ok so i need to put down what i think ‘as it was’’s meaning is. at least to me, what i felt like the message conveyed was. and i’m saving it here so that if anyone wants to read, you’re welcome to do so. let’s start.
let’s start from the lyrics and let’s analyse them thoroughly.
(let me just say that his goddaughter’s voicemail at the beginning is just so cute i might cry. i haven’t figured out yet how it relates to the song cause as of the moment i don’t think it has any connections whatsoever, BUT it sounds really nice overall and it adds that bit of a thrill at the beginning, u know?) (also, i think to me it proves how much harry cares about his loved ones)
‘holdin me back, gravity’s holdin me back’
the first verse we get into is about some kind of restriction he has upon himself, something that doesn’t allow him to be free and not ‘held back’. now, i think the meaning behind the word gravity might be important as well and there are two ways to see it imo:
1. ‘the gravity that supposed to make me live in the most natural way possible, keeping me grounded and not floating around, the same gravity that keeps you all alive is the one that is actually killing me, restraining me’ kinda way. therefore, hinting at something that for most people is just ‘normal’ or well-seen that is instead crushing him down, not letting him express himself the way he wants to
2. OR ‘i want to fly so high, i want to reach the moon and sky and beyond, i want to follow my dreams but i can’t do it because i’m forced here by gravity’ kinda way. therefore, referring to the impossible task of reaching what he aches for and dreams for.
either way, he’s not free to do what he wants.
‘i want you to hold out the palm of your hand’
despite his restrictions, his lack of possibility, he wants this ‘you’ subject (PLEASE REMEMBER THAT HE’S TALKING WITH A YOU SUBJECT THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE SONG, IT’LL COME IN HANDY LATER ON) to just hold him, be there when he needs it. and he’s not saying ‘i want you to hold my hand’, no he’s saying ‘i want you to hold out the palm of your hand’ as if he’ll always need it, it’s not temporary, he knows he needs this comfort from this person to be available at all times.
‘why don’t we leave it at that?’
now that’s a question that has me spinning. does it mean that he wants things to go just this specific way, without interfering? does it mean that this simple gesture is enough for both of them and that they don’t need anything else when in need? does it mean that he doesn’t want anything more?
who knows really, but i kinda tend to assume the meaning is some sort of thing like ‘this is so simple to do and i just wanna do it all the time and please don’t ever stop’.
‘nothing to say when everything gets in the way,
seems you cannot be replaced and i’m the one who will stay’
basically, he says that he has nothing to say or to even offer when things get in their way (remember this part). and he’s not just saying ‘things’, but ‘everything’, meaning that everything possible, thinkable and existing has already gotten in their way. but that has never stopped them.
cause afterwards he says that this ‘you’, this person he seeks comfort in, cannot be replaced in any way. maybe he’s even tried doing so, maybe he hasn’t, but he can’t get enough of them, can’t think of any solution to their hardships without them by his side. everything they went through in the past and anything they’ll face in the future won’t matter cause there’s no one else like this person, no one else can take their place. and this to me feels like comfort, like stability, like HOME, like ‘we went through hell but i still love you and damn if i’ll ever leave you’, like a long time of suffering that’s being worth it cause in the end it’s always them.
and he even says it, he says ‘i’m the one who will stay’. therefore, you can go, you can do whatever you want cause i want you to be free and to do what you want but i’ll never leave. i’ll always be here cause i can’t, won’t leave.
(do not get me started on that ‘ohh’ that had me so weak i SCREAMED the first time)
‘in this world, it’s just us, you know it’s not the same as it was’
nothing else matters cause it’s us, nothing in this world will make me believe in anything but us cause we’re here, we’re right here and we don’t need anyone else. but he also says that it isn’t like before, it isn’t the way they were used to and they both know that. those hardships they went through, possibly they’ve changed, they’ve become harder and harder and they’ll become even harder in the future, but it’s them and them alone and that is enough.
things will change, that’s how life is, and you can’t do nothing but accept it cause otherwise you can’t go on. but while things inevitably shift, we don’t. cause remember that he said ‘seems you cannot be replaced’? no matter what happens, this is it for them. there’s no going back nor moving forward from the feeling they’ve conquered and want to keep safe.
