#BUT SOTT WAS ROBBED

[wernerherzogs]

your tags!!! yes! i also think harry really listens to criticism and tries to get better. so i'm already excited about the next album lmao he will have more experience, it will probably be clearer what he wants, there will be enough time to write some kickass songs, there won't be that pressure of people saying his debut album shouldn't be less than perfect and he proved he can produce a successful album, so maybe he'll have even more cretive freedom. i'm excited and very proud!

YES, EXACTLY.

the thing is, harry IS surrounded by clear eyed reptile men, and his team /had/ been quite obviously going for that grammy from the very start. and i think harry wanted it, too, and that’s why he’d been willing to compromise on Some Stuff at this point in his career. i want to reiterate that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting things like grammys! some parts of this fandom can be stupidly childish about it. there’s nothing wrong with wanting either money, or critical success, or commercial success, or ALL OF THE ABOVE in the field you work in. especially because harry is 10000% driven mostly by PASSION, there’s no doubt about it for me. he was just born to be on stage, man, and it’s evident how much he loves being a performer. it’s evident how much he wants to excel at what he does, to be the best he can be, and that THAT is his Main Goal. and he’s made IMMENSE progress musically/technically -- he plays instruments, he writes music and lyrics, he doesn’t struggle vocally almost at all anymore (and the note changes he does at practically every gig! he’s always experimenting! having fun! amazing!!!). he’s just SUCH A HARD WORKER, MAN. he works SO HARD. and some ppl think that you can’t be a Genuine Artist if you’re not trying to be an indie singer songwriter whose record features guitars only, and who struggles to pay bills every month. like... harry would never be authentic if he tried to be someone he’s not. and what he is, IS a rich post-boyband member. he needs to find his voice while not trying to pretend this isn’t what he’s experienced, not trying to dismiss his past, and it’s HARD. he’s been in the industry literally since he was 16 -- he’s missed out on some crucial stuff in life, even if a lot of that stuff is somewhat ordinary. then again, he’s got to experience other things (some of it is what most of us won’t get to do... probably ever in their lives), and that’s important, too. that’s still experience, albeit different than mine or yours.

i think in general it’s dumb to expect people to sing about their own lives only. look at adele -- she got some flack after trying to be “relatable” on her last record, because what IS THERE to sing about once you’ve made so much money, won so many awards, once you’re a mother in a stable relationship, once you’re not that hometown girl anymore, right? again, bullshit. artists should be allowed to just tell stories, like artists in other fields.

but i digress. the thing with harry is that he’s a REALLY fucking empathetic person, and imho it’s evident that he just works some shit through via his art. he FEELS a lot, and i’m not surprised that he's had a penchant for angst (as a genre, in a way) for a while now. that’s why i do believe his work can be personal, or even autobiographical in that aspect. he just takes all that pain/struggles/etc., and works around it, builds on it. he just needs stories to go with it. and some of them will feel more genuine coming from him now, others -- on the contrary. because he IS just a 23 yo person who’s still discovering who they are, but he’s also been alluding at Certain Things for a few years now. so some things don’t necessarily add up at the moment, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing! he doesn’t really owe anyone shit! it’s really just the issue of HOW you work with things you want to share, and not share. it’s okay to include details that aren’t really your story, but in that case, it shouldn’t be sold as your story. and it HAS been a part of the marketing for the pink album -- that’s why it’s okay to be disappointent about some choices he’d made on it.

i think harry’s particular advantage as An Artist Signed To A Big Label is that the clear eyed reptile men that surround him genuinely love him -- at least those working most closely with him. i doubt their goals re: harry’s career will change, but i’m hopeful they won’t try to push him more firmly into a direction (heh) that might not be sitting quite right with him. i hope from now on, they’ll try to support him by allowing him to be even more /HARRY/. he’s been in the industry in a long time, but he’d lacked experience as a solo artist, so it’s not like it wasn’t beneficial for him to try to listen to the advice from ppl who’ve been in this game for a long time. especially if those ppl do have his best interests in mind.

tl;dr the pink album was uneven. sott is a fucking DIAMOND that shines most brightly on it. ftdt and mmith are super beautiful, too. he does het content well on songs like woman and ftdt, and the tired tropes WORK well on kiwi, bc kiwi is just BONKERS, not a serious song. but then you’ve got carolina and only angel (although i do like only angel musically), and they’re like... making the whole album feel less genuine (along with making all of the stuff harry does OFF stage less genuine). he’s extremelly spoken out&respectful about his female fanbase, so that’s why those mentions of good girls and short skirts and etc. just felt eye roll worthy to me. he needs to find his footing, and he needs to be allowed to NOT try to be a stereotypical rock star. it’s better to leave some stuff in the 70s, ya know?

