#fine line analysis

[whoreforlarrystuff]

i don't know why i'm unable to comment on your anon asking for fine line analysis so i thought i'd try here 😭😭 here's my fav analysis ! and here's another cause people have such beautiful brains.

Thank you!!!

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

When discussing or analyzing Dazai, one thing I hope you will keep in mind when reading anything I write about him is that from my perspective, he is always, always both.

What do I mean by this? Well, I find there tends to be a general split among people who hold the opinion that "he's a manipulator and will always be manipulative" and "he's doing his best to be good and helpful and live up to Oda's last wishes for him", of which, neither is completely right - because he is both. But even among the people who hold to this dual-nature interpretation, I find that his individual actions and motivations still tend to be thought of in a dichotomous manner - is it manipulative, or genuine?

Again, I think it's always both.

Dazai has a very pragmatic view on a lot of things - he is always looking for the usefulness of things and people so that the situation turns out in his favour. He's incredibly adept at this, and his prediction and placement and careful reveals are all manipulation tactics to get his allies and enemies doing exactly what he needs them to. I don't think anyone can contest this since we see it over and over in the series.

But that's not all there is to it. He's not solely manipulative and he does, to some extent, sympathize with others - I think there are several instances of this in the series, but I want to stress that this has been apparent since Chapter 1!

For context, Dazai is recalling what Atsushi said to him a few minutes earlier, but it's very interesting that it should be this specific part of the conversation. He could've flashed back to the part where Atsushi said he had nowhere to go; no money, no food - he is about to trick him into joining, after all, and this is the key piece he uses to basically force Atsushi into the Agency. But instead it's Atsushi's self-deprecation that catches his attention, and it really does, because even during the conversation, he turns to look at him after he says this with an odd expression.

You could say that this makes Atsushi easier to manipulate, if that's your angle, but that can't be solely it, because in the later conversation with Hirotsu, we know Dazai was planning to bring Atsushi into the Agency and set him up as one half of the new Double Black the moment he met him. The panel shown there is the riverbank, set much earlier in the day than this scene. He was already planning to pair him with Akutagawa since he figured out he was the tiger, so what's with this reaction?

Well. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best.

He manipulated Atsushi into joining with the intention of utilizing him in his future plans. He also helped him and gave him a place to belong, and importantly, he likes this kid! It's both.

I think much of it might be that his brain just kinda works way too fast - he's such a natural at crafting these elaborate plots and seeing how things connect and gathering useful people like resources that it's practically automatic - though this is not a great means when you're trying to be a kinder person. There's an omake, I believe, that has him saying "I like using my head for justice", i.e. using these underhanded means to act for the better. Not great, but those are the kind of gifts he has. He's way more suited to exploitation, but is choosing to use these tactics to save people now, which is quite reminiscent of what he tells Kyouka. Kyouka's talents lie in killing people - when what you're good at isn't who you want to be, what do you do? Well, I expect you use what you have, even if it's not ideal.

Now, about the current situation with Sigma - I think he definitely likes him, and is intrigued by him and his situation. We did get a little thought bubble where the guy amusedly compares him to Atsushi, and you can't tell me he doesn't care about Atsushi (listen to the onsen drama cd, or read 55 Minutes if you somehow don't believe me). But also, it's undeniable that Sigma is in a very vulnerable position of being homeless and having had no one be genuinely kind to him before. His trust is very easy to earn, and with the latest chapter, Dazai has now saved his life multiple times. There is, as always, a practical purpose he needs him for. And I have to be somewhat amused because Dazai is quite literally telling Sigma everything he ever wanted and needed to hear. It's a brilliant means of quickly endearing himself to Sigma - but I don't think that's all it is.

Look. The most honest moments we get in this series from Dazai are, interestingly for an expert manipulator, when people are at their most vulnerable. In spite of every pointlessly cruel act he inflicted on Akutagawa, his first meeting with him was open and transparent; much like the orphanage director, it seems he thought this treatment would make him strong and adaptable (he's wrong but that's not the point of this). He cuts Kyouka off in irritation and says "don't give me that" when she implies that she would fail the entrance exam. He tells Atsushi it's normal to cry after losing a father figure and to feel however you feel, even if that person caused you nothing but incredible pain and cannot be forgiven. He refuses to entertain Sigma's assumptions that Dazai sees himself as a superior being to him.

Selective honesty can also be utilized to great effect; Mori does this, and undoubtedly it serves this purpose for Dazai too. But I want to stress that I do sincerely believe this is all still honesty from him. Manipulation, or genuine?

