#jeff bhasker

[cantquitu]

Jeff Bhasker is the guest on the latest episode of Ross Golan's ...And The Writer Is podcast and shares some lovely stuff about recording HS1 with Harry, and his songwriting approach.

[mitjalovse]

The veteran musicians differ from one another in a lot of things with the major one being the lengths of their most successful periods. For instance, Madonna achieved an incredible longevity for a pop musician, though her latest albums do find her in a place of a struggle. That is at least the media's interpretation of them, yet they made a mistake with Madame X. While the LP does not belong to her best, you can notice she still does care, she does not just exist as a recording entity. Moreover, she also continues to pay attention to the modern scenes as we can hear on the link. True, she seems more clumsy in molding them into her own idiom, but wasn't she always like this? Thus, I have a crazy hunch she might do a hyperpop album after Madame X and I look forward to that.

[sourpussyanthan]

[forensicated]

04x43 - Tigers

Reg is trying to get donations for Great Ormand St Hospital in a busy CID from officers who mostly try to avoid him.

Tosh 'subtly' makes his way to sit at a table in a cafe to speak to an Asian man, Naseeruddin. Naseeruddin has called because he's terrified his father's restaurant is going to be attacked by a racist group from the White Swan pub. There's also an Asian gang that the White Swan lot goes up against called the Tigers who use the restaurant as a 'base'. They have intimidated his father into allowing them to use his garage to store things. Naseeruddin is obviously frightened but Tosh is quite uncharacteristically short with him and then loudly shouts over to Naseeruddin who legs it after spotting two thugs entering. So much for the initial subtlety.

A lady with a travel carrycot arrives and asks Tony, who is manning the front desk, if she can speak to Jim. She won't tell him why or what her name is and insists on seeing Jim and only Jim. Tony goes to try to get help from Alec.

Alec is in the midst of trying to calm down a corridor full of chaos. Claire appears to have nicked two young lads who were selling what appear to be stolen trees and plants for giving her a load of verbal. Their stock now lines the station corridors and makes it difficult to move around. "Don't let it happen again, Claire!"

In the middle of the chaos, Reg is still trying to get donations from everyone. Alec follows Tony to the front desk to see what the problem is after ranting and raving. However, the young girl has done a runner but left the baby.

Tosh goes to update Frank on what Naseeruddin told him. He tells Frank that he knows the White Swan to be the local of some rather vicious men who would definitely be the sort to attack a Bangladeshi restaurant. Tosh has gotten a warrant for the garage of the restaurant so he and Jim are sent to search it.

At the front desk it's all very Three Men And A Little Baby. Alec and Reg are trying to calm the baby whilst Tony has to tell Alec he can't spot the baby's mother outside.

Alec orders Tony to go and get Jim and to only speak to Jim.

As luck would have it, Jim is coming down the stairs with Tosh to go visit the restaurant. Tosh agrees to wait for him outside and gives him five minutes. Alec and Tony take Jim aside and explain that a young lady came in asking for PC Jim Carver. She's since disappeared and left the baby behind. They describe her to him and Jim clearly recognises her but he initially thinks it's a practical joke. Alec calmly puts it to him that it could be his child. Jim admits to having an affair with a woman called Lorraine who matches the description. Alec asks him to go sort it whilst Claire minds the child.

The phone just rings out when Jim tries to call Lorraine. He asks Tony for more information and accuses him of being asleep on the front desk to let her disappear in the first place. Tony snaps back that he's having to deal with the case as though it's a MISPER and tells Jim to come clean. "If you must put it about a bit, think rubber!" Jim snaps back that it's not his baby. Reg is absolutely loving the floor show.

Tosh storms in, ordering Jim to get into the car NOW!

Claire tells Reg that Alec is supposed to be getting Social Services in to take the baby. He asks her if she thinks that the baby looks like Jim. Claire sends him on his way.

In the yard, Jim asks Tosh if they can stop at his ex's house on the way. Before he can explain why, Naseeruddin appears in the yard and asks if they're going to speak to his father. Tosh asks him to come and talk to him and Naseeruddin tells him that the man who saw him in the cafe with Tosh will know it was him and asks him to leave it. Jim tries to follow him but loses him.

Frank is amused to hear that Jim has been accused of being a baby's father. Alec says he's going to sort it out and Frank claims Jim's either lying, the girl is dolally or she wants rid of the kid so is dropping it off and blaming him so Social Services take it. Frank promises to speak to Jim when he gets back.

Jim storms round to where his ex used to live to confront her. Noone answers so he checks the door and finds it open and baby things everywhere. Downstairs the man who opened the door when Jim pushed through is on the phone to the police asking them to come because a 'shifty looking man' forced his way in. Jim comes down and shows his warrant card but rather aggressively asks for Lorraine. The old man, scared, legs it up the stairs to his flat.