THE REAL TL;DR I JUST LOVE HARRY A LOT, MAN. A WHOLE GODDAMN LOT. and i believe in him, because he’s given me plenty of reasons to believe in him. he CAN do better, and i’m sure he will. i’m SUPER excited for hs2. (i’d love him to jump right into it, tbh. i don’t really want a deluxe version of the pink album first, but then again... harry REALLY needs more content for his arena tour, rip. D: i’m a bit worried about the arena tour.)

[butterflyrry]

Happy 5th birthday to Sign of the Times! A fucking masterpiece.

[jalboyhenthusiast]

Hello crying and we get to hear his voice again tonight 😭

tell me why this legit made me emotional 🥺 i can’t waaait

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[softcherubhips]

THESE SPOT THE DIFFERENCE GAMES ARE GETTING RIDICULOUS LMAOOOOO!😂

[harryfromengland]

.

[fallingsunflower]

I kind of get the feeling he might be embarrassed of HS1 (embarrassed isn't the right word but idk how to describe it lmao). Like it was so vulnerable for him, because he def said it was, that he almost doesn't feel comfortable posting about it? Because I also think he struggles with vulnerability.//

I agree with this Mod, but I would also argue that he was vulnerable in HS2 so I’m not sure why he would post about that one and not the first one. I wonder if he is embarrassed it didn’t do as well as they had hoped, which I’m my opinion was an injustice because it should’ve done better and SOTT should’ve been the song that won a Grammy!

Perhaps different types of vulnerabilities maybe. When I wrote that I was thinking more along the lines of he wasn't confident in the songs he wrote

SOTT DESERVES A GRAMMY. ABSOLUTELY ROBBED. I WILL DIE ON THAT HILL

[poppunkzain]

lmao, wait, so h*rry is practically buying his grammy nom? *andy samberg voice* cool cool cool cool cool cool coo-

[violinistharry]

anyway im proud of harry either way and cant wait to see him grow as an artist

[harryfeatgaga]

yes he grew from hs1 to fine line but sott was still robbed of a grammy and i’ll die on that hill

OH 100000% AGREED

[harrysdimples]

hello i hope this isn’t a weird ask or if you’ve seen a post like it and could direct me but i’ve been a casual fan of harry for forever but tbh only recently have become someone who like follows blogs Exclusively About Harry type beat and i was wondering if u could give me like a guide of who his friends r? like ik jeff and some others but i see lots of names and i get like “????” anyways, have a good day!!

of course bb! thank you for giving me something to do during quarantine lmao, long post under the cut:

jeff azoff - harry’s manager and one of his best friends, been friends since early 2013 and harry signed with jeff and full stop management in january 2016, jeff is the son of irving azoff who is widely considered to be the most powerful man in the music industry

glenne christiaansen - jeff’s long term girlfriend/partner, been together at least as long as harry and jeff have been friends, used to work for snapchat and now works at apple music, was included in the forbes 30 under 30 list (woohoo!)

tommy bruce - works at full stop management with jeff, is harry’s manager/representative when jeff isn’t there, good friends with harry

kid harpoon/tom hull - not sure exactly when they became friends but have been friends for a while, worked together on both albums harry has done, his wife jenny is the jenny referenced in canyon moon, he makes a cameo in the adore you music video lol

molly hawkins - harry’s creative director since 2017, has worked on most major shoots harry has done and is responsible for the visuals when it comes to harry’s album/singles artwork

harry lambert - harry’s stylist since at least 2015, we don’t know how they met/who they were introduced by but have been close since around late 2014 (I think)

kunichi normura - harry’s friend who he spent most of his time in japan with, a radio DJ and writer

nick grimshaw - BBC Radio 1 DJ, close friend of 8/9 years, have spent multiple xmas days together, harry debuted SOTT exclusively on his show, just check my gryles tag for more lol