Both. It's both.

[makotonaegiunderstander]

something I’ve been thinking abt is how many people think Makoto is immune to despair. I don’t think he is. I think becoming the ultimate Hope was BECAUSE he felt despair. He wouldn’t have fully reached that point without Junko. Makoto becoming such a beacon was his last attempt to avoid completely falling and it wasn’t because he didn’t feel despair, it was because he was too damn stubborn to allow everything to go to waste and he refused to sacrifice his beliefs for someone else’s. His inner monologue tells me he DID experience the same new low the other suvivors did in the final trial, but at the point where he had the choice to give up and die, he looked at the others and he looked at Junko and he couldn’t allow it to happen, not out of self preservation, but because the idea that Junko would have control over their lives made him FURIOUS. and that utter refusal to die kicked in, wether luck or otherwise, and he made the concious effort for one last push while something in him was breaking. He had to be broken in order for the Ultimate Hope to come through so aggressively, bc it could only exist in the face of the Ultimate Despair. He snapped the same way she did, but in the other direction. In what could have been his final moments he chose to embody everything Junko wasn’t, and every single optimistic and luck fueled ideal in him suddenly charged forward and pushed him. It was a combination of the final straw and a choice. Makoto isn’t immune to feeling despair, he’s just too stubborn to fall into it of his own volition. I think that’s why I like that scene in DR3 so much. People were SO SHOCKED Makoto actually fell for the tape, that he actually became despair for a moment. I saw people getting mad or disappointed, saying it was pathetic and Makoto seemed to fall from some sort of pedestal for them. Honestly part of me wonders if that sort of mentality, which clearly people had in universe, affected Makoto a bit. Like he started to see himself as less of a person, subconsciously. Prompting him to take more risks, less self preservation, act way more bold. It seems he has to be reminded a lot not to put himself in danger by his friends, to not do something too reckless. All over the place I would see in regards to that scene either this frivolous ‘oh this was just angst drama with no meaning behind it’ or ‘he can do better than that. he’s so weak’ or ‘come on, there’s no way he’d fall into despair, he’s the Ultimate Hope!’ This kind of mentality, which was kind of ironic considering Ryota was there the entire time saying the same thing and treating Makoto the same way. Like Makoto was superhuman. Like Makoto didn’t feel despair the same way ‘normal people’ did. In a way that was also how Munakata saw Makoto. Makoto stopped being a PERSON to the world when he became Ultimate Hope, he became a concept, a belief system, much the same way Junko ascended beyond herself. But the difference is that treating Makoto that way is the opposite of the reason Makoto became such a representative for hope. He wasn’t doing something no one else could. He was doing something everyone had the chance to, he just… was a little more optimistic, a little more stubborn, a little more ‘gung-ho’ about things. He just took the lead where no one else did, where no one else knew they even COULD in the face of Junko’s unstoppable force. She had overcome the biggest threats and obstacles in the world, what could one person do? And the answer Makoto found was, anything. Everything. It doesn’t all rest on Makoto, he’s just the one that was inspired to try to do what seemed like the impossible. But as evidenced by the change in his friends after that trial, it’s clearly not something only Makoto is capable of. The others pulled out of despair thanks to Makoto, but it was their choice to do so.

“But… this world is so huge, and we’re so small. What can we do…? No, we can probably do anything. Yeah! We can do anything!”

[twopoppies]

UGH . Did you hear about this ?

harries sexualize find line and saying the - spreading you open - is about sex and overall this song is about sex and calling him fuckboy because sex is the only way for him to know someone (Spreading you open ,Is the only way of knowing you ) THE FINE LINE SONG . THE . FINE . LINE . THE MASTERPIECE . I'm literally gonna throw up they really don't deserve this masterpiece .

https://twitter.com/roxx_rxn/status/1756956831161655588?t=KD-QrHguNrxbgBjgToe32A&s=19

I mean, they’ve been saying that since the album dropped. Those people wouldn’t be caught dead interpreting the song as a song about Harry’s gender (which seems like such an obvious interpretation once you consider it). But, even if you’re unable to see that, it’s such a shame that anyone would look at that magnificent song and reduce it to being about sex.

