she by harry styles, an explanation by
@toxxicrry and @zouisflamez

hi! welcome to our explanation of she, this song is one of the most complex songs harry has done and we realised that not many people were talking about it, so we decided to make this and express our thoughts on the song.

(disclaimer: THIS IS OUR INTERPRETATION! IT ISN’T NECESSARILY TRUE, also this has nothing to do with any relationship harry has had, this is about harry and harry only.)

There will be 3 sections to this carrd; the first one is the “characters” of the song, the second one is the explanation of each line of the song, and the third one is the explanation of the guitar solo at the end of the song.

CHARACTERS

SONG EXPLAINED LINE BY LINE

GUITAR SOLO

the characters are the same person split in two, “HE” and “SHE”, plus the NARRATOR

TWO CHARACTERS, it’s only one person (plus harry narrating and explaining what he sees, harry isn’t [technically] a part of the story, but also harry is “HE” and “HE” = “SHE” and “SHE” is that part of “HE” that he isn’t showing.

SHE:
The free and special part of HE, the part that’s hidden and can’t come out. SHE just lives in the dreams of HE

NARRATOR:
the person that shares the story, the verses and bridge are told by the narrator (harry IS the narrator, he is telling his story from another perspective)

HE:
the main person in the story, all of the song revolves around him, “SHE” is also a part of “HE”, and “HE” sings the chorus

EXPLANATION OF THE ENTIRE LYRICS OF THE SONG

VERSE 1

[third person perspective]

“nine in the morning”
9am ITS THE WAY HARRY DECIDES TO OPEN THE SONG AND INTRODUCE THE CHARACTER OF “HE”, SO WE COULD GET TO KNOW “HE” BETTER AND HOW HE LIVES HIS DAILY LIFE, AND HOW “HE” IS LIKE “EVERYONE ELSE“

“the man drops his kids off at school”
is it a metaphor to refer to a responsibility and being in charge of such a big thing like taking care of your kids (in harry’s case it’s fame, FAME IS THE BIG RESPONSIBILITY), and how this can be stopping him from expressing “SHE”

”he’s thinking of you”
(YOU = SHE) “HE” wants to be himself and “SHE” represents that, that part of himself that can’t be shown because of what others might think, he’s always thinking about “SHE” because that’s who he really is, also this might mean that the HE wants to know better that part of him that is hidden (SHE)

“like all of us do”
everyone has a hidden part of themselves that they want to show but can’t because people can judge (in harry’s case because of management, some fans and the gp) “SHE” can represent every single one of us, one way or another, maybe you want to change something in your life to be happier no matter the importance of it or maybe you want to come out and be free and be a “new” part of you and that is something huge.

“sends his assistant for coffee in the afternoon”
not having that much responsibility since someone else is doing it for him, someone else is in charge of the situation

“around 1:32”
why at 1:32? (for more info related to 132 click the underlined text)

132 number that connects with: family, home, harmony. there’s also independence, creative expression as a family and a cooperative atmosphere/relation. Growth and development of the family.
EXPLANATION OF EACH NUMBER:
1: self determination, independence, EXPLORING NEW WAYS OF DOING THINGS
3: creative expression, inspiration and tolerance
2: relationship and coexistence
The energy represented by the number 132 connects with family, home and harmony. It also connects with independent thinking and acting.

“like he knows what to do”
it means that he pretends, he isn’t himself and just lives pretending since no one notices it and if someone notices it it’s the minority (harry’s perspective represents the minority) so “HE” can’t do anything about it. “HE” PRETENDS HE IS OK AND THAT HE KNOWS WHAT HE’S DOING, maybe bc he wants to be free and he HAS to hide, BUT HE ISNT 100% SURE IF WHAT HES DOING ITS OK BUT KEEPS DOING IT BC ITS THE ONLY THING HE’S EVER KNOWN [hiding] AND HE IS SCARED TO DO NEW THINGS.

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CHORUS

[first person perspective]

“she (she), she lives in daydreams with me (she)”
harry emphasises a lot with the “she” he wants us to know about the importance of “she” and how “HE” is constantly daydreaming with that part of himself that can’t be shown to everyone

“she’s the first one that i see”
“SHE” is really present in the thoughts of “HE” because that’s the only thing “HE” wants, “HE” wants to explore that part of him that’s hidden

“i don’t know why, i don’t know who she is”
EVEN THO HE WANTS TO BE “SHE” HE ISN’T 100% SURE OF WHAT “SHE” FULLY IS AND REPRESENTS AND THATS WHAT MAKES IT SCARY, HE DREAMS WITH SHE BUT HE STILL DOESN’T FULLY UNDERSTANDS IT

she lives in daydreams with him bc he can’t be that person, he can’t be SHE (as a metaphor), he has to live his life as another person but he dreams about being someone else

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VERSE 2

[third person perspective]

“he takes a boat out, imagines just sailing away (away, away)”
he’s imagining leaving that life behind but since he still has responsibilities [in harry’s case that responsibility is fame] he just imagines it and never actually does it.