mitch rowland - you probably already know but one of harry’s best friends, guitarist in harry’s band and collaborator on both albums, in a relationship with sarah (drummer) since 2017

xander ritz - lacrosse player, first became close in 2014/15 ish? xander went to lots of tour dates for the last tour 1D did together, you can see more in the xarry timeline here (this hasn’t been updated in a while though, xander goes to most things harry does lmao), still close with one another, most times if harry is doing something in NYC he will fly out to Philadelphia and stay with xander/his family beforehand

ben winston - executive producer on the LLS with james corden, directed multiple music videos for 1D like night changes and you & I, harry stayed with him and his wife meredith in their home for 18 months during 1d, harry is close with all his family, ben’s dad is a lord in the House of Lords in parliament, harry went to see a debate in parliament on brexit through ben’s dad etc, harry is the godfather of ben’s daughter ruby

helene panbrum - harry’s personal and tour photographer, close friend of all the band and crew including harry

cal aurand - 1d’s photographer and close friend of harry’s, introduced him to the green bay packers (lmao) and harry is the godfather of his son, jackson

adam prendergast/sarah jones - members of harry’s band, harry has known adam since 2011, is married to his wife emi with two children (silver and spike), sarah used to be in the band hot chip before joining harry’s band and is now in a relationship with mitch

ny oh (naomi)/charlotte clark - newest members of harry’s band this era, replacing clare uchima who was previously harry’s pianist before joining dua lipa’s band (let’s not talk about that rip)

johnny/alice/ben/chloe burcham - all childhood friends of harry’s, has stayed in more regular contact with johnny than the other two (has brought him on various 1D tours with him, johnny still tweets and posts about harry sometimes), ben was in harry’s band at school with him, alice grew up with harry, chloe burcham is a close family friend of everyone in harry’s family since her mum and anne are very close, gemma, harry and chloe all grew up together and spend most christmases together

rob stringer - head of sony music and close friend of harry’s

tom glynn carney/jack lowden/barry keoghan/fionn whitehead - all part of the dunkirk cast, harry has more publicly stayed friends with tom and barry in particular (tom went to harry’s arena tour and harry went to his play on broadway, barry went to the secret london show for fine line) but they have a group chat called funkirk lmao

roman kemp - capital fm presenter and close friend of harry’s for many years now

tomo campbell/sam campbell - tomo is a close friend of harry’s, harry has been to a few of his art exhibitions and has bought a few of his paintings, sam is also a close friend with their two kids and is the sister of 1d’s hair stylist, lou teasdale

matt irwin - photographer friend of harry’s who was one of his best friends, he sadly took his own life in 2016, harry dedicated his issue of another man to matt and has spoken since about how the grief of losing him impacted him, may he rest in peace.

alessandro michele - creative director of gucci, close friends since 2015 ish, lovely man :’) harry is learning to speak italian for him and has stayed with him in italy before, harry is alessandro’s muse

jack guinness/alexa chung/pixie geldof/waseem etc - all part of harry’s london crew of friends who he was mainly introduced to by nick, harry went to pixie’s wedding, and is still close with jack and alexa in particular etc

tyler johnson/sammy witte/jeff bhasker - all collaborators on both albums and close friends of harry

james corden/kendall jenner - you don’t need me to tell you who either of these people are lol, harry is the godfather of james’ youngest child charlotte

[dancefloors]

imagine if he put medicine instead of carolina ...... sexi 1-2-3 punch of sott medicine and two ghosts! we were robbed

medicine after sott is violent, i would be winded. but i think he wouldve been more likely to do smth like put it after esny since he loves that sadness/horniness 1-2. luckily he didn’t for the sake of my mental and physical wellbeing

[leanstooneside]

Embracing the unknown

◊ firste vertue sone if thou wilt lere is to restreine

◊ collop that is cut out of th

◊ 168] sottes bolt is sone

◊ thing which that shineth as the gold ne is no gold

◊ 113] to cast beyond the moon is a phrase

◊ it is a foule

◊ mare is the better horse.[171

◊ 41] consider the little mouse how sagacious an animal it is which never entrusts his

