This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Cal Lutheran chapter.
On Monday, October 26, 2020, Harry Styles released the long awaited music video to his song ‘Golden’ off of his second solo album, ‘Fine Line’.
As an avid Harry Styles fan of 10 years, I took it upon myself to wake up at 8:30am that morning so that I could make the premiere of the music video. Needless to say, it was a great way to start the week.
Photo by Javierosh distributed under a CC BY 2.0 license
It was the fifth music video Harry released off of the album ‘Fine Line’ and is believed to mark the end of the ‘Fine Line’ era, music video wise. So, I have taken it upon myself to rank the music videos for my favorite album from my favorite artist so that you can determine which music videos are worth watching!
This music video is a fangirl or boy’s DREAM. I mean what else could we ask for? A shirtless Harry Styles surrounded by people of all ethnicities and genders. It was a beautifully shot music video and a strong start to the ‘Fine Line’ era. The wardrobe of the music video had a great variety and I think it perfectly explored the person that Harry is. The artistic take on the actual meaning of the song was beautifully executed as well. The song to me represents Harry stepping into the spotlight as the person that he wants to be, not the person that his old management pushed him to be. The video flashes back and forth between Harry being surrounded by people, to being on his own, and a variety of wardrobe changes. At first, he looks confused and in a daze while surrounded by the people but as the video continues, he accepts them and finds himself becoming one with them.
I really liked that this music had a story that went along with it and could be interpreted however the viewer chose to. It felt as though we were the fish, we meaning the fans, and Harry was saving us and helping us grow into the people that we are. I like that he made a connection with his fans through the video because the song choice fits it perfectly and allows for fans to feel “closer” to him in a sense. A lot of fans feel that their favorite artists have saved them and helped them grow as people and this video displays that perfectly.
I have no words to describe how much I loved the concept of this music video. The aesthetic of it reminded me of art that you would see when visiting a museum in France or Italy. It was beautifully directed. The emotions the lyrics of the song held could be felt through the screen, especially as Harry sank down into a room filled with water. You could easily tell the song was about heartbreak and feeling yourself slowly drown in pain and it was executed perfectly.
I wanted to rank this a 10/10 but I had to make sure that ‘Falling’ was given its deserving number spot by 0.01 points. The concept of this music video was also amazing and it was so bright and colorful which contrasted perfectly with the prior video he had released. I liked that the women in the video were made the center of attention rather than Harry and that the women were all very diverse. The energy was amazing and I liked that they took the title of the song very literal and were seen eating watermelons throughout it.
I cannot express how much I adore the song ‘Golden’. I think I listen to it at least 5 times a day. With that being said, however, I felt that while the music video was beautifully shot, it was relatively simple in comparison to the others from this album. The music video mainly consists of Harry Styles running, driving, dancing around a highway on Italy at Dusk in three different outfits. The music video was a lot of fun to watch because Harry looked genuinely happy in it. As a solo artist, he has been able to artistically express himself the way that he wants to and has slowly shut out what the ‘haters’ have to say about him. There were hints of his first music video with his bandmates from One Direction, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, as one of his button down shirts in that music video matched the one he was wearing in ‘Golden’. He also hinted in the song that we, his fans, are the fish from the video for ‘Adore You’ and we have saved him just as much as he has saved us. If this truly is the last music video for his second album, I think he ended the era perfectly.
Overall the musical videos to the five songs selected from the album were nothing short of perfection! I highly recommend watching them regardless if you are a fan of Harry Styles or not!