“and not telling his mates”
he doesn’t tell his friends, (the fans), his family, no one, bc he’s scared of what they might think of him, he’s scared of the reaction they might have to him being free so he never says anything, connecting this to adore you “HE” is the peculiar boy, he’s different from the others but they don’t know it.

“wouldn’t know what to say”
he never says it because he doesn’t know how to, he wants people to know that he is different but he doesn’t know how to express it, he isn’t 100% sure what “SHE” is, so he doesn’t have the words to explain it to everyone else, and maybe if he said it they would tell him to hide it because it isn’t normal

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CHORUS

[first person perspective]

(everything from the first chorus is the same except from the last part)

end of the first chorus = “She's the first one that I see, and I don't know why I don't know who she is (She, she)”

end of second chorus = “She lives in daydreams with me, and I don't know why I don't know where she is (She, she)”

this could mean that “SHE” started to disappear, since it was something that he wasn’t allowed to express, it wasn’t possible for “HE” to express himself as “SHE”, but “HE” doesn’t want “SHE” to disappear, “SHE” is disappearing thanks to what other people outside of his head say and think of it [management] “HE” is looking for “SHE” because “HE” doesn’t want “SHE” to disappear. “SHE” is also disappearing within himself like he can’t even remember what “SHE” is because he’s been hiding it for so long so “where is “SHE”

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BRIDGE

[third person perspective]

“Lives for the memory”
Since people can’t know about “SHE” and that “HE” isn’t “normal”, the only way to keep “SHE” as something more than a faded memory is by keeping it away from everyone else, so now it’s just a memory/dream “HE” has for himself

“a woman who’s just in his head”
that special/peculiar part of him is being represented as a woman, “SHE” is a woman that can only exist in his dreams, but “SHE” isn’t actually a woman, it’s just the feeling, the sensation of being free and being himself, but since “HE” can’t do it in front of the world bc the world will try to take it away, “SHE” just lives in his memory, his dreams, his consciousness, HIS HEAD. EVERYTHING HAPPENS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. NOTHING EVER COMES OUT

“and she sleeps in his bed”
since “SHE” can only come out in his dreams, “SHe” stays in his bed (behind closed doors) since there is the only place where “HE” can be “SHE”

“while he plays pretend”
AND WHILE “HE” CANT BE IN BED DREAMING OF BEING “SHE”, “HE KEEPS PRETENDING EVERYTHING IS OK, LIKE “HE” KNOWS WHAT He’s DOING, JUST LIKE THE FIRST VERSE

“so pretend”
SO EVEN THO “HE” CANT BE “SHE” IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD, “HE” PREFERS HAVING TO PRETEND BE SOMEONE ELSE, INSEAD OF FULLY LOOSING “SHE”. SO “HE” PRETENDS. “He” CONTINUES PRETENDING JUST TO KEEp THAT PART OF HIMSELF THAT ITS TRULY HIM

{here the chorus repeats again, and with that those were all the lyrics analysed}

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to be able to understand the explanation of the guitar solo you have to know the meaning behind the lyrics, without knowing the meaning you will not understand the meaning of the guitar solo.

the guitar solo expresses how free “HE” wants to be, a guitar solo is usually improvised, something that wasn’t planed before hand and just goes with the flow, it FEELS free, a lot of the emotions that “HE” is going through are represented in that guitar solo and it seems like “HE” and “SHE” are happy behind the scenes no matter how complicated it might be, “HE” still has a little bit of time to be SHE and the guitar solo feels like a dream, the dream where “HE” can finally be “SHE”, AND AS THE GUITAR SOLO ENDS, THE DREAM IS ALSO ENDING, WHEN ITs almost ENDing YOU CAN HEAR AN ALARM CLOCK (4:54 the exact minute of the alarm clock sound) WHICH CONFIRMS THE IDEA OF THE GUITAR SOLO BEING A REPRESENTATION OF THE DREAM “HE” HAD WHILE BEING “SHE”.
BUT THE DREAM KEEPS GOING after the alarm clock, HE DOESN’T WANT TO WAKE UP AND PRETEND TO BE SOMEONE ELSE BUT HE HAS TO, SO THAT’S WHY THE GUITAR SOLO ENDS SLOWLY, REPRESENTING THAT HES WAKING UP AND THE STORY Will REPEAT ITSELF MEANING THAT THE WHOLE SONG IS ONE BIG THING THAT NEVER ENDS