#record of the year (AIW)

[voxina]

Hi! Did Harry write LOML and As It Was at Rob Stringer’s house?

Because I remember he mentioned in the same interview he wrote AIW at Strjnger house, and LOML at one his friends house. But I think at one show, he thanked Rob for letting him use his house to write both songs.

Hi nonnie!

It would really seem so based on what we know so far.

So, during the interview he did with Zane Lowe & Apple Music on 16 May 2022, Harry explained why he used a friend's house to record rather than a studio. He said:

“I’ve spent a lot of time there. I knew it was really peaceful and I wanted to be away from everything and be able to go outside. I’ve always enjoyed doing that. I don’t love distractions.”

It was later confirmed that this friend was Rob Stringer, chairman of Sony Music Group and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment. And we know this because it's Harry himself who said this when introducing “Love of my Life” at One Night Only NY on 20 May 2022.

"[Rob Stringer] also lent me his house to make this album. He continues to be incredibly generous to me; allows me to make what I wanna make. The next song was written in his house, the ringtone in the background is his."

And then again, on 11 February 2023, when he accepted his award for Song of the Year at the BRITs, Harry said:

“Hello! This album and this song was the most fun I ever had making music. I wanna thank Rob Stringer for lending me his house to record this in, write this in. I wanna thank Tom and Tyler, and everyone, all my friends who supported me. [To Tom] Do you wanna speak? [Tom declines] Okay. Thank you to everyone who listened and…Thank you Lewis[Capaldi].”

However, it was Kid Harpoon, interviewed for Consequence on 5 October 2022, who confirmed that As It Was was also recorded at Rob Stringer's house:

“What’s funny about that song is it was just one of a few songs written that day. It’s funny because some of these get written in such a quick window that you don’t know what they’re going to be at the time. That was just song two or three that day, and now it’s “As It Was,” with this whole other meaning. It’s become such a big song this year, and it’s definitely not what any of us thought it was going to be, which almost makes it more special. We recorded the song at [Sony Music Entertainment CEO] Rob Stringer’s house in England. We moved all the furniture out and put a drum kit in the TV room. “As It Was” was done in that setup. Harry came in with a riff idea, and we ran with it. It’s a funny one because it happened so quickly that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to recreate that magic again — it was just so good.”

[redgoldblue]

rules: shuffle your repeat playlist and post the first ten tracks, then tag ten ppl

tagged by: @luredin

Everybody Lost Somebody • Bleachers (which I swear I've barely listened to in the last month but it's somehow stayed on there)

Hits Different • Taylor Swift

Love You For A Long Time • Maggie Rogers (....i've been writing state of disrepair. i don't think this has moved off my On Repeat all year)

Loving You • Paolo Nutini (i also swear I've barely listened to lately? spotify what's good my man)

You Keep Me Dancing • Samantha Sang (S/H Disco Vibes Only)

Surrender My Heart • Carly Rae Jepsen (I scored a $40 The Loneliest Time vinyl from the record shop down the street the other day. in the last ten minutes before they closed but the guy looked at my two vinyls and went "Dusty, I love Dusty. oh and Carly! Two queens.")

Cleaning Windows • Van Morrison

Bummin' Cigarettes • Maren Morris

Sparks Fly (Taylor's Version) • Taylor Swift

I Can See You • Taylor Swift (i'd like to know why i have yet to see even one Buddie edit with this song. just putting it out there)

tagging: ykw i'm gonna follow Adrienne and tag the last ten people in my notifs. if you want to obvs. @spclnds @mrsluellabateswashingtonjones @hardcandyfilmclub @nola-aiwe @osccrisaac @smooth-mccrimmonal @gothwizardmagic @anyonecanplay @goldenaltar @codenamecondor

[nightmare-foundation]

I don't think you know what a script is. unless you're 13 or younger no I'm sorry, you don't have a script of a game from 2007 and even if you were there's no way it'd be done successfully. introjecting is not a script, I don't doubt you could have introjected a lot, but that's not what a script is. these words mean things. scripts are a program driven into young children that take time to make and figure out how to implement. they're not just "Oh I have an iw and fictives based of x". the most common is aiw for a reason, it's been around A LONG time (1865). that's a long time for multiple groups to make their version and implement it.

