Thereās a poignant kind of irony in Harry explicitly writing and performing Season 2 Weight Loss ā a song about being brave enough to step away from the limelight to grapple deeply with his reason for being/creating, in hopes of coming back a better, truer, more authentic artist despite the risk, the probability, of the worldās wholesale rejection of his this newer (truer) version of himself ā and people still genuinely thinking his current lack of virality is actually a skills issue. That heās lost his aura, or whatever.
No guys. Thatās the point. Heās culling the fanbase. He saw through you, not the other way around.
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Hey, Gina! I havenāt seen this discussed yet (forgive me if Iāve missed it), nor have I noticed this while watching the livestreams. But this is gut wrenching. I love this song so much! And the way Harry gets completely lost in trying to convey the message to us š https://www(.)tiktok(.)com/t/ZTBRA42He/
Jesus. No, I missed this on the livestreams. That song hurts just listening to it, but seeing him perform it is so painful.
And yet so many āfansā donāt get it and just keep shitting on him.
Hello Hello...so wonderful to see you active a little more again š
You were my first blog I came to lurk upon after entering the fandom 2 years ago!! Thankyou for your tags and info and just the love for the boys!!
Anyhoo lol..I noticed Louis has Dark to light and now Nial mentioning "End of an Era" being and ode to Liam on the albums quite possibly. I was wondering if you felt any of the the songs on KISSCO were for Liam? I thought although PBN is clearly a song about Harry's experience in the band and growing up in the limelight.. I've wondered if it was actually for Liam also? He mentioned in the Zane Lowe interview that one of the hardest things about losing Liam and I'm paraphrasing here.. is that they were so much alike in so many ways which was interesting. I suppose the song could relate to the all the boys in some ways? Anyway just wondered your thoughts or if you didn't feel any of the songs were for Liam?
Much love to youšš
Hi, anon!! Aww, thatās super sweet, I love that š Thank you!
This is going to be LONG, so Iām sorry in advance, I really canāt shut up once I start talking about lyrics, apparently.
I think Harryās songwriting tends to be less about songs being for someone or tied to very specific situations, and more about his overall feelings, things that are deeper, and expressed through broader ideas and metaphors. So while Louis goes for something like āthis happened to you and this is how I feel about itā I think Harry usually takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture, like why things happened in the first place, especially in relation to fame and everything they went through together. So I definitely agree with you on that!
I actually think the entire album could be shaped by what happened with Liam. Harry was already taking some time off, which probably made him reflect on fame as a whole, and then losing Liam could have deepened that even more and became part of the emotional core of the album. I think it's such a turning point... something happening to someone who lived such a similar life.
There are two songs in particular where I see that deeper reflection, and I personally connect a lot of it to what happened to Liam, but also to Harry processing it himself:
Paint By Numbers
I definitely agree with you on this one, anon! I think Paint By Numbers is one of the songs that leans the most into this core reflection about fame. It has this very melancholic tone, so it naturally gets connected to Liam.
Essentially it feels like a reflection on celebrity vs. real self. Being put into a box, having to fit the āright colorsā in the āright placesā but eventually those colors run out, things get messy, and you canāt keep up with that structure forever.
I think it also touches the pressure of fame, the constant feeling of disappointing people, and trying to meet expectations that are impossible to sustain. And when you think about everything that led up to Liamās passing, itās hard not to connect itāespecially the way he seemed to be struggling to be seen, to be loved, while facing so much criticism in the months prior. That quote from Harry āI saw someone with the kindest heart who just wanted to be greatā, sums it up so well. Thatās the tragedy of it. Wanting to be good, to be loved, and still being torn apart by people.
The ānot even 33ā line feels very loaded to me. If you connect it to the age Jesus died (if you believe that), it carries this idea of sacrifice, pressure, and being judged by the public. Thereās that sense of being ācrucifiedā by expectations. There's a saying āYou canāt please everyone, Jesus couldnātā.
I also love the ākids with water gunsā line. Iāve seen people connect it to One Direction and their stage moments, which is a really sweet interpretation. But it also works as a metaphor, something that looks harmless on the surface, but still causes damage. Like judgment. Comments, jokes, opinionsāthings people think are harmless, but when theyāre constant, they hurt. Being surrounded by that kind of āplayfulā targeting still leaves a mark over time.
Season 2 Weight Loss
I also think this song carries a strong meaning. It feels very much about expectations, and what people want from him, what heās supposed to be, and the pressure to just keep going.
It's being turned into a product. Doing the same thing over and over, following what people expect, and losing yourself in that cycle. The questioning "if I donāt meet your expectations, will you still love me?" is so fucking deep and heartbreaking.
Everything they do gets judged, overanalyzed (yes the irony!!) picked apart. It really connected into parasocial relationships, how people feel entitled to an artist, but donāt accept their flaws or humanity.
And that connects deeply to what happened with Liam. The pressure, the expectations, the need to be likedā¦ and how damaging that can become.
So for me, itās less about āthis song is about Liamā and more about how his presence, what they went through together, and what happened shaped the emotional core of the whole album. If that makes sense at all!!
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i wanna talk about how the lasers for S2WL are red and blue and how that could symbolize the choice between remaining in a state of blissful ignorance (blue pill) or accepting a painful reality (red pill)
ā¦but itās way past my bedtime so imma just leave it at that and maybe some of you can add some more in-depth thoughts while i sleep
All this Taste Back analysis just makes me wonder if you are still doing lyrical analysis? Because "Season Two, Weight Loss" please.
