Gill’s Lounge was a nice and chill sushi spot with funky upbeat music, but Harry’s story was a bit heartbreaking.
Ex One Direction member Harry Styles’s music video (MV),” Music for a Sushi Restaurant”, was released early October for his studio album “Harry’s House”. The singer revealed in his interview with NPR earlier this May that the name was a spin-off of a pre-production conversation he had with team producers in a sushi restaurant.
“I was in a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles with my producer and one of our songs came on from the last album, and I kind of said, like, ‘This is really strange music for a sushi restaurant,’ and then I was like, ‘Oh, that would be a really fun album title,’” Styles said.
In the music video, the 28-year-old English singer was a half-squid merman washed ashore. The peculiar creature was found by several restaurant owners, who immediately kidnapped him with the intention of cooking him into sushi.
At the fictional Gill’s Lounge, however, Harry’s amazing singing ability impressed the restaurant owners. He was then made into a golden goose for the lounge, attracting a huge audience and lured with luxuries by the owners until one day, his voice cracked. The ending was rather open-ended, but final scenes of squid tentacles being chopped off and made into sushi rolls imply Harry being chopped up for food after losing his voice and talent.
While Styles never made any comment over the actual meaning behind the set, his fans took to Twitter to unveil their interpretation of the deeper meaning behind the visuals. Let’s take a deep dive with some of the fan theories.
Styles was immediately eyed for food and brought to the restaurant the moment the restaurant owners found him on the shores. As his singing potential was later uncovered, the kitchen owners immediately dressed him in pearl necklaces, seashell sunglasses, and sparkly glitter to make lucrative business for the lounge.
He was loved and well taken care of, bringing in money and attention to the sushi spot. Until one day, his abilities waned, and his voice cracked on stage. He was then chopped up and disappeared in the end.
A popular theory endorsed by Twitter fans is the MV’s hidden allegory of the cruel and exploitative entertainment industry, where superstars are treasured for their money-making potential but abruptly spit out the moment interest rates dwindle. And it might be true.
The singer previously alluded to the ill-reputed industry during an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music last May.
“You put so much love into an industry that’s so fickle and it loves you back when you’re doing well and, if you’re not, you’re just out,” Styles said.
Your take?
Stop by the sushi lounge to find out.