Tosh asks Jim what's wrong and Jim explains there's no way of telling for certain 'but they can have a kid and claim it's yours'. They enter the restaurant and speak to the manager who claims to know nothing of threats, only drunk youths who can't handle their beer. He tries to get them to leave but Tosh gives him the warrant and looks around with Jim. He asks for the garage key and Jim goes to get it from his wife before she can hide it. Inside are lots of flasks of ammonia, bats and sharp knives. The owner claims it's for cleaning the kitchen and the knives are souvenirs but it's obvious he's lying. A group of Asian men, 'The Tigers', surround the garage. Tosh tells him they're going to confiscate the weapons so one of the men pulls a knife on the owner. He shouts that the man's son, Naseeruddin, was spotted talking to Tosh that morning. He threatens Naseeruddin in Bengali and shouts to the others to find him. The owner has to bargain with the men to let the officers out of the garage. They leg it through the restaurant to their car to find that it has had its tyres slashed. They quickly get in and lock the doors but the car is ambushed and tipped over. Thankfully a panda is nearby and arrives with its blues and twos going, scaring them off.

Both men are shaken but largely unhurt and able to escape the car with help.

Lorraine returns to the station She asks what Jim has said. Tony asks why she rushed off and Alec invites her to join him in an interview room to talk to him. Lorraine refuses and asks to see Jim and her child. Jim comes through and asks Lorraine what the hell she thinks she's doing and shouts at Alec before he's calmed down. Jim pushes Lorraine ahead of him to go into a private room so they can talk.

Frank tells Tosh that he should have waited and not gone in. Tosh tells him it seemed safe because it was all quiet and the owner was cooperating. Frank tells him to be wary next time but is distracted by Alec popping up to tell him that 'Carver's just sorting that other... thing... Guv.' He tells Alec to pass on the message that he wants to see him. Now.

Jim has Lorraine backed against a wall. He calls her stupid and his behaviour and language is rather intimidating. He keeps repeating that the baby is nothing to do with him. "You had your fling, it's easy for you!" He reminds her that she dumped him and repeats that the baby is nothing to do with him. He accuses her of trying it on and says she's made him look a proper Charlie. She starts to whimper about how she has to get out of where she's staying and how scared she is and he shouts over her to tell her to make a statement saying he's not the father 'and if you don't know...!" "What do you mean 'if I don't know? What do you think I am!?" she shouts back at him before snapping at him for not caring and that no one cares.

Lorraine tries to leave and Jim grabs her to stop her but instead of restraining her, he hugs her. Finally JimJim! Lorraine stiffens initially but sags into the comfort and sits down when Jim asks her to. He arranges for her to get a cup of tea and quietly asks why he left the baby. She says she had to, she had to turn her back on her because she was so worked up and exhausted that she shook her that morning. She thinks she shouldn't have gone through with having her. She begs Jim to take the baby home and look after her and help her find another flat. She's distraught when she thinks that the baby has been taken by Social Services.

Claire is shouted at whilst on patrol and told that there's someone in the water. The girls and Claire haul the man out of the water and Claire tries to give him CPR to his back(!!) without turning him over so she can get to his mouth to help his breathing. (having said that though, she did only do airway support the last time she did CPR (and not very well!) so it's on brand for Claire). It's Naseeruddin.

Tosh brings Naseeruddin's father in for affray and inciting a riot. He tells Tosh that there's going to be a fight that night with the racists at the White Swan who will likely set fire to the restaurant or throw excrement through the door whilst the customers are eating. Tosh is hauled out by Frank who tells him that Naseeruddin has been found in the canal with no apparent injuries but it appears he hasn't made it. It's left open-ended as to whether he was scared enough to do it himself - which Frank makes sound doubtful - or if the Tiger's threw him in there. Frank thinks it'll finally make his father go on the record at least.

Notes for this ep: The corridor scene where Tony tries to find Alec and wades through the trees and Alec/Claire argue was adlibbed.

A rogue member of the public attempted to set Mark Wingett's hair on fire during his trip into work.

The baby that Carver's ex said was his daughter the goddaughter of the stage manager who is now in her 30's.

It really doesn't show any of the officers in their best lights - particularly Tosh (in the first scene with Naseeruddin) and Jim!

[doyoulikethissong-poll]

Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk 2014

"Uptown Funk" is a song by British record producer Mark Ronson featuring American singer Bruno Mars. It was released on 10 November 2014, as the lead single from Ronson's fourth studio album, Uptown Special (2015). "Uptown Funk" was written by Ronson, Mars, Jeff Bhasker, and Philip Lawrence; it was produced by the aforementioned first three. The song began during a freestyle studio session while they worked on a jam Mars and his band had been playing on tour. Copyright controversies arose after the song's release resulting in multiple lawsuits and amendments to its songwriting credits. The song is a funk-pop, soul, boogie, disco-pop, and Minneapolis sound track. It has a spirit akin to the 1980s-era funk music. Its lyrics address fashion, self-love and "traditional masculine bravado", performed in a sing-rapping style filled with metaphors, arrogance, charisma, and fun. Upon its release, the single received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the instrumental, style and influences of the track. Others criticized it for not being innovative as it tried to emulate 1980s funk music.