Ask and you shall receive. My favorite song of his <3
Aptly named the albumās thesis by Harry, Season 2 Weight Loss (S2) marks kisscoās turning point. Following his frustrations and lack of fulfillment on preceding tracks, S2 holds the epiphany that sparks a necessary change in himāand grapples with how this change will affect his fame & success, if this is worth it.
Note: the use of āyouā in this song can get confusing. In the verses, he tends to use it primarily in reference to āHarry Styles the Popstarā but thereās a second layer thatās making audience commentary. In the chorus/bridge, āyouā typically means his audience, but has a secondary layer thatās based in his own self reflection. āIā āmeā and first-person usage typically speaks to himself as a regular person in his own private life.
Verse 1:
Arenāt you for sale if youāre cashing in cold?
About Harry Styles The Brandā¢ļø, and one of the most scathing lines Harryās written about himself. Essentially saying: if youāre profiting off the commodification of your own personality & attractiveness, arenāt you endorsing your own objectification? Because you are selling yourself as a product to the massesā¦
Youāve got to sit yourself down sometimes
Self-reflection is necessary for growth & sometimes you
needs to take a step back and ask the hard questions to evaluate who you are vs. who you want to be, what you want from life and fame and making art. And why thus far youāre feeling empty, and what changes need to happen as a result.
Itās hard to tell when the thoughts are my own / and the old hat gets harder to hold
Iām losing my sense of self because my identity has been tied externally to who I am to my audience, the media, the world, and after a while I donāt know if āthe thoughtsā Iām having about myself are genuine, or just an echo of who everyone else is telling me I am. Also note the āmyā hereāreferring to how his public persona is invading his private sense of self
āThe old hatā is a ref to the English idiom āwearing many hatsā which means a person is taking on a lot of roles or duties simultaneously. In this context, the āold hatā is his role as Harry Styles The Popstar (separated from Harry the regular human), aka the branded version of himself that heās having harder and harder time maintaining.
Chorus:
Holdingāholding out. Hoping you will love me now.
āHolding outā in this context means not accepting a current circumstances in the hopes of securing something better. (If Iām āholding outā in a game of poker for example, Iām refusing to fold because Iām hoping for winning hand).
Within S2? Heās refusing to bend his behaviors and branded identity towards what itās always been & what he knows would go over well, because heās hoping that his fans will still love him without the bells and whistles. That if he shows up as his changed but authentic self, youāll love him now the as you did when he was in a dress on Vogue or had painted nails.
Do you love me now? Do you? Do I let you down?
I adore the heavy undercurrent of anxiety that seeps through this line. Heās holding outā¦.but he is not confident that heāll be proven right.
Heās questioning, to reiterate: if I come back changed for me, will I let you down? But on another level, heās also asking himself: if I change back just to keep the masses happy, will I let myself down? & would that be worth it for their love?
Holdingāholding out. Hoping love will come around.
āHoping love will come aroundā ā¦..on the initial release, I took this as a pretty straightforward āI hope the answer to all of this is yes I still love you, no you donāt let me down.ā But watching the fandom reaction unfold in the way it hasā¦.
I wonder if he knew the backlash to his change would be inevitable, in some ways? And the āhoping love will come aroundā is less āI hope youāre willing to love me immediately and not feel let down at allā and more of a āI hope that once the dust settles and youāve got the inevitable disappointment out of the way, you (and by extension your love) will start to come around again to this current iteration of me as you witness it more and more.ā Because ācome aroundā has this connotation of people eventually getting on board thatās quite different than if he were to say āhoping you still love me now.ā Hm.
ā¦.and if itās the second reading, weāre watching this happen in real time as he performs more and more on tour, which is insane.
Verse 2:
Itās kind of sad but thereās something I know: too many things for you to analyze
In a self-reflection sense: too much has changed, itās a sad fact of life, thereās too much for me to unpack about it.
In an audience reflection sense: I realize this is a sad fact of my life, that coming back means Iām about to be put under a microscope and compared to my former self. And thereās too much there for you to find, to analyze.
Youāre steaming in, swinging with your eyes closed
Steaming in -> youāre coming in hot, impulsive, and emotional
Swinging with your eyes closed -> youāre lashing out, taking swings blindly without seeing who or what you might hit. Reminiscent of āthis world is screaming so you start to scream right backā in AYLY.
Iāve always seen these lines as his self-reflection & his state of mind heās unpacking, but writing it out as I amā¦.I also think thereās a case for audience commentary, and people coming in looking for reasons to get mad.
Let light come in once and a while
Aperture call-back.
But alsoā¦a little hopeful while sad note in a brutal song. You only let lightāaka joy and love and all beautiful thingsācome in here and there. But thatās still something. At least. Itās not completely shut out. There remains hope. Keep letting it in.
Bridge:
You could have been here in my arms / but weāre nothing at all
and if I said parasocial commentary? You could have known me, we could have cared for each other. But weāre nothing. Youāre living with a fantasy thatās not real.
You want a piece or nothing at all
You want to own a part of me, my image, my identity, my grief, or you want nothing to do with me. You want possession of me, you donāt actually want me.
Or something like that.
ā¦ā¦brutal fucking lyrics but I love it. Thereās something so alive about this song thatās so incredibly special. Season 2 weight loss Iāll love you forever.
