Adore You

Album: Fine Line (2019)
Charted: 7 6
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Adore You" finds Harry Styles singing of his complete and absolute devotion towards a girl.

    Oh honey
    I'd walk through fire for you
    Just let me adore you
    Like it's the only thing I'll ever do


    Harry told Radio.com the song is, "about that initial infatuation stage, that heavy feeling of just bliss.
    It's like a blissful, joyous connection with someone."
  • Walk in your rainbow paradise
    Strawberry lipstick state of mind
    I get so lost inside your eyes


    After giving us songs about kiwi and watermelon, Styles continues his fruit references by mentioning strawberries and later a lemon over ice in this song. It's also not the first time Harry has made a reference to strawberries. In "Watermelon Sugar," he sings: "Tastes like strawberries on a summer evenin'."
  • The groovy '80s-inspired track was written by Harry Styles with:

    Tyler Johnson, who was a key writer on Styles' 2017 self-titled debut album.

    Kid Harpoon, who has also worked with Florence + the Machine ("Shake It Out)," Calvin Harris ("Sweet Nothing"), and Haim ("Days Are Gone").

    Amy Allen, whose other credits include Halsey's "Without Me" and Selena Gomez's "Back to You."

    Tyler Johnson and Kid Harpoon produced the song.
  • The fantastical, seven-and-a-half-minute Dave Meyers-directed video is set on the fictional island of Eroda ("Adore" spelled backward) off the coast of England. A voiceover from fellow Columbia Records artist Rosalía tells us that everybody there frowns until Harry enters the world. He's blessed with a blindingly bright smile, which causes his fellow islanders to shun him. However, he befriends a lonely fish, who teaches Harry and the other islanders about love and community.
  • Harry Styles wrote this song, "Lights Up," and "Treat People With Kindness" in the final week of sessions for Fine Line in a burst of inspiration.
  • This won the Most Performed Song award at the 2021 Ivor Novellos. The prize is based on performance data collected by the PRS royalties organization.
  • Before teaming up with Harry Styles, Amy Allen's biggest hits, such as "Without Me" and "Back to You," had been steeped in heartbreak. "I took songwriting so seriously where I was like, if it's not heartbreaking and people aren't wanting to cry to it, then what are we doing?" she recalled to Zach Sang. But "Adore You" broke that pattern. It was the first song she'd written that simply made people feel good. Even her mom was relieved: "She was like, 'My daughter's not depressed. Thank God.'"
  • Music impresario Simon Napier-Bell admitted he was "slightly miffed" by "Adore You" because it contains the line "you don't have to say you love me," a phrase Napier-Bell co-wrote for Dusty Springfield's 1966 hit "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me."

    Napier-Bell, who managed acts including The Yardbirds and Wham!, noted the similarity with a mixture of irritation and amusement rather than outright outrage. "Then again, he's very young," he said of Harry Styles. "Perhaps he had never heard Dusty or Elvis sing it."

Comments: 3

  • Kidyubyub from CaliforniaTo the other two commenters: it’s about a girl because of the traditional references. Are you two daft? Probably the same person that commented twice because they’re so upset the song facts don’t match their worldview.
  • AnonymousHow do you know it's about a girl? In what part of the lyrics you can identify the person the song refers to, as a girl?
  • NicoleWe have 2021 !!!
    Why do you assume the song is about a girl and not generally about another person who he is singing about and singing to?
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Petula Clark

Petula ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Petula talks about her hits "Downtown" and "Don't Sleep In The Subway," and explains her Michael Jackson connection.

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Danny Kortchmar

Danny KortchmarSongwriter Interviews

Danny played guitar on Sweet Baby James, Tapestry, and Running On Empty. He also co-wrote many hit songs, including "Dirty Laundry," "Sunset Grill" and "Tender Is The Night."

Gary LeVox

Gary LeVoxSongwriter Interviews

On "Life Is A Highway," his burgeoning solo career, and the Rascal Flatts song he most connects with.

Michael Sweet of Stryper

Michael Sweet of StryperSongwriter Interviews

Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.

Rufus Wainwright

Rufus WainwrightSongwriter Interviews

Rufus Wainwright on "Hallelujah," his album Unfollow The Rules, and getting into his "lyric trance" on 12-hour walks.