(also, in an interview harry said that this was the perfect comeback after such a change to the world as the pandemic, and the ukraine situation might i add, and if that’s not sweet and thoughtful i don’t know what is.)
the repetition in the chorus of ‘as it was’ kinda gives me a nostalgic feeling. as if he misses the way things used to be, maybe simpler, better, easier, but he knows that they can’t go back, there’s no way that can happen so he accepts it. he accepts it but he still feels nostalgic.
‘answer the phone, ‘harry you’re no good alone’‘
now. here’s the part that has me SO weak. the first part of the lyric is probably a sentence that was said to him so many times he has lost counts, by family members, friends and people he works with (maybe, possibly, it’s also a reference to the missed phone call from his goddaughter?).
the second part, to me, is bad. i think there are two possible interpretations (as lots of the things here) and they’re both quite sad.
1. either it means that these people surrounding him think he can’t do nothing on his own, he’s incapable of doing something without the help and guidance of someone expert that will probably keep him from telling what he really wants to (like the gravity that’s holding him back that’s supposed to just keep him well and alive?). which, sad. angry. wanna punch a wall kinda feeling.
2. or it means that sometimes (a lot) he gets lost in his head, in his heart, in his feelings and there’s no escape from it. he thinks about those ‘downs’, about the things he faced, about what made him suffer. he thinks about what is to come, what he can and can’t do, he gets paranoid, he overthinks. everything is black and he doesn’t know how to fix it. sometimes that simple nostalgia is just so strong that it overwhelmes him. and his people know it, so they call him, they worry about him whether it be for love or for selfish reasons.
both meaning convey the message that the world does not want him alone cause of what it can happen. which, endlessly sad and painful.
‘why are you sitting at home on the floor?
what kind of pills are you on?’
this has me mad. it sounds like mocking, like underestimating his feelings, like putting him down when he’s already on the floor (i will not talk about the references to his other songs, but just know that there are). as if you’re watching him, helpless and in a rock-bottom-kinda-situation, and you just laugh at him. you even ask why as if it’s explainable or that simple.
then, the pills. it might as well be another mocking, like watching him in that state feels like he’s on drugs or something. it might be referring to anti-depressants, him feeling so down for a certain period that he had to get some medical help. it might as well be actual drugs, something he used to take his mind off of his thoughts, trying to shut it off and just zone out.
all of these possibilities are equally terrifying and sad and heartbreaking. cause no one around him actually asks the correct questions or wants to genuine help. just laugh, and judge.
‘ringin the bell and nobody’s coming to help’
he’s tried. he’s tried asking for help but no one came. he’s tried to get those intrusive thoughts out of his mind but nobody actually listened to him. remember falling? or fine line? yeah. not only no one offers help, his demands for it go unanswered.
‘your daddy lives by himself, he just wants to know that you’re well’
this part i’m still having trouble connecting with the rest. but for what it seems like, he’s referring to some kind of paternal figure in his life that is not that present and only calls once in a while to know how he is. not really interested, not really wanting to help or even know the truth, just the simple routine-like question that makes this person feel like he’s been doing his job and nobody can tell him anything (as if that’s enough). or maybe it’s just a metaphor for this same kind of situation.
then again, the chorus brings back his love life, how he sees it and perceives it and all. cause yeah, it’s undeniable this is about someone he loves. and maybe, repeating all of it again after what he just said, is a reminder for him that after all he may feel alone but he isn’t truly so.
‘go home, get ahead, light-speed internet’
now my favourite part: the bridge. first of all, i love the way it sounds, it’s just so beautiful. second of all, i feel like it brings a kind of closure to the entirety of the song, combining together his dark thoughts and demons and problems with his love. let’s analyse the single parts individually and then let’s try to give an altogether sense.
go home: he’s telling the person he’s been referring to for the entire song to just go home. a very much new theme in his discography, isn’t it?
get ahead: go home before me, i’ll reach when i can and we’ll both be home, together
light-speed internet: it’s no secret that internet is very fast nowadays and can connect different parts of the worls in just a sec or communicate something to the entire world in a millisecond. again. two possible interpretations: the internet will serve us as a means to communicate with each other for the time we’re apart, or the internet will be the one that will keep each other updated on our status and doings thanks to the gossip, thanks to every rumour that is out and about and we have to live with that and with the fact that they spread around immediately.
overall, we can say that harry is telling his love to just go home before him, he’ll come to them as soon as he can and meanwhile they’ll still be with each other, one way or another. it’s clear here that it’s something that they’re used to doing, that it’s almost common and normal for them.