◊ he knew what is what.[84

◊ 159] this phrase derives its origin from the custom of certain manors where tenants are authorized to take fire bote by hook or by crook that is so much of the underwood as many be

◊ dialogue conteyning the number of the effectuall proverbes in the english tounge compact in a matter concernynge two maner of maryages etc the selection here given is from the edition

◊ moone is made of a greene

◊ 127] rather to bowe than breke is profitable humylite

◊ origin when in the reign of edward vi the lands of st peter at westminster were appropriated to raise money for the repair of st paul's in london

◊ 104] it is this proverb

◊ steede is stolne

◊ it is better to be an

◊ 87] the proverbes of john heywood is the earliest collection

◊ 139] t is old but true still swine

◊ there is nothynge

◊ his port as meke as is a mayde

◊ they say that glitters is not gold.dryden the

◊ iron is hot strike.[101

◊ he is gentil

◊ harmes two the lesse is for to cheese.[54

◊ fooles bolt is soone

◊ 42] handsome is that handsome does.goldsmith

◊ 155] t is an old

◊ que tout n'est pas or c'on voit luire everything is not gold

◊ nothing is impossible to a willing hart

◊ 52] tyrwhitt says this is taken from the parabolae

◊ evils the less is always to be chosen.[73

◊ fat is in the fire.[97

◊ 164] ah well i wot that a new broome sweepeth cleanelyly euphues arber's reprint p

◊ gold all is not that doth

◊ wedding is destiny

◊ gold in phisike is a cordial therefore

◊ page annals of sporting 855 biographia britannica note 282 biographia dramatica note 347 book of common prayer 850 british princes 685 cupid's whirligig note 446 deutsche rechts alterthaœmer 858 drunken barnaby's four journeys

◊ there is no fire

◊ 101] you should hammer your iron when it is glowing hotpublius

◊ willow willow all a green willow is my

◊ 145] to rob peter and pay paul is said to have derived its

◊ 86] it is a foule

◊ deede a friend is never knowne till a man

[lightskinrry]

In my opinion, I kinda felt that fine line was more try hard and was a bit too much whereas HS1 it felt more organic🤷🏻‍♀️. I do like fine line and I’m glad it’s getting recognition but sign of the times was robbed

Nahhh to me hs1 feels like his own very subtle way of saying “fuck that sugar pop I was doing in the boyband I’m grown now” it’s not that it felt less authentic coz hs1 was very Harry styles first steps and I loved it but every lyric felt like trying so hard to be deep and the whole musicality of the album has this “rejecting pop for the sake of it” vibe and I think hs1 is an amazing debut honestly it has personality and establishment with songs like sott or kiwi but it’s just what it is; a debut . A first try as a solo artist with the not so hidden intention to be taken seriously and it worked . Hs1 is saying I have influences and talent and I can write; it has personality but it’s still shy it doesn’t say that’s Harry styles take it or leave it ; it’s trying to please the ppl he is influenced by . Fine line is so much better in everything it’s deeper more honest more emotional it has pop perfection songs like adore you and watermelon sugar with no shame and I love it and it has more experimental sounds and toying with different genres ; fine line is truly a brilliant album with its own mishaps like falling that feels incredibly forced to be that™️ sad ballad with power vocals but songs like cherry?? Sunflower?? Golden?? Lights up??? I could write think pieces about each of them . I am just hoping that he will experiencing more and more and keep growing into his own . Coz fine line to me says that’s Harry styles that’s personality that’s style and to do a dangerous thing with style is art (or whatever the quote is lmaosnsnsn) and I’m sure that he’ll keep growing as an artist to me that’s obvious

[jlf23tumble]

This one’s for @homosociallyyours and @silverfoxlouis, the former because she’s not going to listen and the latter because they’re listening as we speak! I saw a post earlier that low-key annoyed me because it either misrepresented today’s Stern interview or it skipped right over the fascinating bits, so here are the parts I enjoyed (I won’t waste my time on the shit I hated, lol):

Shrooms and the song-writing process are related to Harry’s anxiety about fucking shit up and needing to get out of his own head; related: coming from a band, if there's something you don't like, you can tell yourself that it wasn’t your choice.