[niceshorts28]

Fine Line, my lyric analysis

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

the grudge is orion about oliver i feel sick

[wizardnuke]

i think my main issue with writing fiction is truthfully i have an analysis essay brain and don't know how to say things in a manner that isn't insanely clinical but in my defense it also takes a strong heart to explain the whole bertilak+lady bertilak/gawain situation in academia-acceptable terminology. or it was a struggle for me

[greyscale-enthusiast]

ETERNAL SUNSHINE // NAGI’S INSIGHTS

so im not at all a movie watcher type of person but something about my personal vendetta against jim carrey and my obsession with the fucking blorbos from the bl manga blue lock had me watching TWO movies starring this fucker while on acid so of course here’s my regurgitated interpretation

kinda spoilers? idk

i desperately want to go on a longer rant about reo’s favorite movie and how it’s the funniest and most straightforward comparison to how living in a high class environment will have you making everything the most palatable version of yourself for ‘the audience/the creator ’ and other rich people who could be of benefit to you and how breaking the mold in search for what you love leaves you alienated and starting anew in a world that you don’t actually know since everything was so carefully curated for you since birth. and!!! that’s so HIM FR❗️BUTTTT

somehow, nagis movie struck me so weirdly. like, how does a lazy apathetic guy has such intense taste in music and movies?

not spoiling the whole plot even though it’s such an old and popular movie, i can only imagine nagi actually seeing how reo’s ego is very chameleon-like from the moment they met -in the same way reo saw barou being a joker wayy before the u20 game- and getting all cold turkey cause he’s just so honestly himself to his own social detriment and reo is so whatever he needs to be at the moment JUST LIKE boring main character with unresolved childhood trauma and unstable partner trying to feel something. like how the partner curates every aspect of themselves to be seen as vulnerable and asking for intimacy back and thinking the mc is boring and finding themselves stuck with them still. how the mc hopes the other will take them into an adventure and get them out of their boring life they themselves can’t get out of. quite the nagireo dynamic (or how it seems to shape itself to be)

the ending scene got me. i tried so hard to resist the movie but the end got me. it also had me thinking back on the infamous make up scene since it aligns so beautifully

the main character begging for some extra time in the most sensitive of times since one is trying to run away and finally free themselves from the other

followed by the… ‘companion’ valiantly putting half a fight cause they still want to believe the other despite their resolution to be away

and caving in to the other yet again like the huge emotionally complex people that they are <3 (and also obsessive but whatever)

but even though the movie doesn’t really have a sad or happy ending, rather leaves it in a similar kinda limbo as current nagireo, it left me with a renewed level of faith on nagi and a desire to keep my eyes on these two! they are so weird separated and together it’s like they were meant to keep each other in orbit but never really settle like my kings bachisagi 😤 the only healthy pair in bllk

to see nagi have such deep emotional tendencies has me OTL

tldr watching both reo and nagis favorite movies as per the egoist bible has left me with an even stronger almost herculean desire to see nagi break himself down to build himself back up stronger after reo threatens to leave for good cause they’re both killing each others potentials <3 but they should still go through and out their springtime of youth together <3

[hillerskaroyals]

decided to switch things up and rewatch the first 4 min of season 1 and the tone is so different but also quite similar?

the first 4 min are the fight at the club and the beginning of wille's speech saying he's going to hillerska. it sets the tone that he's going to be this bratty privileged kid who's used to everything going his way and throws a fit when his parents tell him no but it also sets the tone that he's going to be alone.

whereas season 2 opens on him totally broken. the only 'happiness' wille experiences is a dream and once he's awake he walks through the palace like a ghost. he doesn't talk to or look at anyone. he physically shuts kristina out when he closes the door on her and although we see his responses to august we don't actually see him send them. he doesn't acknowledge anyone.

both seasons start with wille alone but the difference is this time he's also lonely. in s1 when he got sent to hillerska he was alone but he wasn't lonely because he could still text or call erik if he wanted to talk (like on parent's day and before rowing practice) but this time? he's lost his brother and has both loved and lost simon. he has no one. we know at some point he talks with felice but at this point in time he is well and truly on his own.

the opening of s1 was purposefully misleading because we had to meet the characters and get to know them to understand their motives. but by the second episode wille was already friends with simon and still had erik. but this season? all bets are off. we know how things were left. even though wille and simon didn't end on bad terms they still ended. ngl i was originally skeptical when all the actors kept saying s2 was darker because s1 was plenty dark. but after that opening. after feeling the hopelessness and grief wille's experiencing? i fear we've only begun to scratch the surface of how far wille is willing to go now that he has nothing to lose.

[whoreforlarrystuff]

First of all your content makes my day! Is there any song analysis for Fine Line? I’m a new fan and I don’t know any other fans. I’d love to hear anyone’s take on this song.

