Harry Styles‘ debut album was as strong an introduction as possible. The rock-tinged record helped to cap off his lauded career in the boyband circuit and start him on his path to solo pop domination. While his songwriting efforts with One Direction earned him praise, it was nothing like the buzz he would get from the writing on Harry Styles. Find our five favorite poetic strokes from Styles’ first record, below.
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[RELATED: The Meaning Behind Harry Styles’ Contemplative Album Closer “Fine Line”]
1. Just let me know I’ll be on the floor, on the floor / Maybe we’ll work it out (“Meet Me In The Hallway”)
“Meet In The Hallway” is as meditative as it gets on Styles’ debut album. It feels almost like Styles is talking to himself, hoping to reconcile things with a past love. In the lines above, he is at his lowest point–literally. He is splayed out on the floor, completely given up on trying to move on. It’s a physical manifestation of heartbreak. Styles uses the metaphor to great appeal here.
2. Tastes so sweet, looks so real / Sounds like something that I used to feel / But I can’t touch what I see (“Two Ghosts”)
Reconnecting with an old flame can be a surreal experience—or at least that’s what Styles is trying to convey with the lines above. They look like who he used to be in love with (looks so real), they sound like someone who he used to be in love with (Sounds like something that I used to feel), and yet it’s not exactly as it was. Few musicians have summed up that scenario as succinctly as Styles does here.
3. The fridge light washes this room white / Moon dances over your good side / And this was all we used to need (“Two Ghosts”)
We have to circle back to “Two Ghosts.” It’s one of Styles’ best, most poetic, songwriting bouts and thus deserves two spots on this list. We appreciate Styles’ ability to set a scene. He does so expertly in the lines above. He describes a quiet night in, simple in scope, and seemingly uneventful. To him though, there didn’t need to be anything flashy in that relationship: this was all we used to need.
4. I’ve been praying, I never did before / Understand I’m talking to the walls / I’ve been praying ever since New York (“Ever Since New York”)
Heartache can make you crazy. Styles knows this all too well. Here, he turns to a higher power to calm his worried mind. It’s the kind of severity he rarely got to explore while with One Direction. His candor is what makes these lines particularly poetic.
5. I hope you can see, the shape that I’m in / While he’s touching your skin / He’s right where I should, where I should be / But you’re making me bleed (“Woman”)
“Woman” is as sultry as it is a powerful showcase of Styles’ songwriting. The lines above take a simple idea (jealousy) and make it all the more poignant with the use of figurative language. You’re making me bleed, he sings, fully ceding to dramatics. Isn’t all the best poetry a little dramatic?
Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for iHeart Media
