This is the second installment of “Confessions of…” If you haven’t read “Confessions of a Justin Bieber Convert,” check it out here!
It’s funny to think how my 15-year-old self would most definitely have gagged and rolled her eyes at the idea of possibly being obsessed with the singer of a poppy boy band. It may seem like I’m a little late to the Styles party, but I was the kind of purposefully non-conforming teenager who wore all black and obsessed way more over My Chemical Romance and Panic! at the Disco than English boy bands — no matter how good my best friend insisted they were.
Fast forward six years and here I am actively searching for any snippets I can find of soon-to-be-released Harry Styles album tracks. It’s getting bad — or better, depending on how you look at it. I now unironically listen to songs like “Story of My Life” and “Two Ghosts” and my I’m completely mind-boggled by the soulful, raspy voice I’d never really taken the time to pay attention to before.
In order to get to the heart of why I disliked Harry Styles in the first place, I think it’s necessary to look back to his early One Direction days in 2011. I remember being in high school and one of my friends handing me an earbud to listen to “What Makes You Beautiful” for the very first time. From then on, I couldn’t turn on the television or listen to the radio without hearing about these five teenagers who had made it big on the British X-Factor and were quickly becoming the biggest pop sensation “since the Beatles” according to my friend’s Teen Vogue. As a fan of the Beatles, I wholeheartedly and bitterly disagreed.
Then there came 2013 and the days of the great Taylor Swift break up and all the songs about how much of a terrible boyfriend he had been to her. Again, since I wasn’t really a fan of popstars or popular music at the time, I didn’t follow their story very closely. But, I did know enough to judge him for being the infamous inspiration to so many of her songs. Looking back, I think I understand now why “Style” was secretly my favorite Taylor Swift song for so long.
Come my freshman year of college, One Direction was still on top — so much so that my entire year was forced to learn a detailed step-by-step dance to the tune of “Best Song Ever.” It was inescapable. Still, I managed to find some friends who weren’t really into pop bands either and I coasted through most of my college years avoiding anything else to do with Harry Styles or One Direction.
Then, it happened. April of 2017 rolled around and I was casually minding my own business on YouTube when I came across a performance of Harry Styles’ new song on Saturday Night Live. Even though I had never been a fan of his, I had seen a lot of people talking up the song online that day, and I decided to give him a chance. I convinced myself that maybe he’d changed since he’d gone solo, and I’m glad to say I was not disappointed. From the terrible tweed suit to the falsetto voice and the sunset lighting, I was hooked.
I immediately texted my best friend and confessed my newfound love for his music and everything took off from there. Soon enough, I was looking up more and more of his music, watching interviews on YouTube and convincing myself that, “Hey, he really is kind of cute.” As a fan of classic rock music, it doesn’t hurt that he bears an undeniable resemblance to superstar Mick Jagger. The English accent, the long hair, the cheeky smile, the shirtless tattoo pics — as soon as I took the time to really look into him, I had to admit there was something there.
While I wouldn’t classify myself as a Harry Styles fangirl by any stretch of the word, I have since come to appreciate him and his music more and more — not to mention his sense of humor, his fashion sense and his diversity as an artist.
Needless to say, Harry Potter isn’t the only Harry in my life anymore, and I am now eagerly awaiting the May 12th release of his first solo album alongside all of his other fans out there. Even though I’m a long ways from considering myself a total “Styler,” I definitely understand what all the hype was about back then and I will be keeping my eye out for new music from him in the future.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go listen to “Sign of the Times” on repeat again for the next hour. #noshame