harry styles debut, an album about coming to terms with loss and change. a thread

harry’s first album is about the passage of time: it’s about how there is nothing permanent in life and that loss is inevitable, whether it’s the loss of a relationship, a parent, or of childhood. it’s a difficult reality, but also necessary for growth.

sorry this is so long <3

1: THE BREAKUP

this is the main story throughout the album, beginning with mmith and continuing through two ghosts, only angel, woman, and ftdt.

harry has been in a relationship that has ended, and the story picks up in mmith almost immediately after they break up: “i just +

left your bedroom.” he’s begging for her to change her mind, “just let me know, i’ll be at the door, hoping you’ll come around.”

in two ghosts they see each other again, but they’ve changed so much (“it’s not you and it’s not me [...] two ghosts standing in the place of you +

and me”) that he knows he’s lost her forever.

in only angel, he reflects on the relationship and what it was like, but also the separation between them is clear: she is “an angel,” he’s singing “wanna die tonight” just to get closer to her.

woman shows his jealousy and also +

the fact that she’s moved on so quickly without him. she already has someone else, he’s distraught when “he’s touching your skin.” he also knows that “apologies are never gonna fix this” and they’ve lost their chance to reconcile.

the story and the album ends with ftdt. he’s +

reluctant to accept that he’s lost her, and despite knowing all of the things he’s realised (their inability to communicate in two ghosts, the uselessness of apologies in woman) he still is upset that they “haven’t spoke” and hopes that she will “say you’re sorry too.” +

he knows that it’s over, she will “never call”, but the problem is that he doesn’t want to accept it. he still misses her, asking “where were you?” and even finding a “girl who looks just like you” to try ease his hurt.... which brings us to the next major theme of hs1.

2: AVOIDANCE OF PAIN

harry’s experiences throughout the album are painful, but rather than processing them he instead turns to distraction. he tries to ignore his feelings about the breakup by turning to short lived flings. the woman that’s “driving me crazy” +

in kiwi excites and fascinates him but she’s distant, and in the end he feels like “i’m going to pay for this.”

in carolina he becomes obsessed with a girl to the point where “she’s all i think about.” but he’s only met her once: in the context of the album, carolina seems +

to be him prematurely trying to fall back in love with someone again because he misses being in a relationship.

he also tries to literally “take the pain away,” whether by asking for “morphine” or seeking blissful ignorance. his lack of communication might be simply an +

attempt to avoid confronting painful truths. he says “we don’t talk about it” in mmith, and in sott admits that “we don’t talk enough, we should open up before it’s all too much.”

this tendency to avoid the painful truth is most apparent in esny, where he pleads to +

be told “something i don’t already know,” wanting to distract himself rather than accept the painful and unavoidable reality of his loss.

3: THE INEVITABLE LOSS IN THE PARENT/CHILD RELATIONSHIP

harry approaches the idea of loss from multiple angles, including the death of a parent.

esny is dedicated to his stepfather and is about receiving the news of his cancer diagnosis. i won’t go into a lot of detail about +

this song, because it’s very personal. it’s about loss, that’s all.

in sott, harry explores the death of a parent from a mother’s perspective rather than the child’s. it’s a tragic early death due to childbirth complications, but it’s still portrayed as a natural part of the +

passage of life, just “a sign of the times.” the loss of a parent is inevitable: so the mother warns the child “just stop your crying” as she leaves him behind while she is “breaking through the atmosphere.” the important message is, “remember everything will be alright.” while +

painful, this loss is unavoidable and necessary for life to continue going on, and for the child to grow up.

sweet creature is most likely dedicated to his mother. the “two hearts in one home” line seems like a reference to pregnancy especially as the person he sings to +

literally brings him home, as if they themselves are his home. this song is unique in the album as it describes a relationship that is strong and positive. despite the loss, there is still love and hope in life.

4: MATURITY & CHANGE

maybe the best way to describe hs1 is that it’s an album about change, and growing up.

you see it in two ghosts, where they’re “not who we used to be.” time has forced them apart, and it’s irreversible. however change isn’t always bad.

in sweet +

creature he sings about being uncertain of the future, “we don’t know where we’re going” but ends with the hopeful, “but we know where we belong.” although change can be negative and scary, things will eventually work out.

hope in the face of tragedy is the main message of +

sott. despite the death of the mother, which is painful in the present, this will not last forever. they “can meet again somewhere”— the “somewhere far away from here” refers to a far away time as well as place. while the passage of time brings loss, it also heals and harry +

makes it clear that the child will grow up, mature, and will ultimately “be alright.” like harry said, the mother is essentially saying “go forth and conquer.”

i think it’s a really hopeful message. in this album he has lost things to time which he can never get back, but +

he understands that things will get better again. it’s all part of life, loss is natural but so is the potential of something new growing.

(hey maybe the girl in carolina symbolises that potential!)

help idk if this all made sense anyway i love that hope is underlying in most of harry’s writing, it is genuinely so helpful for me and i think lots of people feel the same. <33

thanks for reading i love this album so much aaaa

hey btw here are all my rants so if anyone cares bye https://twitter.com/wmsugars/status/1303944798642954240