#jalboyh

“I can't even think straight but I can tell

That you were just with her(!)

And I'll still be a fool, I'm a fool for you”

Harry wrote JALBOYH for Ariana Grande, he first performed on his first solo tour. It is about loving someone who is not fully committed to the singer. Harry has performed 89 of its total 99 live performances, starting with this one in September 2017:

Ariana told J-14 she almost didn't record it because Harry's demo was so good and his was her favourite version:

“I was more intimidated because he recorded a demo for me so I could learn the song. I was like, "I don't know if I wanna touch this song.'

When was it written

To MTV Ariana said:

He was just visiting the studio and (producers) Savan (Kotecha) and Johan (Carlsson) were like 'Hey do you wanna write a song for Ariana?' and he was like 'Oh sure!'" "He went into the other room and they were writing for a while and I remember when I heard it I was like 'Wow that's a really strong verse, that's really beautiful’

Savan Kotecha and Max Martin produced Ariana’s album, 'My Everything', which was recorded at Conway Studios September 2013 to March 2014. Savan wrote WMYB and was close with Harry.

In another interview Ariana said it was written in Los Angeles when Harry had dates town. (6:50). 1D didn't have L.A. tour dates then. However he was in L.A. 20 February - 18 March 2014. Ariana was at Conway Studios the first week of that:

If Max Martin at Conway Studios 15-22 February 2014 sounds familiar, it should. That’s the who, where and when Style, I Know Places and Shake it Off were recorded (with another Johan). Ari and Taylor were at the same studio at the same time. Max Martin worked on both projects and Scott Borchetta managed them both. Taylor also would have played Style for Harry as a courtesy before leaving the studio with Max. Other artists also shared Conway during 1989.

In the 2014 timeline, within a fortnight: Harry was spotted backstage at Red, he broke up with Kendall, left Brits after party early to fly straight to LA the next morning, 20 February. Visited Conway Studios where Taylor was recording Shake it Off! Wrote this song. Then on on 25 February 2014 he got the anatomical heart tattoo and incorporated HSA Publishing. As this was his first commercial work outside 1D it was presumably to give Ariana this song. No wonder he has said it is special and his favourite song he gave away.

(Harry was also in LA 20 January, Ari and Taylor were also in Conway then, it could have been 20 January and I Know Places, I think Feb because of HSA's incorporation)

Harry was there when Ariana recorded it:

Ariana describes Harry’s energy in the studio: “Great! Very funny, very silly, very sweet, very professional, and never too serious. Like I would be singing in the booth and I would cut a vocal, and he would be like, ‘Oh that was terrible, you should try it again,’ but he was like joking. He was very nice, very very sweet guy.”

Taylor saw Ariana perform it at the Grammys. The screens showed Harry’s name. Ariana hugged Taylor after she performed OOTW.

On 25 September 2015 (Interesting date) Ariana performed it with Coldplay, Chris Martin said "This is a song written by the most handsome man in the world, Harry Styles, he couldn't be here so asked we perform it for you". Ariana Tweeted and Coldplay replied "beautiful song", which Harry liked. As publisher he approved that.

When meeting fans in 2017 Ariana also told fans it was about a relationship that wasn’t known and winked when asked if it was about Taylor. Tumblr post from a person there and one with screenshot of it. Thank you @womanexile

Lyrics

I don't ever ask you where you've been And I don't feel the need to Know who you're with I can't even think straight but I can tell That you were just with her

This verse establishes that Harry is writing about someone in an open relationship. The opening line is similar to Little Freak “I'm not worried about where you are / Or who you will go home to, I'm / Just thinkin' about you”

This verse is similar to the Taylor's line in:

Style “I say, "I heard, oh / That you've been out and about with some other girl, some other girl" / He says, "What you heard is true, but I / Can't stop thinkin' 'bout you and I" / I said, "I've been there too a few times" and

Tis the Damn Season "If I wanted to know who you were hanging with While I was gone I would have asked you"

And I'll still be a fool, I'm a fool for you

This line is very reminiscent of One Direction's Fool's Gold, which Harry wrote 6 months later. "I've let you use me from the day that we first met / But I'm not done yet / Falling for your fool's gold"

In both JALBOYH and Fool's Gold Harry sees his love is not reciprocated but he is a fool who loves them anyway. Harry was also a fool for love in Sunflower and Boyfriends. More on fool.