Anon, I don't know how to tell you this nicely- quit invalidating TBMC survivors experiences. You don't know me, and I don't know you.

Also, I know what a script is. Considering we were literally tortured and programmed, you'd think I know about programming.

For the record, halo came out in 2001. That's more than enough time to create a script between then and 2012, when we were programmed. Halo is currently 22 years old! Not only that, but it's EXTREMELY popular. That's more than enough time to brainstorm and create a script! It was our main interest and started when we were 4. It'd be VERY easy to hide programming that way.

Also, i don't even know everything about our system, and the stuff I've shared is barely the tip of the iceberg. You don't know our experiences, so you can't say we don't have x thing. Not to mention halo is something that's actually PERFECT for scripting.

I suggest not trying to police survivors experiences. It only makes you look like an asshole.

[bisluthq]

Harry was putting voice notes on albums since HS1 ?

Only Angel starts with a voice note from the movie Barfly. Woman starts with one of his producers saying “should we just search romantic comedies on Netflix and see what we find?”

He also included a voice note on his third album, on AIW. And he explained that the Cherry voice note happened because he was recording himself while playing guitar with his girlfriend and she answered the phone. When he was reviewing his voice notes for the album, he found that one, and noticed her voice was in the same key as the song, so because of the theme of the song he chose to include it.

Adding voice notes to songs is a really old practice. Harry is not the first to do it, but he did it years before Taylor.

ya but my bigger point is harry was seriously seriously not the first person either. it's a pretty like... common thing in like the classic rockish era.

[1864-66readingproject]

This is a sideblog for my own sort of personal reading project for the next couple of years. Based on the Reading Like a Victorian website, I have picked six/seven books published serially during 1864-1866 and will 'follow along' throughout 2024-2026, probably also reading some of the other publications from those years in their correct 'serial moment.'

See below the cut for the works I'll be reading and how I'll be tagging, etc.

Why 1864-66?

It lines up with my more general reading goals (at some point in 2024 I hope to move from a focus on literature from 1837-1859 to a focus on literature from 1860-1879)

It's the two-year period on RLV with the most novels I haven't already read (which have librivox recordings available - I have a chronic illness and have to spend a lot of my non-working time lying down, so the vast majority of my 'reading' is in audio form.)

The books I'll be reading serially are:

Luttrell of Arran by Charles Lever in 15 monthly parts, Dec 1863 to Feb 1865 (I didn't decide I was going to include this one in time to begin in Dec 2023, so read 2 parts in Jan 2024, and will otherwise follow schedule until Feb 2025) [This one is the only one not on librivox - I'm using a text-to-speech app instead]

The Doctor's Wife by Mary Elizabeth Braddon in 12 monthly parts, Jan to Dec 1864 (Jan to Dec 2024)

Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens in 19 monthly parts (the last month having approx twice the normal number of chapters, as a sort of double-installment), May 1864 to Nov 1865 (May 2024 to Nov 2025)

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell in 18 monthly parts, Aug 1864 to Jan 1866 (Aug 2024 to Jan 2026)

Armadale by Wilkie Collins in 20 monthly parts, Nov 1864 to May 1866 (Nov 2024 to May 2026)

The Belton Estate by Anthony Trollope in 16 twice-monthly parts, May 1865 to Jan 1866 (May 2025 to Jan 2026)

Cradock Nowell: A Tale of the New Forest by R.D. Blackmore in 16 monthly parts, May 1865 to Aug 1866 (May 2025 to Aug 2026

The 'other' works from 1864 to 1866 I hope to read at the corresponding 'serial moment' are:

Henry Dunbar, the Story of an Outcast by Mary Elizabeth Braddon, published as a 3 volume novel in May 1864 following previous serialisation (May 2024)

Brother Jacob by George Eliot, a short story published in a magazine in July 1864 (July 2024)

Enoch Arden by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, a (narrative?) poem published November 1864 (Nov 2024)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, children's story published in one volume Nov 1865 (Nov 2025)

Felix Holt, the Radical by George Eliot, a three-volume novel published in August 1866 (Aug 2026)

I'll also be 'binge' reading other works (mainly Victorian, initially focusing on the period 1837-1859, then moving on to the 1860s, then on to the 1870s), so I'm not going to be *strictly* staying in the 'serial moment'... but it will be an interesting project for me nonetheless.

