"Part of the appeal of a song like 'Watermelon Sugar' was that it could ... kind of just be whatever you wanted it to be. Same goes for equally aloof titles like 'As It Was' and 'Sign of the Times.' The most clear-cut his lyrics have ever been are in 'Music for a Sushi Restaurant,' in part because he's naming literal foods."
"His ballads, on the other hand, tend to just circle the drain, as if he was posting on an Instagram Story a caption like 'Depressed, don't text,' leading everyone else to text each other about what's wrong with him."
"He gestures and he nods, sure, but he avoids giving too much away. Privacy and authenticity are valuable assets for any artist to maintain, but Styles has never been a master of crafting a specific image, let alone a lyric that possesses a kind of crystal-clear metaphor or emotion."
Harry Styles' songwriting typically employs ambiguous, vague language that allows listeners to project their own meanings onto his work. Songs like 'Watermelon Sugar' and 'As It Was' exemplify this approach, remaining intentionally unclear about their subjects. However, 'Paint by Numbers' from his album breaks this pattern with a notably specific lyric about 'holding the weight of the American children whose hearts you break,' seemingly referencing his involvement with director Olivia Wilde and her children. This specificity contrasts sharply with Styles' usual style, where even his ballads tend toward Instagram-caption-like emotional vagueness rather than concrete detail. His reluctance to be explicitly clear in his songwriting raises questions about whether he genuinely aims for poetic depth or prefers maintaining ambiguity.
Read at Vulture
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