Hi love! I’m not sure I have any I can recommend on the top of my head! I know there’s lots out there. I wish I could help more! If anyone has one they’d recommend, please share!

[bonefall]

How do you feel about the fox Hollyleaf adopted and then had to abandon bc something something "ohhh its inherently evil and will kill you in ur sleep" Hollyleaf shouldve raised the thing and sent it to rip anyone she hated to shreds.

I think the fox was supposed to be a lesson for Hollyleaf. To realize the pain of loving something so small and helpless, only for it to grow into something that wants you dead. Like that says something about how Leafpool loved her or whatever but then she told her to kill herself like a bad daughter.

Idk I hate Hollyleaf's Story, I think it's a terrible book. I think it utterly fails to address anything about Holly's ACTUAL arc, which is how her dogged loyalty to the code couldn't reconcile with her existence breaking it.

In a better series, I think Hollyleaf would have had a reckoning with the fact the Code isn't perfect and it's not evil, either. A code of laws is as flawed as the people who create it, and it's why it must be open to being changed.

But no instead we get a story about a character who's dedicated to the code losing her shit over the code not being perfect, getting a comphet ghost boyfriend who teaches her nothing, a struggle with a fox that teaches her that it sucks when your kids don't love you or something, and nonsensically concluding that the code's perfect after all.

As for the idea of Holly raising a fox... ehhh. I think Warriors made a REALLY bad implication when they started saying that the other animals are equally capable of complex thought and language as cats are. The badger attack in TNP, for example. Now badgers aren't just like... the WC equivalent of bears, now they're "Barbaric Hordes" who need to be chased out of THEIR homeland so the Better Race can take their shit. It's MEGA uncomfortable.

WC is a profoundly xenophobic series and it's one of the things I really want to fix.

Holly raising that fox (If it HAD to stay) should have been on the same level as a human raising a tiger cub. Bad for BOTH the cub and for the human as the tiger is unable to act on its natural instincts and the human is in serious danger. But I'm not planning to keep the fox cub.

I am open to the idea of foxes being scary intelligent by WC fauna standards, though. They can play tricks in a way that no badger or dog ever could. But never capable of language.

[lets-talk-spirituality]

Have you done a song analysis for golden? I notice you mentioned it in sunflower vol 6 and she’s analysis

Weirdly enough I tried to post this before I posted Something Great. Idk why it didn’t post but find that to be odd. But yes! This is the last of the ones I have typed out from Fine Line.

⚡️💕✨⚡️💕✨⚡️💕✨⚡️💕✨⚡️💕✨⚡️💕

GOLDEN (soulmate song… I know everyone thinks this is about Camille but it doesn’t make sense to be Camille and I’m going to explain why)

Golden, golden, golden as I open my eyes

Opening his eyes— awakening, awakening to what, exactly? Opening his eyes implies they were closed before. Closed to what? Was he sleeping, dreaming is a theme in this album, note that golden is before his eyes are open and as they are opening.

Hold it, focus, hoping, take me back to the light

He wants to hold onto golden, he’s focusing on it so he doesn’t lose whatever was happening before he opened his eyes; hoping, hoping for what? Hoping if he focuses he can hold onto it?; take me back to the light, take him back to golden before he opened his eyes, see normally when you close your eyes it’s dark so it wouldn’t make sense to go back to the light by closing eyes, take me back implies he’s not in the light right now

I know you were way too bright for me

He presently knows that golden was too bright for him but were implies past tense, they were too bright but not anymore? (Maybe because he’s stepped into the light?) So he wants to go back to the light even if it’s too bright and hurts.

I'm hopeless, broken, so you wait for me in the sky

This person was too bright because he’s hopeless and broken, which is interesting because earlier he says he’s hoping but now he has no hope? You wait for me in the sky, this implies she is above him, higher than him, not of this earth. Waiting for him to not be broken or hopeless, he knows they are waiting for him, can he see them in the sky or is too bright to see? So implies they know this about him, in response to his stuff they wait for him.

Brown(s) my skin just right

Brown my skin like the sun, implying the brightness changes him, maybe burns him, but it’s what he needs, it’s just right, not too much, they are the sun in the sky. Golden browns the skin.

You're so golden

Golden like the sun, but golden means high degree of excellence as well

I'm out of my head, and I know that you're scared

Out of his head? This idiom means crazy or not thinking clearly. He feels insane. He knows that his person is scared of him being crazy? Crazy in love? Maybe that’s why he knows now they aren’t too bright now, they’re scared, not infallible

Because hearts get broken

Here’s the answer, they are scared because hearts get broken, so this person is afraid of love, is he talking to himself about being scared? No, it seems you and I are different subjects.