The Rob Stringer talk made me SIDE EYE w/r/t the delay, like, okay, you’re a label boss who’s gonna drop a ton of money, but you’re cool with telling the artist to just relax and take all the time they need, you’ll just pick up the thread when hs2 is completely finished, lolz (I have my own theories about allllll of that, but okay!).

I love Stevie and her coven of nocturnal witches, too, but tell me more about how she hated Harry’s choice of first single (in my heart, she wanted “Golden”) and the song that she thought should have been on the album but isn’t, god, she’s such a yoda, and this entire bit was so much bigger than the coven.

I live in Harry’s soft, breathy “thank you” whenever Howard praises SOTT.

I feel like all the White Eskimo talk is a fic waiting to happen, the whole battle of the bands and them winning studio time and how Harry talks to maybe one of them and there’s a guy who IS STILL IN WHITE ESKIMO I GUESS???? WHAT?

Howard Stern hatesssssssssssss Simon Cowell, so his attempts to get Harry to talk shit were both wonderful and expertly dodged, lmao. 

My only positive comment about the discussion around Harry “putting on some timber” during his bakery (cashier at a baker) years was how much it echoed Louis’s comment about “having extra timber” during one of his recent BTS specials.

Were the guys in One Direction REALLY saying that Matt Cardle was “so fucking good” back in the day? This junior statesman!

Ralph pointed this out when we were talking about the interview, but a lot of the time, Howard just makes statements (as per usual), and Harry says, “Right,” which is a great response because it isn’t really an answer, yet it’s still participatory.

Howard is obsessed with coronavirus, so it was hella interesting to hear Harry’s thoughts about it affecting his tour, when his tour is still so far away (yet another tour is so much closer and in the direct line of fire).

Howard (like me) was pleased that Harry’s band is a mix of women and men and not just dudes (I should take a drink every time Bowie is mentioned, like around Harry’s clothes, how Harry is starting his tour in Philadelphia, the entirety of that convo making me want to see Harry’s face as much as all the xarries want to).

One of the things I hated seeing earlier today was this notion that Howard “forced” Harry to talk about the robbery because he absolutely did not, Harry went into CRAZY levels of detail about it when Howard asked, “When did this happen to you?” (and the way Harry talked about it wasn’t full of trauma or sadness, it bordered on humorous in spots but still serious; it clearly shook him up, but he wasn’t about to let it change his life of feeling free to walk around at night). 

I wanted to hear a lot more about all the musicians hanging out in the ‘70s and being competitive in terms of who was writing the best songs about a particular party vs. the competitiveness of banging out the best single today. Harry’s focus was that if you say you like a song, people think you should collaborate…if two musicians hang out, they're dating or recording (like with Adele, and case in point, Howard immediately asked if they were working on something).

I also loved the bit about acting and how nervous Harry used to be about EVERYTHING because he’s waiting three hours to do three minutes, and he focuses so much on his voice or hands shaking, but this last SNL really helped (in my heart, his “little tweaks” were on the Sara Lee sketch).

I live in the guffaw from Harry whenever Howard unexpectedly hit his funny bone (like Harry saying Anne gave him some money to buy clothes when he first moved to London, and Howard saying it was good return on investment for her, what with the house Harry eventually bought her, etc.).

I absolutely LOVED the entire bit about Ben Winston’s attic (and Ralph’s related takes on it), the fine line of the plausibility yet the doubling down; the word “cocaine” coming out of Harry’s mouth; the parts about dating and keeping your relationship normal/secret, etc., GOLD, ALL OF IT. 

Harry, like Phoenix Mendoza, writes every day, which is part of why he wasn’t really into giving up his phone to muggers because that’s his writing zone of choice for lyrics and poems (the whole robbery clapback here: “for the purposes of not getting mugged again, no, they’re on a different device”).

MITCH SPEAKS!! He was into his Nick Drake phase when Harry met him, but apparently everyone is into the open D (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) chord, so he was a shoe-in. Also, Harry met Adam in 2010??? I’d like more information.

We move back into 1D territory with Zayn’s departure, which is still shittily handled but somewhat more maturedly discussed, and yet another attempt to get Harry to talk shit about Simon, which is getting us closer to what we want/need (Harry’s very real answer to Simon being pissed that Harry didn’t consult him about going solo: “I’m in a band since I was 16, there were five of us, we had a lot of managers, lots of people at the label, and all of these decisions affect your life in a massive way, every decision I made was a group call. I didn't know who I was as an adult,” and a lot of that is paraphrased in spite of the quote marks, but just know that I am screaming LIAM).

