This Song: As It Was
Harry Styles
This Song is a monthly feature of So Much Stuff, offering a snippet of association to who and where I was when it was a popular release or otherwise entered my radar.
There’s nothing special about when I first heard “As It Was.” I was driving to CVS to pick up some prescription eye drops for my mom that couldn’t be delivered, and listening to a Spotify-curated list of recent Billboard Hits.
I hadn’t been aware of anything Harry Styles beyond “Watermelon Sugar,” which didn’t do it for me. But this song kept me in the driveway when I got back home, listening over and over to an 80s sound that sent me tripping back to the intense friendships and romantic relationships of my twenties. Some lost, others maintained or resurrected with varying degrees of success.
The lyrics could point to any number of things specific to Styles’ life. But the contrast between the upbeat synth and drums and the melancholy words rings deeply true to me—a delicious if painful nostalgia, embracing both present and past.
“Oh-oh-oh
In this world
It’s just us
You know it’s not the same as it was”
That’s my take. What does “As It Was” evoke for you?
This morning I listened to Red Red Wine on my Neil Diamond Greatest Hits CD I found at Walmart during COVID. The only other version I was aware was UB40s from 1983, which never touched me like Neil. He might have had better hair then Harry but I would not debate it.
I like imagining you in the driveway, not ready to get out of the car. That happens to me, too. Not with this song. It's not my vibe. Happy it works for you, though!