adore you - a close reading
fine line, track 3
alright, i have so much love and affection for this song it’s like it’s an old friend and my child at the same time. i don’t have a fish tattoo bc i really like fish if you get what i mean. this song will never fail to make me smile and love life, have confidence in my emotions and, especially, be shameless about it all.
Walk in your rainbow paradise
hey, that’s gay! 🌈
Strawberry lipstick state of mind
⟶ yungblud’s “strawberry lipstick”: he’s got dick on his mind again 🍓(～ watermelon sugar)
I get so lost inside your eyes
Would you believe it?
recurring theme: eyes of his lover (～ two ghosts, “same eyes blue”)
You don't have to say you love me
You don't have to say nothing
You don't have to say you're mine
no pressure, this is just H expressing his adoration, expecting nothing in return
⟷ (fear of) being needy: recurring theme
Honey
I’d walk through fire for you
recurring theme: H would do anything to be with them, if he had to (～ if i could fly, “i think i might give up everything, just ask me to”)
Just let me adore you
recurring theme: let me in! ～ MMITH, golden
Like it's the only thing I’ll ever do
Your wonder under summer sky
Brown skin and lemon over ice
～ golden
Would you believe it?
You don't have to say you love me
I just wanna tell you somethin'
Lately, you've been on my mind
recurring theme: early stages of the relationship, infatuation; hesitation
It's the only thing I’ll ever do
"like" is gone: it's a fact. and we know, bc harry “writes too many songs” about his person. (not that we’d ever complain)
future tense: H knows it’s the only thing he’ll ever do - song about their beginnings, looking back
SYNTHESIS
Adore You is all about the other person. There is no selfishness, which is sometimes present in Harry's other lyrics; no jealousy or other heaviness of any kind. It's Harry, once again, celebrating love. He's patient for his hesitant lover, once again, but he'll scream his feelings from the rooftops in the meantime.
The mv paints a picture of Harry as a "peculiar boy" and is a queer narrative if I've ever seen one. Someone who is bright and colorful, which makes him stand out so much that his surroundings shut him out. It starts off very dark, with Harry ready to step into the ocean. The fish wants to achieve the same end, and does so by launching himself out of the water. The peculiar boy gets distracted from his own plan in order to save the fish, and so the positive effect of finding the fish/his person is shown as even more dramatic and life-changing. This person threw Harry's life around and the two of them lived in a small part of paradise together after finding each other in a dark time in both of their lives. Without realising it, they influenced the people in town, changing their lives for the better. The fish clearly loved the boy, but kept growing bigger and bigger. I see this as the boy and the fish strengthening each other: the boy has found purpose and beauty in life, and the fish grows and grows into his full capacity. The town still is not fully welcoming, however, and everything takes a turn when the fish sees another fish getting beheaded. This is when the boy puts the fish back in the ocean, with the help of the people in town. The fish swims off, and the boy decides to follow him, sailing off. He turns his frustration (his screams into the jars) into the force that drives him forward, following happiness (the fish, freedom, new opportunities). Also, yes, the references to tired tired sea, a famous fic, or a children’s book of a particular name, are not unseen, but i will be discussing this at a later stage.
Harry said the song definitely wasn't about an unrequited love or yearning from afar (howard stern, don't watch that interview bc the guy sucks), but that it was about those first feelings of love after meeting someone. "Take me!"
This mv and song paint the picture further of Harry wanting to tell the story of their love, from the beginnings to current day. Once again, he gives us some very obvious clues about sexuality, and then continues to serenade the love of his life. His own love story is so incredible to him (”would you believe it?”) that it’s his favorite story to tell over and over again. I’m here for it. I think we all are. We’re still in the beginning of fine line and he’s only at the part where they’ve just met and are insanely infatuated.
Hmmmmm, where will the story go from here, I wonder? Luckily, Harry didn’t stop writing songs after this one so we’ll find those answers soon.
read my other lyric analyses here