There’s a lot of weird downspeak to Sarah and Ny (Adam and Mitch were talked at earlier), but everyone’s very much into Sarah, and rightfully so. I loved the slip up where Howard is trying to figure out if there’s anything romantic going on between Harry and the female band members, and someone says, “Mitch!” so you can hear Howard process Harry and Mitch for a hot sec, cracking the Hitch dream, before we get clarification and Harry gleefully taking us into the story of their love. (Me as the speech Howard gives Sarah and Mitch about how dangerous it is to be in a band together and to have a relationship because if you fuck it up, it’ll be terrible.)

SLEDGEHAMMER NICE.

We get a bit into the “Adore You” video because Howard’s an animal softie, and he loves it (it’s downplayed, but Howard also mentions how fans have put a lot of “thoughts” into the fish), but then we get into talk about how this song is about the girl Harry’s banging (HIS SNICKER HERE) and how the common denominator in all of Harry’s failed relationships is him, huh. All of this relationship talk here makes me want to DIE with how much I love it.

Everyone focuses on the gross talk from Howard about Harry having a lady therapist (this is a long-standing Howard trope), but some good shit disappears between those cracks, like how Harry decided to go into therapy, how he’s keeping his LA therapist instead of having two in different countries, etc., and it’s actually Robin who asks Harry about seeming weak or vulnerable in front of a female therapist, but clearly, he’s not bothered.

I’m so interested in how the shrooms tongue-biting incident cured a speech impediment I wasn’t fully aware of but that is still so impossibly endearing.

Harry himself picks out his opening acts, which we already knew but is always nice to hear confirmed. 

The drug convo in text from earlier today makes it sound like he doesn’t smoke cigs, but to me, it seems like he doesn’t like to smoke weed (an edible king, relatable).

Harry says, “you’ve said it all,” which just makes me think he’s a long-time (or recent) Stern listener, because that’s what Howard says when he’s done/interview’s over.

We think it’s all done but the shouting, and then Robin gets into Harry’s clothing, which is where it gets dicey. Howard (of course) mentions that Bowie wore a skirt and how he himself did full drag on TV (“legs shaved and everything, you should see how gorgeous I am as a woman”), but Harry keeps it very much in the realm of what he wears is what he wears because it’s fun for him, he’s not wearing a school uniform or trying to look cool for his friends, he’s a lot more comfortable with himself: “At shows, I tell people to be who they want to be, I plan on telling my kids that, so I don’t want to be a hypocrite, I’m not wearing it for shock value.” 

Howard says people will assume he’s gay or bi (like Bowie, YEAH, SIGH), but Harry says it’s not performative. This whole bit is fascinating on so many levels, he touches (without saying) on the entire queer-baiting issue, and it’s cringe-y, with Howard saying “I’m not criticizing, wear what you want, I’m a big mess, etc.”

Anyway, they pivot out of that with Howard moving beyond into asking Harry who he wants to badmouth: “Simon?” Harry: “This has been great!” and this entire bit about how Howard wants to know if Harry considers Simon a friend, and Harry saying he doesn’t talk to him gives me life. There’s a lot of gross talk about who Harry has his eye on for his next girlfriend, but I will tell you that I never in my life expected to hear the words SUSAN BOYLE thrown into this convo. 

The interview closes out with Harry getting progressively more silent about the women he should date, saying that he doesn’t talk in interviews about his love life, he talks in music (oh?????), so Taylor Swift comes up, and Harry says it’s flattering to think you’re in a Taylor song because she’s such a great songwriter, which, true, I guess?

Harry hasn’t used a dating app (duh), but Howard thinks he should create one, and…scene. 

[finelineoutro]

No club-hopping or bottles popping – it's the after-hours balladry of a 23-year-old star wondering why he spends so much time in lonely hotel rooms staring at his phone.

Rob Sheffield for Rolling Stone

[meyhew]

SOTT and Sweet creature were robbed!!! The world didn't deserve those songs because it wasn't ready to appreciate them!

3 yrs in and im still bitter abt sott never getting the proper recognition she deserved