The new single definitely has a foot-tapping, on loop in your head effect, but the music video will hardly go down in history, to be honest. It's no 'Watermelon Sugar'.
Harry Styles released the song and video for his first single off his highly-awaited third album today. ‘As It Was’ is the lead single from ‘Harry’s House’ which we’re sure is going to be huge after the success of 'Fine Line' back in 2019.
17 seconds in and the 'As It Was' video is serving fashion circa the original 'Home Alone', with Styles sporting a long red Winter coat and skinny little scarf as he shuffles through what looks like an airport. Beyond the McCallister mother's wardrobe and leather gloves à la Julia Fox, Styles' video then brings us back to P.E in secondary school, with more sparkly leotards and fewer balls to the head.
But the song is undeniably joyful and meaningful. It's boppy with a heart-your-on-sleeve feel to the lyrics, like "Harry, you're no good alone/Why are you sitting at home on the floor?/What kind of pills are you on?" You want to get up and dance with him, as he swirls around on what looks like the top of a UFO, or at the very least, a plain lampshade.
It seems the song is a reference to how his life has drastically changed since his rise to fame — shoutout to 'the XFactor' — with the refrain "You know it's not the same as it was". However, fans have picked up on the pretty blatant reference to his relationship with Olivia Wilde, "Leave America, two kids follow her".
It wouldn't be the first time Styles has written about an ex-lover. On his first album 'Harry Styles', the song 'Two Ghosts' is heavily speculated to have been written about Taylor Swift.
Now we've got a taste for what's to come, we're just going to have to have 'As It Was' on repeat until the release of the full record 'Harry's House', which comes out on May 20th this year, and which we are frankly buzzing for.
