From the Dining Table

Album: Harry Styles (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Harry Styles bookends his debut solo album with two breakup ballads, beginning in the hallway and ending here at the dining table. This stripped back ballad is the record's quietest, most introspective moment as the former One Direction star describes his heartache at seeing a former lover moving on with "a friend from work."
  • Woke up alone in this hotel room
    Played with myself, where were you?


    The New York Times commented that the opening line about masturbation is an example of there being more adult subject matter on Harry Styles, compared to One Direction's PG lyrics. The singer replied:

    "I've never felt the need to explain myself in terms of my personal life. I very much feel like writing is the way you get to say what you want to say and be like, 'That's all I have to say on it.' With that one, I think it's up to everyone's interpretation, which is obviously an incredibly diplomatic answer. The line in particular, in context of the verse, paints the picture of the feeling that I was going at. It's much more powerful when not taken simply as what it is."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Amy Lee of Evanescence

Amy Lee of EvanescenceSongwriter Interviews

The Evanescence frontwoman on the songs that have shifted meaning and her foray into kids' music.

John Doe of X

John Doe of XSongwriter Interviews

With his X-wife Exene, John fronts the band X and writes their songs.

Oliver Leiber

Oliver LeiberSongwriter Interviews

Oliver Leiber talks about writing and producing hits for Paula Abdul, and explains his complicated relationship with his father, the songwriter Jerry Leiber.

Tommy James

Tommy JamesSongwriter Interviews

"Mony Mony," "Crimson and Clover," "Draggin' The Line"... the hits kept coming for Tommy James, and in a plot line fit for a movie, his record company was controlled by the mafia.

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot

Jon Foreman of SwitchfootSongwriter Interviews

Switchfoot's frontman and main songwriter on what inspires the songs and how he got the freedom to say exactly what he means.

Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton HeatSongwriter Interviews

The Reverend rants on psychobilly and the egghead academics he bashes in one of his more popular songs.