#lyrics analysis

absolutely. there are several lines in noel’s lyrics that gesture towards a sexuality or a romantic dynamic that doesn’t feel remotely heteronormative.

here are four examples:

slide in, baby - slide away

the first and most obvious example is the one you mentioned. the entire song reads like a veiled reference to a sexual encounter, with a gradual build-up of intensity that mirrors an almost orgasmic climax. that sense of escalation becomes even stronger in the live performances, where “i don’t know, i don’t care, all i know is you can take me there” and “slide away” are delivered with increasing urgency by both of them, culminating in that shared, almost cathartic “what for”.

noel has never been particularly explicit in his lyricism, but if we accept slide away as a sensual song, then the line “slide in” inevitably stands out. it very clearly evokes a penetrative act, and interestingly positions the speaker (noel) in a more receptive role towards the person he’s addressing. more broadly, the whole song carries undertones of sexual passivity (“hold me down”, “you've knocked me off my feet”).

what makes it more intriguing is the way both liam and noel have historically presented it as a love song, and yet continue to dedicate it to each other. when liam sings “i wonder where you are now” on the reunion tour and gestures towards noel, implicitly acknowledging his presence beside him, it adds a layer that feels… loaded. framing such an intensely romantic, sexual song within the context of their relationship inevitably raises questions. it’s telling that even more casual listeners have begun to pick up on it and discuss it in places like reddit.

how does it feel when you’re inside me? - up in the sky

this track is far more elusive in meaning than slide away. ostensibly, it reads as a commentary on musicians who overestimate their own depth, artists who elevate themselves beyond the music, when in reality the music should be the only thing that truly matters. the line “when you’re inside me” could be read as an invitation to those people who try to get inside the lyricist’s mind, to decode him, to intellectualise him, while he positions himself as a generational voice without resorting to grandiose rhetoric or inflated ideals. however, even if the song lacks overtly sexual connotations, it’s still interesting to notice how that same “penetrative” symbolism reappears, imagery we’ve already encountered in slide away, on the very same album. whether intentional or not, the recurrence of that motif creates an intriguing pattern.

wont you take me? won’t you take me to the edge of night and make me? - angel child

i love the wordplay here. in this demo, noel starts a sentence, cuts it off, and then completes it in the following line. in the opening verse, it almost sounds as though he’s inviting the other person to “take him” – which carries an obvious sexual undertone – only to soften or redirect the meaning in the next line. and yet that line, too, ends provocatively with “make me”, another phrase loaded with sexual connotations before it’s once again tempered by what follows.

both “take me” and “make me” evoke actions that position the lyricist in a more passive role. that’s what makes it interesting: the language subtly suggests receptiveness rather than dominance, which clashes with heteronormative expectations that frame the man as the one who acts rather than the one who is acted upon.

lift me up and take me where i stand. […] heaven help you catch me if i fall. - lyla

once again, the male narrator positions himself in a way that subtly destabilises heteronormative expectations. he asks lyla to “lift him up”, to hold him, to catch him when he falls. these are gestures that imply physical strength, protection, even rescue, qualities not typically coded as feminine within conventional frameworks. unless, of course, the person the song is addressed to isn’t a woman at all.

the name “lyla” is phonetically striking in how close it sounds to “liam”, and the personality described in the song feels far more aligned with the band’s frontman than with a generic female muse. she “believes in everything”, she’s depicted as exuberant, almost overwhelming, someone capable of shaking the world and unsettling the songwriter himself.

____________

as i’ve said before, taken together these lines seem to point towards a relationship that resists a straightforward heteronormative reading. the songwriter, a man, repeatedly places himself in a position of romantic and even sexual passivity, while the other person occupies the active, almost “masculinised” role.

there are two possible readings. either noel is deliberately subverting traditional expectations of heterosexual dynamics by embracing male vulnerability and receptiveness, or the songs are, more simply, addressed to a man.

personally, i lean towards the latter. not because noel lacks the intelligence for subtle social commentary, but because he has never really struck me as someone interested in making grand, coded statements of that kind, especially on such nuanced terrain. and, perhaps more significantly, the references that seem to point back to liam are simply too numerous to ignore.

So this has been in my mind ever since I listened to the song for the first time, but I had a lovely conversation with @bells25 and so that made me want to post this analysis properly.

Here’s a Candle (For Your Birthday Cake)—NGHFB (2015)

Just learned today this was released as a b-side to Lock All the Doors on the oasis breakup anniversary

when akechi says he’s “rather proud”, that’s a lie.

when akechi says that he “knows he won’t change bc he can only be him”, that’s a lie, at least to an extent.

I want to preface this by saying some people get really weird about the idea of Harry and Louis fighting. I… do not share that. I don’t think they fight, I know they fight. If you have been with someone (especially all they have been through) even on and off for as many years as they have? There is no question they argue. Anyway.

I also think that once again Harry is using a mixed metaphor. I do think some of these are directed at a person. Sometimes I think that person is Louis. Sometimes I think it’s himself. And sometimes I think it’s his fans/the world (ie his fame).

I think it would be silly to ignore the direct parallel to Sanity. How many times in arguments with partners do people accuse each other of not listening? Louis in Sanity says “I know you’re mad at me, I don’t know what to say. If you’re not listening, then I’ll keep talking to myself”

And in AYLY Harry says “Oh, can you hear the voice, the one inside your head? Oh, are you listening yet?”

That is… a direct parallel. Actually it’s not even a parallel it’s a full ass conversation.

To me, that reads as though the voice inside the head is talking some sense, whereas whatever the person is saying out loud doesn’t match that.

Harry also says “Between your head and heart and somewhere else instead” and in that I think he’s talking about how the other person is using sex as a way to circumvent communication with their partner. By that, and not to be crass lol, but I think “somewhere else instead” is referring to a dick. There’s a funny saying that men have a brain and a penis and only enough blood to run one at a time. And I think that’s what Harry is playing on here.

Now. When he says “your therapist well fed” I think it’s resentful. Because this person is clearly talking to a therapist but not actually addressing the issues they’re dealing with. Using sex to dodge it, but also not talking to their friends “ignoring all of your friends at the end of their rope”. There is a STRONG exasperation throughout the song. And this person is probably feeling trapped. Backed into a corner.

(Also I think the “she” Harry is referring to is actually him. I think he flips the pronouns to disguise it. Either that, or he’s referring to the person not listening to their therapist. I also think this song segues nicely into Taste Back because he says “you’ve had your tummy tickled” which is basically like, okay, you got off, now what?)

Outside of the argument I very much think this is lol, I do think there is a thread that Harry weaves here about his own exasperation with his own experience as a closeted queer person.

Specifically, I think “taking up arms but the message is wet” might refer to how he fights to be seen but can’t like, push too much?

I assume because of patient confidentiality that Harry has disclosed that he is closeted to his therapist- so I think those lines fit as well. And the idea of “this world is screaming so you start to scream right back” could also suggest that people keep telling him who he is- he feels like he has to scream back. In this same vein- I think the “between your head and heart and somewhere else instead” could be referencing what people think, what they believe, and what they hear elsewhere.

“You’ve had your tummy tickled”, “this unpredictable fun is fun if you know how” and “if you join a movement” could reference people thinking what they want (specifically fandom who see his coding). And “which thoughts you’ve had on your own” could be in that respect too, though I think that specifically is referring to Harry himself and not letting outside pressure determine what he knows to be true of himself.

Lastly I’ll just say that the repetition of Are You Listening Yet is very pointed, and sonically the song escalates. The “la la la’s” at the end feel like a taunt. Like when someone covers their ears and says “la la la I CAN’T HEAR YOU”.