Music |
Harry Styles: “Matilda”
By
Published: Aug 07, 2022
Category:
Rock
You are not a teenage girl, so you may not be aware that Harry Styles begins 15 nights at Madison Square Garden on August 20, moves on to 5 nights in Austin, 5 nights in Chicago and 15 nights in Los Angeles, or that his new album “Harry’s House,” contains no hits but nonetheless had the year’s biggest opening week, with 521,500 album sales.
I had only the vaguest idea of Harry Styles, so I was unaware of this precedent-setting tour. I knew only that he was once in a boy group called One Direction, which has been described as “a group of boys whose commercial proposition is that they would never hurt you.” I knew he went off on his own and, obviously, became hugely popular.
But until I heard “Matilda” on WFUV-FM the other week, I had never heard five seconds of his music. And as he’s White and sings Pop Songs, the likelihood that my daughter would push him on me were less than zero.
“Matilda” stunned this virgin. Seeking confirmation, I played the video for my friend Mary, and with each line of the lyrics, we were more and more astonished. By the end, we were close to tears.
So I did a three-minute Google.
He was the first man to appear solo on the cover of Vogue — in a Gucci dress. (He’s not gay: “The people that I looked up to in music—Prince and David Bowie and Elvis and Freddie Mercury and Elton John—they’re such showmen. There’s so much joy to be had in playing with clothes. I’ve never really thought too much about what it means — it just becomes this extended part of creating something.”)
His favorite CD: Astral Weeks, the poster child for this site.
He’s donating $1 million for his tour income to Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, – the education, research, and litigation arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country.
About the song: “I had an experience with someone where, in getting to know them better, they revealed some stuff to me that was very much like, ‘Oh, that’s not normal, like I think you should maybe get some help or something.’ This song was inspired by that experience and person, who I kind of disguised as Matilda from the Roald Dahl book. I played it to a couple of friends and all of them cried. So I was like, ‘Okay, I think this is something to pay attention to.’ It’s a weird one, because with something like this, it’s like, ‘I want to give you something, I want to support you in some way, but it’s not necessarily my place to make it about me because it’s not my experience.’ Sometimes it’s just about listening. I hope that’s what I did here. If nothing else, it just says, ‘I was listening to you.’”
The lyrics are on the video. Here it is.
The reactions on YouTube testify: Mary and I were not alone in our reaction.
This song cuts into the deepest parts of my heart.
Sobbing as I discover this song as an abused child and a domestic violence survivor. Thank you, Harry, for making me feel seen, and of value.
This song brings me so much peace. It makes me want to drive in the sunset to the beach just to sit there and watch the ocean. It reminds you it’s okay to let go and do what’s best for yourself.
To the person reading this, I hope you have a great life, and that your wishes become true. I hope that your family is healthy, and that you become successful. Have a great life.
I wish I was an easy person to be friends with. I don’t know what’s so wrong with me. I’ve become so used to being alone that I find comfort in it, but there will always be a piece of me that wishes I was different. 19 years, so it has to be me at this point. I refuse to believe everyone that’s walked into my life is a shitty person, I’m just a hard person to be around. My boyfriend means everything to me, but I’m still so sad.
My parents never ever told me they loved me or were proud of me, as a child I almost had to beg for hugs and now I can’t even tell when was the last time I had a physical touch with them, this song just had me crying my eyes out because in a few months I will leave. Thanks, Harry, I really needed this, you don’t know how much I love you.
My therapist recommended this song because she said it reminded her of me. So this is what it sounds like to be on the receiving end of an abuse victim’s story.
I am an Overcomer. I have learned the very hard way to have boundaries to protect my heart and love me…. No more bitterness, no unforgiveness…. But after 30 years of trying I finally let them go/drew a line in the sand.
This is my life in lyrics and chords.