ChorusJust a little bit of your heart x2 Just a little bit of your heart is all I want Just a little bit of your heart x2 Just a little bit is all I'm asking for

This chorus is heartbreaking, here he settles for the smallest affection from someone in an open or not committed relationship.

A very similar idea is in Music For a Sushi Restaurant's "If the stars were edible / And our hearts were never full / Could we live with just a taste?"

Songs can be about more than they seem, (an open relationship), I think JALBOYH, Fools Gold and MFASR could all be about someone with different priorities who doesn't want to settle down and commit.

I don't ever tell you how I really feel 'Cause I can't find the words to say what I mean And nothing's ever easy That's what they say I know I'm not your only

Not communicating with his muse is a theme in Harry's work, and something he has said in interviews is that it's easier to say something in song:

MMITH "We don't talk about it / It's something we don't do".

Sign of the Times "We don't talk enough / We should open up / Before it's all too much"

Talk "Don't ask me to talk about / I don't wanna talk at all (hey)"

If I could fly is a nice juxtaposition, also written with Johan Carlson a year later, when he opened up.

Things are not easy, or complicated in Lay Down "Even though it's complicated / We were never meant to make it this time" and Complicated Freak.

But I'll still be a fool 'Cause I'm a fool for you I know I'm not your only But at least I'm one I heard a little love is better than none

I've been meaning to post t A little Bit of Your Heart part 4 today, but I just couldn't finish it. I've been ill for the past 6 weeks and I have been at the doctor's so often that @moonlightazriel suggested I could bring a bed there and just move in.

I am normally never ill and I only go to the doctor's if I really have to, so the past weeks have truly pulled out the rug from beneath my feet.

I am slowly getting better, and I am also writing again.

I really hope I can finish part 4 before Christmas!!

all my lyric analyses (wip)

one direction

steal my girl

harry

other

just a little bit of your heart

medicine

anna

hs1: intro

overview

meet me in the hallway

sign of the times

carolina x

two ghosts

sweet creature

only angel

kiwi

ever since new york x

woman

from the dining table

fine line

golden

watermelon sugar x

adore you

lights up

cherry

falling x

to be so lonely

she x x x

sunflower, vol. 6

canyon moon

treat people with kindness

fine line

harry's house

music for a sushi restaurant

late night talking

grapejuice

as it was

daylight

little freak

kiss all the time. disco, occasionally. 

louis

walls (mp)

other

copy of a copy of a copy

Boyfriends by Harry Styles

About Woman, JALBOYH and Girl Crush*: 

On those three songs he plays with pronouns and talks about jealousy. They all imply a double meaning where he's jealous of the woman. But in reality he's talking about how she is hurting him when she is with his person. He's so jealous because he wants to be in her place.  

Woman: Harry talks directly with the woman, he blames her for doing this, it's like he's pleading for her to stop. He wants her to see how helpless he is when she does it. But he's not jealous of her, he wants to be in her place. He talks about being apart of the person he loves, he's not where he supposed to be. 

JALBOYH: There's no need to change pronouns when he sings that song. The subject "you" is gender neutral. And Harry can't have "you" completely, he has to share with her. 

Girl Crush: Again Harry puts himself in the position of wanting to be her just so he can have "you"(again, gender neutral). It's like he's so desperate to have "you", that he wants to be in her place, he wants everything and anything to have "you" as a whole. On this one the title also has a double meaning, where he admires her just because she gets to have "you". *Girl Crush is not written by Harry but he covered the song on his previous tour.