I don't wanna be alone

How is he alone? Because she’s back in the sky waiting and he’s here on earth being broken and hopeless? He doesn’t like being alone (theme in his life as a whole)

I don't wanna be alone when it ends

When it ends? When what ends? When golden goes back to the sky, when he opens his eyes and golden is gone and his light is gone? When implies there is no other option, he knows there is an end, it’s not if. Has this happened before? Is that why he wants to go back to the light and is so sure it will end?

Don't wanna let you know

What doesn’t he want to let them know? Who? Golden? He doesn’t want to let them know he knows it will end?

I don't wanna be alone

He doesn’t want to be alone but is this what he doesn’t want golden to know? Why? I think this is repetition but not necessarily what he doesn’t want golden to know. He’s repeating it to make it clear his main fear is being alone and that drives his actions.

But I can feel you take a hold (I can feel you take a hold)

He can feel them take a hold of what? He doesn’t want to be alone, he’s afraid to be alone, but he can’t help what is happening and the power of golden taking over him, even though he knows it will end.

I can feel you take control (I can feel you take control)

You, golden takes control of what? He feels it, tapped into emotion, senses

Of who I am, and all I've ever known

Oh who he is and everything he has ever known? His entire perspective is changed by golden. Golden controls who he is, has taken a hold of who he is, completely changing how he thinks things are. Why I think this is a soulmate because this harks back to IICF (I can feel your heart inside of mine, he knows they are one), golden can take him over because they are one like take over his persona, completely who he is and his entire life, this implies deep trust and lack of control (another theme). It’s hard to explain what I mean, but for people who have connected with a spiritual connection it feels like they are always with you, like they become a part of you almost, like they live with you, like their energy surrounds you.

Lovin' you's the antidote, Golden

Golden is what he calls this person; antidote to what? Being out of his head? Antidote to being taken over, this line seems to almost be surrender, surrendering to being insane and loving golden, he’s given up trying to protect himself and is allowing himself to go all in

I know that you’re scared because I’m so open

He’s open? Open how? I think this relates to his life being open because of his fame. Open can also mean being honest and not wanting to hide, but we know through other songs he struggles with communication, that’s why I think he means open like in the public eye. He knows this person is afraid because he’s famous.

Note: During concerts he adds lyrics that change before this last line, a lot of it changes slightly but usually directly says

“Hoping one day you’re open” “Hoping I’m open”

What does this mean when he says he’s open? How can he hope to be open and be open? Open about two different things? Who does he hope is open? Soulmate? Open instead of closed, hidden? Open to him regardless? He’s hoping he’s open? Open about this connection? Open about the meaning? Open about what? This is one of those lines that doesn’t really have a clear explanation. I take it as he hopes one day he can be more open emotionally and hopes that one day soulmate/golden will be open to him (IICF, I hope you don’t run from me).

Overall I read this as he and golden connect when he dreams and when he wakes back up to reality he’s left with the truth (funny I wrote all this down in September 2021, before LNT, which is exactly this theme) he’s broken, he’s alone, but that’s okay because golden is always with him, above him like the sun, browning his skin, taking him over, and all he can do is love them even if he feels crazy. I also believe they are in dreams because they must talk for him to know she’s afraid to get her heart broken and afraid of his fame or he fears this what may keep him and his person apart.

[indiaalphawhiskey]

She vs. Daydreaming: a familiar soundtrack, played in ‘reverse’

We’d all been following the You Are Home twitter, trying to figure out what the patterns of the tweets were, and ever since we got the leaked album, it became pretty clear that less than a handful were actual lyrics.

The tweet that struck me the most was “a familiar soundtrack, played in reverse” because the theme of reversal is pretty strong with Harry in general (Sunflower, vol. 6; Boyfriends), but especially because of the Harry’s House trailer, which is scored to Love of My Life in reverse.

Now, the tweet was obviously referencing that, right? Right.

But what if it was also referencing something else?

Is ‘Daydreaming’ actually ‘She’ written from a reversed perspective? (More under the cut.)

The reason this niggled at me is because we already know Harry writes with patterns and very specific vocabulary (I’ve truly never heard the word ‘antidote’ and allusions to ‘kitchens’ so many times in my life).

Personally, I had a hard time connecting to Daydream on Harry’s House — it was one of those songs (to me) that seemed to whiz past my ear, until I realized the lyrics sounded rather familiar.

