What do you think of Harry saying SOTT is about a mom dying in childbirth. I'm just ??????? What do you think SOTT is about?
For reference:
‘Sign of the Times’ came from ‘This isn’t the first time we’ve been in a hard time, and it’s not going to be the last time.’ The song is written from a point of view as if a mother was giving birth to a child and there’s a complication. The mother is told, ‘The child is fine, but you’re not going to make it.’ The mother has five minutes to tell the child, 'Go forth and conquer.’
Harry Styles, Rolling Stone
When I read this I immediately thought he’s trying to tell us without telling us that Jay was the inspiration for SOTT and making it his lead single is a tribute to her. I mean, that’s my take on it. Makes sense to me.
She prepared her kids (which for all intents and purposes includes Harry) for her death.
Just stop your cryingIt’s a sign of the timesWelcome to the final showHope you’re wearing your best clothes
Referencing a funeral here.
You can’t bribe the door on your way to the skyYou look pretty good down hereBut you ain’t really good
Understand when it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. Riches can’t save you. Your life may look great from the outside. But it’s not always as good as it looks. And those last two lines may be a reference to how shocked everyone was that young, beautiful, vivacious Jay had passed. It’s not all good in Harry’s hood, even if that’s what the tabloids and paps and gossips make it seem like.
We never learn, we’ve been here beforeWhy are we always stuck and running fromThe bullets, the bullets?We never learn, we’ve been here beforeWhy are we always stuck and running fromThe bullets, the bullets?
We’re all whistling past the graveyard like death isn’t coming for us and our loved ones. When it comes, we’re devastated. We know it’s coming eventually, but we can’t get in the headspace of truly being ready for it. So we live on the run. Running from death. But it will catch us eventually.
Just stop your cryingIt’s a sign of the timesWe gotta get away from hereWe gotta get away from hereJust stop your cryingIt’ll be alrightThey told me that the end is nearWe gotta get away from here
To everything there is a season. The time of death is upon us. But don’t stay in this place of grief. It’s ok to move on. Keep living your life.
Just stop your cryingHave the time of your lifeBreaking through the atmosphereAnd things are pretty good from here
Jay wants her kids to enjoy life, even though she’ll be gone. She’s going to a better place. No more suffering.
Remember, everything will be alrightWe can meet again somewhereSomewhere far away from here
It feels terrible now. But eventually, it’ll get better. And she’ll see them again someday. N.E.R.D.–noone ever really dies. Energy just transforms.
We don’t talk enoughWe should open upBefore it’s all too muchWill we ever learn?We’ve been here beforeIt’s just what we know
Don’t take your loved ones for granted. Share. Bond. Grow together. Do better. A mother’s wisdom.
I feel like this is where it was going with the dying mom comments. Of course, for many fucked up reasons, he obviously couldn’t say this was about Jay. But I think he dropped enough of a hint for us to pick up. It’s not the first hard time or the last? I think in Ever Since New York, Harry made it clear that hiding his relationship with Louis and engaging in fauxmances has been very painful for him and I’m sure for both families as well. The child is fine, but you’re not going to make it? Yep, all her kids are thankfully fine. The mother has 5 minutes to tell the child to go forth and conquer? That must have been what the last months of her life felt like–5 minutes. Not enough time. But she prepared them. God bless.
