Photo: YouTube
*SCREAMING!*
By Liza Walter — Written on Apr 07, 2017
Harry Styles fans—REJOICE!
If you've been biting your fingernails in anticipation over the release of Harry Styles' (of One Direction fame) new song, 'Sign of the Times,' well, get your nail polish out because it's finally here and we are LOVING it!
When I first found we'd be getting a new Harry Styles song last week, I literally put in a new calendar alert on my phone.
4. Harry Styles announced the release of 'Sign of the Times' 30 years to the day Prince released his album with the same name.
Coincidence? Maybe not.
On the 30th anniversary of Prince's album, Sign of the Times, Harry announces the release of a song with the same name? Come on!
Prince is very well known for gender fluidity, not that it matters. But perhaps this was a nod to someone Harry looked up to? Maybe it's another piece of the Harry Styles "Is he or isn't he?" puzzle?
Only time will tell.
5. Some of the lyrics from "Sign of the Times" point to gay themes.
The song starts off with a beautiful verse:
"Just stop your crying, it's a sign of the times
Welcome to the final show
Hope you're wearing your best clothes
You can't bribe the door on your way to the sky
You look pretty good down here
But you ain't really good"
Think of how an LGBTQ person might feel about what happens to them after they die. "Wearing your best clothes" might symbolize the saying "your Sunday best" which references church and religion. Most religions feel like gay people do not go to heaven, as they see the lifestyle choice as a sin. Perhaps not being able to bribe "your way to the door on your way to the sky" heartbreakingly outlines that struggle. The "you ain't really good" lyric might reference religious views on LGBTQ people. Is Harry gay and struggling with this? Or is he singing to the LGBTQ community he openly supports?
Either way these lyrics feel as though Harry is speaking of a gay person and what it might feel like to be told you can't go to Heaven.
Next, we hear him sing about running from the bullets, which brought back painful images of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando on June 12, 2016? We know the terrorist act which killed 49 people and wounded 53 affected Harry Styles and the entire LGBT community in a huge way. The victims were targeted for being gay.
"If we never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets? The bullets
We never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets? The bullets"
The talk of bullets and running from them evokes the same images seen right after the horrific event. Here, Harry uses the word "we" when asking "why are we always stuck and running from the bullets?" So if the interpretation is correct, is Harry Styles gay? And counting himself as one of the members of teh LGBT community who face harassment, discrimination and violence just because of who they love?
6. The "Larry Stylinson" rumors of a relationship between Harry Styles and fellow One Direction band member Louis Tomlinson have been around forever.
Is this video definitive proof that Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson are in a relationship? Absolutely not.
It is perfectly normal and acceptable for two men to have a close relationship without it being sexual, Maybe it's just a bromance.
But between the thousands (and I mean THOUSANDS!) of fan fiction and Tumblr blogs dedicated to Larry Stylinson and the rumors, it seems like some would actually prefer that Harry (or Louis) come out and admit their sexual orientation.
For the record, it honestly doesn't matter.
Harry Styles is an uber talented young man who just released an amazing song that I hope brings comfort to the LGBTQ community and everyone else who may have Harry Styles posters hanging on their walls. (Not me. Nope. NEVER!)
No matter what the song means to Harry, or to you... it's perfection. And we can't wait for Harry Styles to debut his entire album!
