A thread on 'She' by Harry Styles

Because @teaandfrozenpea asked me to, and because this song is an absolute MASTERPIECE: the themes, the vibe, Mitch's guitar solo... just perfection! Enjoy:

Very simply, the storyline in She follows a man who plays his part in society, pretending to be "normal" while he has this whole other side that he keeps hidden, fearing what others might think.

There are three characters in the song: She (the woman), He (the man), and I. 'She' is not her own separate person. "She lives in daydreams with me." "A woman who's just in his head." She is someone who is hidden away, not real - at least not to the society that won't accept her.

The man is a caricature of the perfect family man who drops his kids off at school, goes to work, sends his assistant out for coffee, and just lives like he knows what to do. He even has mates, but he doesn't feel like he can be honest about who he is to them.

"and he's thinking of you, like all of us do" we actually get two addition characters with this line. I think 'You' is just referring to the woman in second person because she is the one that they're daydreaming about, the one the can't stop thinking about.

The man's story is set up as a relatable one. "Like all of us do." Here, "us" refers to everyone who, like the man, lives a lie and pretends to be someone they're not. "Us" is for everyone who gender fluid/transgender.

Harry seems to include himself here, making a statement on his fluidity and commenting on the societal norms that have held him back. We know that Harry is fluid in the way he likes to express himself.

Coming to the emotions in the music, the verses are in a low, drawn out and mundane voice, as H describes the man's life. This reflects the boring routine the man has. There is no rise and fall, just consistent and emotionless.

This is a sharp contrast to the chorus that is sung in a emotional falsetto. The chorus is sung in first person, it's not about the man, it's about Harry. "She lives in daydreams with me. She's the first one that I see and I don't know why, I don't know who she is, SHE!"

"She's the first one that I see and I don't know why" - to me, this speaks of not understanding yourself, not knowing why there is this other side to you that society never prescribed for you.

"I don't know who she is" "I don't know where she is" - She is constantly kept hidden, only allowed to live in daydreams so she's rarely explored. A whole side of this person that's just waiting to be set free.

Mitch's guitar solo is such an important part of this song. You can actually hear bits and pieces of the guitar solo between the vocals, but they get cut off and get structured by the words, that talk about societal norms and fear of being yourself.

The first verse is about his mundane life, the second about the man considering running away and not telling anyone. As we journey through these emotions, the guitar solo gets stronger and louder, almost like it's take over the fear in the words.

And then it does, we are in the day dream, the vocals drop off, She takes over. The guitar solo gives us constantly rising notes that allow the woman to run free. It's unstructured - no verse, no chorus. She lives in that day dreamy, powerful guitar solo.

And then starting around 4:50, we get the beeps. They start out super faint, almost inaudible but then around 4:55-4:57, it's loud and clear. After the beeps, the guitar solo slows down with huge sigh, and slowly fades away.

I imagine, "sends his assistant out for coffee" as he dozes into a dream where he imagines sailing away and letting his feminine side take over. The guitars, She, gets louder and finally does take over his words and thoughts, putting him fully in the day dream - the guitar solo.

The beeps act like an alarm clock, waking him up, slowing down the guitar solo, bringing him back to his reality.

Fine Line is a really cohesive album, with consistent themes. I want to talk about that here for a second.

The escapism in She "imagines just sailing away, not telling his mates" is reflected in the adore you MV where he literally sets sail from a place that never understood him. Also reflected in TPWK: "maybe we can find a place to feel good."

She contrasts Lights Up - where Lights Up is about knowing who you are not hiding away, She is about struggling with another side of you, one that you don't understand, one that society won't understand.

This is just my interpretation but the mundane life here is reflected in Canyon Moon as well. I did a whole analysis (find it in my pinned) but I have a theory that Jenny and the kids in Canyon Moon is his work and the song can be thought of as about being able to go home+

After being stuck at work doing things he doesn't want to really be doing. "So hard to leave it, that what I always do".

When I say "work", I just mean the general idea of the things that are expected of him. The same idea of work in She.

Let me know your thoughts on this! Thank you for taking the time to read it! Oh, and thanks for the hit tweet that came out of me listening to this song like twenty time for this thread https://Twitter.com/goldenliv00/status/1317696316357660672?s=19