Tagging:

The reason I'm doing this on a sideblog rather than my main is that I want to post fairly unfiltered thoughts, and not to spend much time dithering over a post; therefore please be aware that this blog is highly likely to post untagged spoilers for the works, and probably untagged triggers.

For the most part, I will also not be using the standard tags for the works, as I don't want to clog up the main tags. I'll be using alternative tags like so:

#LoA (Luttrell of Arran)

#TDW (The Doctor's Wife)

#OMF (Our Mutual Friend)

#W&D (Wives and Daughters)

#Arma (Armadale)

#TBE (The Belton Estate)

#CN (Cradock Nowell)

#HD (Henry Dunbar)

#EA (Enoch Arden)

#AiW (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)

#FH (Felix Holt)

I may also tag with the month & year (e.g. #Jan 1864) and serialised part (e.g. #part 1). When I tag characters, I think I will generally do first name & work initials (e.g. for Bella Wilfer from Our Mutual Friend: #bella OMF) unless I want the post to go in the main tag for that character.

Things I hope to pay particular attention to:

Serialisation: serialised parts, how the part-breaks are utilised (or not), how characters who have been out of the narrative for a few months are recalled to mind (or not), etc

The characters of Cynthia Kirkpatrick (Wives and Daughters) and Bella Wilfer (Our Mutual Friend)... W&D and OMF are the only two books of the above that I've read before, and I don't think it would really have occurred to me to compare them as they are so different in setting and tone, but actually - once I began thinking about it - I realised that both of them explore, in different ways, the psychological effect of financial insecurity on lower-middle class young women, and how that affects their approach to life and the choices they make and so on, so l think that will be an interesting thing to consider as I read. I will also consider if characters in any of the other works also explore similar ideas.

Social class as it relates to romantic storylines (again, I think there are some possible parallels to be drawn between W&D and OMF at least)

Class more generally, and all the different things that contribute to class and perceived class (wealth, posessions, income, occupation, education, birth & family, company & connections, 'manner', 'respectability', etc)

Women and reputation

Women in sensation plots...

Sensation plots more generally... In particular, I want to see if I can figure out why I've never seen anyone categorise OMF as a Sensation novel, despite it being from the right time period and including a lot of the hallmarks of the Sensation genre, including questions of identity, deception, crime, scheming, moral dilemmas, etc. I'm hoping that reading it alongside a few Sensation novels (Cradock Nowell is apparently a sensation novel, as are Armadale and both Braddon novels) and a few novels from authors associated with non-sensation literature (Gaskell, Trollope and Eliot), will help me figure out what I'm missing... [Actually, between writing the above and posting, I found this from the review of OMF by E.S. Dallas, published in The Times 29 Nov 1865: "The story, of course, we are not going to tell. It is very ingenious, and the plot is put together with an elaboration which we scarcely expect to find in a novel published in parts. All we shall say of it is, that those readers who pant for what is called "sensation" may feast in it to their heart's content on sensation; and that those who care more for quiet pictures and studies of character will also find that the author has provided for them. Mr. Dickens's range is wide, [...]"]]

Crime and morality

Violence

The role of the urban and the rural

Wives and Daughters contains a woman who becomes the wife of a doctor, and based on the title, I rather assume The Doctor's Wife does too... this could be a very shallow parallel but I guess I'll find out!

The last installment of W&D... I'm wondering if (by that time) being used to the 'rhythm' of the novel's serial publication will shed any sort of light on how things might have played out, beyond what is explicitly given...

Possible queer readings, esp of Our Mutual Friend

Other things worth mentioning:

The illustration used in my header and icon is by Marcus Stone, for the original serialisation of Our Mutual Friend.

I will also be attempting to do some relevant academic reading around some of the themes, etc, but 1) I want to avoid spoilers for the works I haven't already read, and 2) I don't have a lot of time/energy due to being both chronically ill and employed, so I don't know how successful I'll be at that.

