, he steps onto a circular platform where another person is standing; a girl with a blue suit and an empty face who is walking around. Harry begins to walk on that surface and brushes the girl's hand while he sings "Seems you cannot be replaced", still walking around where he always runs into her, surrounding her with a hug or being next to her, he tries to let her go but, being in a constant circular motion; he always comes back to her, as if it were a vicious circle. No matter what he does, where he sees or what he says; he always comes back to this person. They move forward, in the same or different directions, they remain static, always circling while the song recites "In this world, it's just us. You know it's not the same as it was", until for some reason, the girl falls off the platform leaving Harry alone and pointing to the ceiling where she gets back to her original image; the same one with a serious face and flashy attire.

The following verses of the song caused commotion and intrigue for the message it conveys, since our protagonist tells us how he lived the loneliness, not answering the phone, isolating himself and taking other measures, where he also states that "Ringin' the bell and nobody's coming to help" while these lyrics progress in the musical composition, we can see Harry stripping all these clothes along with 4 more people, each one distributed in different points of a new stage, where the only person who is sharing level with him is the girl in the blue suit who only takes off a coat, on the other hand, our protagonist is only in his underwear, which is a sign of transparency and vulnerability, he has nothing to cover him, nothing to appear; he shows himself as he is, and in all this he returns to an embrace with the lady in the sky-colored suit.

We return to the chorus part of the song, but now Harry is lying on a floor of designs and bright colors while still holding hands with his counterpart, who always keeps a cold and serious expression, all this while more people without almost clothes are around them, from one moment to another, the floor that unites them is separating so that the grip on their hands is detached giving space to a new canvas, but this one without color; where Harry teaches us that all new beginnings are opportunities to fill new spaces with color. In other scenes, it is evident how our red-suited main character wishes to rejoin his other part; but he can no longer, until they are both shown on the same platform but going in opposite directions; as their goal is no longer the same. All this while we can listen to one of the most attractive parts of the song, a bridge loaded with rhythms and lyrics that hook you from the first moment you hear them: "Go home, get ahead, light-speed internet, I don't wanna talk about the way that it was..."

After this, we feel the explosion of rhythm that transmits happiness, freedom, and autonomy. Harry is alone on the platform, but he does not fall prey to it, he enjoys the rhythm he is carrying instead of going against it. He is aware of the freedom he now possesses and allows himself the opportunity to feel it; dancing and exploring that space that before was only limited to the circular stage. We can also observe how he finds himself in another zone, where he touches himself as a sign of proving that he is the one who is living this moment and not someone else. He continues dancing and enjoying all the spaces until, with a smile, he opens the doors to another zone, where he moves forward happily and lets us glimpse that we will witness much more content from him, a fact that will become a reality this May 20th when he releases his third album "Harry's House".

The hidden message

After having analyzed critically, let's go to the powerful message that Harry transmits through this piece; accept change and let go. At the beginning we can see how Harry tries to go at the pace of others, but he feels that something is holding him back, that does not let him move forward, and it is a feeling of stagnation that we can experience when we go through a process that still affects us but we do not know how to deal with it, which can lead us to get into a vicious circle from which we feel we can never get out, and we cling to something that gives us a little sense of comfort and control. In another order of ideas, Harry teaches us that one of the healthiest ways to free ourselves is to allow ourselves to feel; to be vulnerable and identify all the emotions that come to us, it is only in the moment where he is out of all his clothes that he manages to release this other person who is the representation of all that affects us; either our past or a specific situation. And above all, the part of the canvases is very significant, because as I mentioned before, every ending and every beginning are the perfect opportunities to know and rediscover ourselves. Finally, our main character finds his freedom when he let go of everything, when he realized that what he clung to so much was no longer there and he didn't need it to be happy, and with that, he opens a new space for himself, to continue living and exploring what other wonders life has for him, and that in the same way, they can be waiting for us when we cross the barrier of fear and doubts and allow ourselves to release, little by little, that which squeezes our soul.

This has been my personal analysis of "As It Was" by Harry Styles, have you already listened to it, what did you think? I'll be happy to read it!

Here's the link for you to take a peek and that's where I (clearly) got all the inspiration for this writing. Thank you so much for reading, have a beautiful day, night, or whenever you are reading this!