‘i don’t want to talk about the way that it was’
he’s reminiscing of how things used to be, again, how simpler maybe, how easier it was to be separated and only connected by the internet during a time where new things weren’t in between
‘leave America, two kids follow her’
the new things that are coming in between. and yes i’m referring to the fact that this is probably a stunt lyric (cause that relationship screams the most stunt ever). we’ve been fed over and over with stunt pics and video and tips that they both are in such a serious relationship that the kids stay with them and so on (i.e. the pics of the kids at his concerts). seeing as that is the furthest thing from the truth imo, i feel like this is the new thing that gets in the way. why am i so sure of it? remember when at the beginning of this post i told you to remember the fact that he always referred to his love with a you? well now he’s talking about a she. that is clearly not the subject of his love affections and attention of this song.
so this stunt is basically the new thing that is coming in between them and it’s difficult, it’s painful, it’s hard. but in that world, it’s just them.
‘i don’t wanna talk about who’s doing it first’
first question that comes up: who’s doing WHAT first? yeah, who knows. i genuinely cannot think of an answer to that. BUT. what’s interesting is how he’s saying it. when he said just before that he doesn’t want to talk about the way it was, it’s clear that he doesn’t want to because it hurts. it’s nostalgic. now here, this is not a matter of ‘shall we do it?’, it’s a matter of ‘who will do it first?’, whatever ‘it’ may be. so it’s like a final decision taken, as if ‘we need to do this and i don’t care who does it first’.
CONCLUSION: briefly, all i’m saying is that at the beginning and during the chorus, we are exposed to this love, to this relationship that has seen a lot of struggles but it’s still very much present, or at least the sentiment is, cause ‘seems you cannot be replaced’ is loud enough. then, we hear harry talking about his inner struggles, his overthinking and restless mind and the people around him that do absolutely nothing to help him. nada.
in the end, we have some kind of collision of this two worlds: we have their love life that is still going on despite the amount of struggles that are getting incredibly harder and the outside world, the people who don’t care enough about harry that are intruding in this separate part of his life, such as the stunt that is getting more and more overwhelming and time-consuming.
onto the music video, i know that a lot of people think that the girl in the blue suit is his feminine side and that may work if only the song was different, had a different meaning. if we were to watch the video only, without any backtrack, i would have agreed with this theory cause it makes a lot of sense. but since ‘as it was’ tells a troubled love story, that’s what i’m getting at.
i will not repeat what i’ve seen multiple times on twitter from people who i think have explained thoroughly well and i’ll provide you the link if you want to have a look. this is the best one i’ve found that really summarises my thoughts on it. so credits to this person <3
i wanted to add my personal input tho:
- she is obviously representing the love interest in this song
- the coming together and coming apart on the spinning circle mostly symbolizes the struggles they had to go through that still led them together once more. they were hurt, deeply, and it can be seen on both of them, but they were still there.
- the thing that assured to me that i was sensing the meaning of ‘seems you cannot be replaced’ right was the scene where they were being pulled apart: she fell off the circle, she didn’t want to/was scared to strip down of her clothes entirely, but harry was still there. she was still the one for him and he would still stay, until some greater force came to pick them apart
- he was never pushing on her, he always understood that she needed her time and he always gave it to her
- when he broke free, when he finally let the outside world see him for the way he really was, when he was dancing happily and enthusiastically, he did not forget about her. on the contrary. whether he took off to go to her, to go home, or to just experience his life as this new person, she will always remain the irreplaceable one in his life. the only difference, that now he can show the world that this someone exist without pushing her to come forward. cause now things are not the same way as they were, they’re different, but they stand on the same place, they still love each other.
this is it and i truly hope i didn’t forget anything
