A certain former boybander by the name of Harry is back in Style(s) after the release of the first single of his solo career.
The song starts with piano chords, soft and solemn. A whirring sound leads into the first lyric, sung in what many have dubbed a “Bowie-esque” voice: “Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times. Welcome to the final show, hope you’re wearing your best clothes.”
The song continues in the same eerie nature as the opening lyrics. Harry makes frequent reference to “The bullets” (because that’s not ominous at all) and concludes that “We gotta get away.” Who “we” constitutes, where we “gotta get away” to and the meaning of the bullets are all up for interpretation.
Here’s my interpretation: the song paints a picture of a dystopian future, one which is not too hard to imagine in our current political climate. In the midst of the bullets and the signs of these difficult times, two lovers are fighting to keep their relationship alive. They have some communication problems (“We don’t talk enough, we should open up”) and have had issues in the past (“We never learn, we’ve been here before”). To make this relationship work, the lovers need to run away to a new place (“We can meet again somewhere, somewhere far away from here”).
According to Genius, the song is “About avoiding emotion and reality during times of grief and hardship.” OK, so the bullets are metaphorical; the song is not actually about a dystopian future. But, you know, maybe it was written after watching Divergent or some other dystopian movie. Anything is possible, but I digress.
This song takes Harry’s career in a new direction following his split from One Direction. He is the fourth member to embark on a solo career — Zayn had a successful debut of “Pillowtalk”, Niall released “This Town” and Louis collaborated with Steve Aoki for “Just Hold On.” Liam is the only member yet to release new music, though we may get to hear some of his solo work soon.
That all five members of One Direction have been relatively successful in their solo careers is, really, a sign of the times. At the height of their popularity, One Direction had a unique hold on their audience; Zayn’s decision to leave, and the subsequent hiatus-turned-longer-break, were devastating blows to the fandom. But the new music, though markedly different than typical One Direction songs, hails to a new era of solo success.
In the second verse of Sign of the Times, Harry sings, “And things are pretty good from here.” That lyric rings true about his career: if this single is any indication, what comes next is going to be “pretty good”, if not even better. It is worth noting as well that, while Harry sings about “The final show”, this is not his final release. Harry’s album is set to come out on May 12. Until then, you can find me pondering over the possibly-dystopian lyrics of Sign of the Times as I listen to it on repeat.