Treat People With Kindness

Album: Fine Line (2019)
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Songfacts®:

  • During Harry Styles' 2017 debut concert tour, he had a badge on his guitar strap that read "TPWK," short for "Treat People with Kindness." The singer started printing the motto on T-shirts and other tour merchandise in order to promote a message of love, kindness and acceptance. It became Styles' go-to slogan, and in the fall of 2019, cryptic posters featuring the acronym "TPWK" were spotted worldwide as part of the publicity campaign for his Fine Line album release.

    When the full track listing leaked online a week before the release of the record, fans were excited to see that Styles had written a song to go with the slogan.
  • The song is a theatrical rocker about treating others well and feeling good. The record is the penultimate track on the Fine Line album, which has a concept of Styles recalling the roller coaster of emotions he experienced during his relationship with French model Camille Rowe. While the early and late songs are more upbeat, the tracks in the middle such as "Cherry" and "Falling" find the ex-One Directioner relating his heartbreak after their split. However, as the second-to-last cut on the record, "Treat People With Kindness" finds Styles with "a good feeling" as he and his lover act on his slogan.
  • Styles wrote the song with:

    Californian singer-songwriter Ilsey Juber, whose other credits include Shawn Mendes' "Mercy," Martin Garrix (featuring Bebe Rexha)'s "In The Name Of Love" and Mark Ronson (featuring Miley Cyrus)'s "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart."

    American producer Jeff Bhasker, who contributed to all but one track on Styles' eponymous debut album. His other credits include fun.'s "We Are Young," Kanye West's "All of the Lights," and Mark Ronson's "Uptown Funk." Bhasher also produced the song and contributes piano and backing vocals.
  • Ben and Gabe Turner directed the music video, which shows Styles as a 1920s nightclub singer. When Fleabag actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge joins him on stage, the pair dance together.

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