Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson’s Complementary Lyrics Masterpost
I’ve spent more time than I am willing to admit going through lyrics and analyzing them, but I won’t be offering any interpretations here. I simply wanted to compile all the complementary lyrics Louis and Harry have written throughout both 1D and their solo careers. I realize they had teams of other writers working with them and Louis wrote many songs with Liam, but Harry carried around a book of lyrics for years and Liam stated that Louis was the lyricist between the two of them, so I am of the opinion that most of the lyrics to these songs were written by Harry and Louis. (I’ve included songs Harry wrote, but gave to other artists.)
For those unfamiliar with the abbreviations for the songs here is a key:
Strong - Written by Louis for 1D (2013)
Happily - Written by Harry for 1D (2013)
SG - Something Great, Written by Harry for 1D (2013)
TTD - Through the Dark, Written by Louis for 1D (2013)
JALBYH - Just a Little Bit of Your Heart, written by Harry and given to Ariana Grande (2013)
DLMG - Don’t Let Me Go, written by Harry and self-released online (2013)
TG - Two Ghosts, written by Harry and saved for HS1 (2013)
RTR - Ready to Run, written by Louis for 1D (2014)
FP - Fireproof, written by Louis for 1D (2014)
Spaces - Written by Louis for 1D (2014)
NC - No Control, written by Louis for 1D (2014)
SS - Stockholm Syndrom, written by Harry for 1D (2014)
EOTD - End of the Day, written by Louis for 1D (2015)
IICF - If I Could Fly, written by Harry for 1D (2015)
Home - Written by Louis for 1D (2015)
LWD - Long Way Down, written by Louis for 1D (2015)
LYG - Love You Goodbye, written by Louis for 1D (2015)
History - Written by Louis for 1D (2015)
WITW - Walking in the Wind, written by Harry for 1D (2015)
Medicine - Written by Harry and unreleased, just performed (2016)
MMITH - Meet Me in the Hallway, written by Harry for HS1 (2016)
SC - Sweet Creature, written by Harry for HS1 (2016)
SOTT - Sign of the Times, written by Harry for HS1 (2016)
FTDT - From the Dining Table, written by Harry for HS1 (2016)
BTY - Back to You, written by Louis for LT1 (2017)
MY - Miss You, written by Louis for LT1 (2017)
NSTLS - Not So Typical Love Song, written by Harry for the Love Simon Original Soundtrack, performed by Bleechers. (2018)
Judgement of a Relationship + Accepting the Relationship/Self
TTD: And I can see your head is held in shame / But I just wanna see you smile again
Happily: I don’t care what people say when we’re together
Strong: But I don’t care, I’m not scared of love + But there’s nothing I’m running from
RTR: There will always be the kind that criticize / But I know, yes I know we’ll be alright
NC: And I don’t care it’s obvious / I just can’t get enough of you
EOTD: All I know at the end of the day is love who you love / There ain’t no other way / If there’s something I’ve learnt from a million mistakes / You’re the one that I want at the end of the day
Home: Could we ever be enough? / Baby we could be enough
BTY: I know you say you know me, know me well / But these days I don’t even know myself, no / I always thought I’d be with someone else / I thought I would own the way I felt, yeah
Separation from the One You Love (Forced or Growing Apart)
Happily: We were meant to be but a twist of fate / Made it so you had to walk away
Strong: My heart, your heart / Sit tight like book ends / Pages between us / Written with no end
SG: The script was written and I could not change a thing / I want to rip it all to shreds and start again
DLMG: Seems like these days I watch you from afar
Spaces: Oh spaces between us / Keep getting deeper / It’s harder to reach you / Even though I try
TG: But I can’t touch what I see
Happily: You know I want to be the one to hold you when you sleep
SG: One day you’ll say these words / I’ve thought but never said / You say we’re better off together in our bed
DLMG: I saw in the corner there is a photograph / No doubt in my mind it’s a picture of you / It lies there alone in it’s bed of broken glass / This bed was never made for two
NC: Waking up / Beside you I’m my loaded gun
NSTLS: But god I loved those days we couldn’t get out of bed
References to Their Tattoos
Strong: My hands, your hands / Tied up like two ships
TG: Same lips red, same eyes blue / Same white shirt, couple more tattoos
History: Minibars, expensive cars / Hotel rooms, and new tattoos / The good champagne and private planes / But they don’t mean anything / ‘Cause the truth is out, I realize / That without you here, life is just a lie
TTD: When the night is coming down on you / We will find a way through the dark
RTR: I don’t wanna get lost in the dark of the night
EOTD: When the sun goes I know that you and me and everything will be alright / And when the city’s sleeping, you and I can stay awake and keep on dreaming
Home: I was stumbling, looking in the dark (ohho) / With an empty heart
TTD: I wish that I could take you to the stars
DLMG: I promised one day that I’d bring you back a star, I caught one and it burned a hole in my hand, oh
JHO: Feels like you’re standing on the edge / Looking at the stars / And wishing you were them
SOTT: You can’t bribe the door on your way to the sky + Breaking through the atmosphere / And things are pretty good from here
NSTLS: You’d leave the cities and chase bullet holes / That’s actually star light
Fire + Burning + Lightning (Heat/Passion)
Happily: ‘Cause we’re on fire / We are on fire / We’re on fire now
TTD: Oh I will carry you over / Fire and water for your love
DLMG: I promised one day that I’d bring you back a star / I caught one and it burned a hole in my hand, oh
FP: I’m feeling something deep inside / Hotter than a jet stream burning up + It’s been so long, it’s been so long, maybe you are fireproof
Spaces: Who’s gonna be the first one to set it all on fire?