[awesomefringey]

Well I guess BBC isn't only shit to Louis but Harry too now

https://twitter.com/dancashio/status/1597365506373464064?t=wqU4xd8FfDocph19bIweAQ&s=19

That's very odd...

[larrylimericks]

15Nov22

Grammy noms — Harry got a sextet! (With three from the main Big Four set!) We hope that the mantle In his House can handle One or two or six more statuettes.

[whereimfeminine]

awwwww lizzooooo

[twopoppies]

Hi Gina, I work (not very high up) for a record company, in PR. I just had a tidbit to share. A team I work with (far bigger branch than my own) recently had a meeting I was invited to attend. During that meeting, a big point of contention was the current need/desire to cater to tiktok during a soft launch process. This is nothing new, it’s been the general consensus for ages now that that platform has drastically shifted the process of our business, marketing, and production efforts. What was being argued was whether or not we should use a particular artist and plant their songs in new trends, to make it seem organic, or pay content creators to use them.

This is not overly interesting, but the reason I’m telling you is because someone far higher up than myself actually brought up Harry in our meeting. She said that, had Watermelon Sugar not been a tiktok trend to the degree it was, she wasn’t sure that it would have won the Grammy. And in fact, the industry was vying for The Weeknd to win that year, with having him at the Super Bowl halftime show. But WS took off outside of their control, and she mentioned that As It Was is on the same trajectory through socials. I just thought it was interesting, as they were implying that H’s team creates the trends that allow him to sort of guerilla market through tiktok, IG, etc, and that it was barely a day after AIW was released that it was the new song for every clip. It was implied that they are paying people to use it, which is a good strategy.

H is not usually a discussion on my team (very different corners of the market). Everyone had a lot of positive things to say about him, I however was deeply uncomfortable because I happen to know the name of his childhood pet, his best friends, and his husband’s preferred tea brand and didn’t want to expose myself, lol. Just thought you might find this interesting!

Hi sugar. I swear Tumblr hides anons from me and then they show up later. I'm sorry I didn't see this until just now.

So, I think this stuff is super interesting and yeah, I'd agree about WS. It's definitely not the best song on that album, but it had a life of its own. They may very well be paying people to use AIW. I agree it's a good strategy. I mean, even using Brittany Broski to host the preshow for the NY ONO was a very strategic move.

What's so interesting to me about this stuff is that Irving is notoriously old school. In fact, there was so much complaining about him refusing to use social media to Harry's advantage during HS1. But they definitely shifted tactics for Fine Line and seem to be doing even more for Harry's House.

I'm also very curious about the comment that the "industry was vying for The Weeknd" because he went on to be nominated for exactly zero Grammys. So that's super confusing to me.

And I'm chuckling over you trying not to expose yourself. HAHAHA! Thank you for sharing all of this.

[skepticalarrie]

MAJOR cop out from the recording academy. They clearly couldn’t choose who to give song of the year to and chose the least successful song 🫠

Absolutely no shade to the people winning I'm sure the lady that won Song of the Year is absolutely lovely although I've never heard her song before, and Lizzo is amazing, I love her.... but these awards belonged to AIW. This is fucked up

[pop-punklouis]

hopeeee what are your predictions tonight for the top grammy wins? do you think harry will win one or more?

hi!!

hmm i think beyoncé will take album of the year (deserved imo)

adele will take best pop vocal album (harry’s house has a big chance of being an upset to that but idk the grammys love adele and 30 feels like it fits best here)

harry will take song or record of the year— it’s a toss up for me with record/song of the year i think it’s between adele + harry but i do think they’ll both win at least one of these. i could potentially see harry taking both here for AIW too but we’ll see (but steve lacey could def sneak in here as well)

best new artist belongs to maneskin but i do think anitta might swoop in and get it instead which i wouldn’t be mad about either winning

best rap album is kendrick’s all day long

and best traditional pop album is a tossup between diana ross and michael bublé

[septembersghost]

I was really sure that taylor was gonna win SOTY for ATW10 but now I don't think so😔Harry is literally everywhere. AIW was the most streamed song AND one of the biggest radio hits. The sound is retro rock and lyrics are somewhat meaningful instead of filler.It was critically acclaimed and commercially successful and broke a lot of records. Now I really think he's gonna grab both SOTY and ROTY. It was even in charts until recently. What do you think?