‘Daydream’ is a pretty poignant word in the chorus of She, and because Harry’s brain works the way that it does… well…

reverse (verb)

1. To move backwards

2. Make (something) the opposite of what it was

reverse (noun)

1. A complete change of direction or action.

2. The opposite to that previously stated

If we take reversal to mean ‘opposite’ instead of ‘backwards’, then the similarities between She and Daydreaming become pretty stark, based on the overall story:

In She, the protagonist is ‘the man’ who’s thinking of ‘you’ and doesn’t know what to do. He talk of fleeing and sailing away because he wouldn’t know what to say about the ‘she’ in his life, who is living only in daydreams with ‘me’ (the man). The only way he can reconcile these two parts is by living for the memory that’s in his head, while he plays pretend in his reality. There’s a clear melancholy, a forlornness, and lamentation to the song - the protagonist is being pulled apart by two halves of (him)self, and it ends in a feeling of confusion and loss (“I don’t know where she is”).

In Daydreaming, the setting shifts: the characters are housed safely within the daydream (hence, Daydreaming, present tense), and so the protagonist becomes She. (Lyrics of Daydreaming in bold, lyrics of She in pink, interpretation in italics)

Living in a daydream

She said, ''Love me like you paid me''

— that piece of dialogue is interesting, because while it can insinuate something sexual, I tend to read it as inside the daydream, She is loved like She is worthy and not to be taken for granted (since you pay for things of worth and would tend to think twice about wasting something you paid for)

You know, I'll be gone for so long

So give me all of your love, give me something to dream about

— this line is similar to the story and the imagery of the line: ‘A woman who's just in his head / And she sleeps in his bed / While he plays pretend’; this alludes to She being forced into leaving/being separated from ‘him’

Stay until the morning

Cause, baby, loving you’s the real thing

It just feels right

When you give me all of your love, give me something to dream about

— this is a reversal in tone of the lyrics: She / She lives in daydreams with me / She's the first one that I see / And I don't know why / I don't know who she is; She is being recognized, She is being asked to stay, She is loved, She feels right

Living in a daydream

Living in a daydream

Living in a daydream

Give me all of your love, give me something to dream about

Give me all of your love, give me something to dream about

Give me all of your love, give me something to dream about

— essentially, while they’re safe in the daydream, She is asking to be loved enough that when She and he are separated, there’s something to hold onto.

TL;DR: I think Daydreaming is She but rewritten from the opposite: (i) setting (within the daydream instead of from the POV Harry’s reality) and (ii) tone (one song is written in a tone of careful, almost wary discovery of a feminine self, the other is written with the tone of ease, comfort, and confidence, coaxing love and acceptance of that feminine self.)

[twopoppies]

toxic anon here🙋‍♀️ Fine Line, Boyfriends, To Be So Lonely and Written all over your face just sound toxic to me idk :(

Hi sugar. IMO Fine Line is absolutely not about their relationship. I don’t read it that way at all. To me, that song is Harry’s struggle and coming to terms with with his gender identity. And it’s such a positive song in the end, anyway.

Boyfriends I, personally, think is Harry looking at his own behavior and calling himself out in an attempt to do better (and, probably, just talking about boyfriends, in general). But I don’t think it’s a 100% accurate reading of Harry’s behavior—more like a castigation and an exaggeration for storytelling purposes.

TBSL, was likely written as a stunt song since it’s placed alongside Falling and Cherry on an album that we’re meant to think is about Camille Rowe. Again, I think it’s about Harry (because I think he tends to write more about himself and his view of life/the world etc, than anything else) and because there’s a stunt narrative to fulfill, I’d be more likely to imagine it’s a song about a disagreement/time apart from Louis and is, again, calling himself out for his perceived flaws (jealous, arrogant, drunk calling, petty, needy etc). I think it’s actually really healthy that he’s aware of his tendencies, even if I do think he’s rather hard on himself. If you look at Louis’ songs in relation to Harry’s, you’ll see that Louis tends to blame himself, as well.

And I answered about WAOYF in another ask, but I read the lyrics as being about fighting with your partner, as one tends to do in a long term relationship, and storytelling in a way that makes it more interesting.

My take away from their songs is that they both have their shortcomings when it comes to healthy communication (as many people do), but their relationship is important to them and looking at your own behavior only helps you change.

If all of their music was about fighting, I’d say you might be right. But we also have so many songs where they express working on their relationship and loving each other deeply. I guess I just see it as partners learning to have healthy communication as opposed to toxic.

In reference to this

[niceshorts28]

She, my lyric analysis