NC: And the heat where you laid / I could stay right here and burn in this all day
LWD: We made a fire, went down in the flames
EOTD: I set you on fire babe / Than down came the lightning on me
Home: So hot that I couldn’t take it / Want to wake up and see your face
Freedom + Running Away + Giving Up Things for Love
Happily: I know you wanna leave / So c'mon baby be with me / So happily
RTR: ‘Cause I wanna be free / And I wanna be young / I’ll never look back now I’m ready to run
IICF: I think I might give up everything, just ask me to
TG: Tastes so sweet, looks so real
NC: Taste on my tongue / I don’t want to wash away the night before
Medicine: You got that something, I got me an appetite, now I can taste it
Alfie’s Song: Left your taste in my mouth / Your strange voice in my head
Unreleased/Untitled LT Song: When I get wasted I can taste you on my lips
FTDT: Maybe one day you’ll call me and tell me that you’re sorry too / But you, you never do
MY: Now I’m asking my friends how I should say I’m sorry / They say “Lad, give it time, there’s no need to worry”
RTR: Wherever you are is the place I belong
SC: We don’t know where we’re going / But we know where we belong
Being There When the Other Person is Lost
TTD: You tell me that you’re sad and lost your way / You tell me that your tears are here to stay / But I know you’re only hiding / And I just wanna see you + And I’ll be here for you
Home: When you’re lost, I’ll find the way / I’ll be your light
IICF: For your eyes only, I’ll show you my heart / For when you’re lonely and forget who you are
WITW: Just close your eyes and see / I’ll be by your side / Any time you’re needing me
IICF: I’ve got scars even though they can’t always be seen / And pain gets hard, but now you’re here and I don’t feel a thing
MMITH: I just left your bedroom / Give me some morphine / Is there any more to do?
BTY: Yeah, so you can cut me up and kiss me harder / You can be the pill to ease the pain
Communication Issues + Not Speaking
Strong: I’d do anything to save it / Why is it so hard to say it? + So many words we’re not saying
SG: One day you’ll come into my world and say it all / You’ll say we’ll be together even when you’re lost / One day you’ll say these words I’ve thought but never said
JALBOYH: I don’t ever tell you how I really feel / 'Cause I can’t find the words to say what I mean
TG: Tongue-tied like we’ve never known / Telling those stories we already told / 'Cause we don’t say what we really mean
Spaces: Spaces between us / Hold all our secrets / Leaving us speechless
FTDT: We haven’t spoke since you went away / Comfortable silence is so overrated / Why won’t you ever be the first one to break? + Why won’t you ever say what you want to say?
MY: And we can’t even be on the phone now / And I can’t even be with you alone now
BTY: I call you but you never even answer
MMITH: We don’t talk about it / It’s something we don’t do
SC: I always think about you and how we don’t speak enough
SOTT: We don’t talk enough / We should open up / Before it’s all too much
LYG: It’s inevitable everything that’s good comes to an end / It’s impossible to know if after this we could still be friends, yeah
History: Keep getting the feeling you want to leave this all behind / Thought we were going strong / I thought we were holding on / Aren’t we?
WITW: The fact that we can sit right here and say goodbye / Means we’ve already won
SC: Had another talk about where it’s going wrong
Happily: I just want it to be you and I forever
LYG: Unforgettable together held the whole world in our hands / Unexplainable the love that only we could understand
History: We could be the greatest thing that the world has ever seen + we can live forever
IICF: I’m missing half of me when we’re apart + I can feel your heart inside of mine, I feel it, I feel it
Miss You: Shit, maybe I miss you
FTDT: Even my phone misses your call
Always You: I went to Amsterdam without you and all I could do was think about you
SS: All my life I’ve been on my own / I use a light to guide me home
But now together we’re alone / And there’s no other place I’d ever wanna go
Home: You’ll never feel like you’re alone / I’ll make this feel like home
IICF: If I could fly, I’d be coming right back home to you
SC: Oh we started two hearts in one home + Sweet creature, sweet creature / Wherever I go, you bring me home / Sweet creature, sweet creature / When I run out of road, you bring me home
History: This is not the end + We can make it you know it, you know
WITW: Goodbyes are bittersweet / But it’s not the end / I’ll see your face again
IICF: Know that I’m just wasting time / And I hope that you don’t run from me
SC: When I run out of road, you bring me home / You’ll bring me home
BTY: I just keep on coming back to you
NSTLS: Left your taste in my mouth / Your strange voice in my head / Oh, I wanna hear it again
While no one can say for certain which songs/lines were meant for each other and which were for others or works of fiction, it is clear, for many of Louis and Harry’s songs (not all), the themes, ideas, and experiences they were writing about were shared. If this seems like a reach, I ask for someone to try to find the same level of connection between Liam and Zayn’s work, or Niall and Harry’s. It cannot be done. Your turn, antis.
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