if taylor, an artist who, above all things, is renowned for her songwriting, and has never won the songwriting grammy award (a fact that is objectively nuts!), doesn't win SOTY for a ten minute version of the most widely acclaimed song in her entire, very expansive, catalog...i will have no words. it'll make the academy look like a joke tbh. i think it has added appeal because it's such a magical journey of a story, following red from its initial release and the reaction to it transforming over time, knowing she sang atw on the grammys all those years ago because *we* wanted her to, the lives the song has had, the mystique of the ten minute version finally coming to fruition. plus, it is genuinely gorgeously written and performed, and did add real substance and new facets to the original work, that in turn opened up the rest of the album. it should win and i'll be shocked (and very sad tbh) if it doesn't.

one key thing is, the grammys have been a bit better about spreading the wins around in the last couple of years. so i don't think they'll focus on only one artist or vote for a sweep.

as it was undeniably is the biggest hit of the year (definitely the song of the summer and a defining piece of 2022), it was #1 for fifteen weeks, it's currently the fourth longest running number one in the hot 100 charts' history. it would still be in the top ten right now were it not for christmas music, it's had real longevity. i think harry has a great chance at winning ROTY and best pop vocal for the album. i think they'll recognize the strength of its sound (it's interesting because i don't even think aiw is the standout of the album, but it's a perfect single. retro edge, sparkling synths, sounds upbeat but the lyrics are lonely and vulnerable, personal yet spoke to a vast audience's different experiences, the tubular bells, that now iconic bridge!) and why it's been such a success. (the bizarre foaming at the mouth hatred people have for him and for taylor is laughable at this point.) harry's a good songwriter and he keeps growing in new ways! we love to see it! but if you put aiw and atw toe-to-toe just on the merit of the songwriting alone, there's no way all too well doesn't come out on top unless they deliberately ignore it, which i really don't believe they will now. it broke a #1 record of its own, which was special to see, but ultimately everything rests on the strength of the song itself, and the song is a jewel.

[lordendsavior]

Ben Winston said on a podcast he suggested H play a diff song at the Grammys but H doubled down and said no bc AIW is the hit 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 I can’t believe we’re coming up on a year of AIW and it’s still so fresh and FUN

as much as i absolutely adore AIW and can never get enought of it, i am mildly excited about the performance, because so far i haven't got from him a live version of that song that would even come close to how great the recorded version sounds, so i'm really hoping for some kind of spin on it

[wellthatwasaletdown]

He stands a chance at song of the year as AIW has done numbers and the critics seem to genuinely like the song and how it was mastered together. Can’t say he will win others though, the competition is too big with adel and Beyoncé however those albums were not as well received as their previous ones but like you said, the Grammys isn’t about popularity to an extent. //

Song of the year is for songwriting, so as it was won't be winning that. It'll probably go to Adele Or Taylor. He'll getting an award for Record of the year. They see charts and production stuff.

.

[teaforten]

Oh hey idk how active this is but I have heard that Adventures in Wonderland got put on Disney+ so if you want some quality gifs, you might want to check there. No sign of the lost episode though.

Hey there,

AIW has been on Disney+ since April of last year, so yes, I'm aware, but if you would like some quality gifs, check my "gif" or "gifset" tags because I have been using the Disney+ episodes ever since then. The problem is that Disney themselves do not have all HD quality episodes, and in the streaming/recording process, some additional quality is lost. So what you see of my gifs is as good as I could get it using my gif-making software. I apologize if it's still a bit below par for you. 

About the "lost episode". One of the cast members has explained this before: the OJ drama was in full swing before they could even edit the footage, so although there was footage and photos taken for that story, there isn't an "episode" that was pulled from the air or remained unaired. But hey, that's probably for the best -- the picture book that came out was disturbing enough.

[narrie]

kid harpoon and tyler johnson both giving interviews about harry’s songwriting - guess the campaign for the grammy’s has begun lol

he'll def get song or record of the year for aiw, fucked up if the album wins anything tho