"Uptown Funk" topped the charts of 19 countries and reached the top 10 of 15 others, making it the most successful single of Ronson and Mars to date. In the US, "Uptown Funk" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 14 consecutive weeks and spent seven weeks on the top of the UK Singles Chart. It was certified 11 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and six times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The song spent 11 weeks in the number one position in France, 6 weeks as number one in Australia, and 9 consecutive weeks as number one in New Zealand. It also broke its own streaming record three times in the UK, while breaking the streaming record in the US and Worldwide at that time. As of January 2023, the official music video for "Uptown Funk" was the ninth most viewed Youtube video of all-time, having received over 5.2 billion views.

In 2015, the song won British Single of the Year at the Brit Awards, Best Pop at MelOn Music Awards and was one of the Top 10 Gold International Gold Songs at RTHK International Pop Poll Awards. The track also won BMI Pop Song of the Year at the BMI Awards, Song of the Year at Telehit Awards and Song of the Year at Soul Train Music Awards. In 2016, "Uptown Funk" received Grammy awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at the 58th Grammy Awards. It also won International Work of the Year at the APRA Music Awards, Best Collaboration at the iHeartRadio Music Awards, while it was nominated for Song of the Year. "Uptown Funk " was inducted to the 2017 edition of the Guinness World Records for achieving the most weeks at number one on Billboard's Digital Song Sales chart. In 2017, the track was one of the winners of Most Performed Songs at the ASCAP Pop Music Awards. "Uptown Funk" is the fifth biggest song of all-time to have charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

"Uptown Funk" received a total of 84,5% yes votes!

[twopoppies]

I LOVE her voice!

And the news made me smile 😌

https://x.com/zquadrry28x/status/1848403670439801241?s=46&t=HJNgJeyaKbaPu8DTunwOUA

Oh wow. It sounds gorgeous. I saw she registered a song and he was listed as a co-writer. Kid and Tyler also produced her huge hit, “Flowers.”

x

Side note: they only produced Five Line and Harry’s House. Jeff Bhasker produced HS1.

[werewolfnat]

Spotify Wrapped Request Meme 2023 Edition

31. Doom and Gloom (Jeff Bhasker Mix) by The Rolling Stones + Dustin - requested by @magickingom

Pick a song 1-100 and a fandom i’ll make a gifset with the lyrics

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

I was thinking about the Harry Styles/ Ben Winston CBS sitcom, Happy Together.

When I was a Larrie, the show seemed like a vehicle to erase any trace of Louis: the show was saying, Harry and Louis never lived together; Harry always brought girls back to the Winston attic to bang (or as Ben Winston heavily hinted in the GQ Australia interview, Taylor Swift hung out nude in his kitchen).

In retrospect, the show was HSHQ’s transparent myth-making propaganda. Its purpose was to establish the myth that One Direction might have been a passing teen fad, but Mr. Harry Styles was the real deal, the rock ‘n roller, the genuine It Boy, the natural star. He was the looker, the talent, the charisma. He carried it all; the rest were hangers-on.

[btw this strategy is still HSHQ’s modus operandi, and most of the public bought it hook, line, and sinker.]

Unfortunately, Ben Winston’s hamhanded incompetence with the show’s storytelling crippled any chance of popularity with the general public, and of course 1D fans hated this myth (Harry’s fandom was still majority OT5 and Larries back then).

But they tried. How they tried!

Harry had the urtext rock journalist, Cameron Crowe, writing his first Rolling Stone cover story. Rob Sheffield and Shirley Halperin followed up. Harry had one of the decade’s biggest and most accomplished producers, Jeff Bhasker, lushly delivering a blend of Laurel Canyon/ White Stripes lite sound for his first album (Harry’s fandom still can’t tell that HS1 was a complete Rock Lite ripoff). Bhasker invented Harry’s protean musical taste.

The old money men behind Harry Styles tried to fabricate a rock star legend before there was any actual product. They tried to establish the bandleader-boyband-breakout myth before Harry had released a single solo song. Eight months before Harry’s first single, he was interviewed by Sir Paul McCartney, an actual living legend with sixty years of music lore behind him, as if they were already on par.

And yet…

And yet…

Harry just couldn’t land it. He just didn’t have it in himself, not without the hoopla, without the window dressing, without hands inside the puppet moving the wooden parts. He couldn’t get the big awards or sufficient numbers his first round. Harry failed. He was an embarrassment. He couldn’t do it until Louis was sidelined for two years, and Zayn disappeared from media, and Liam’s mental health destroyed.

With dramatic irony, the go-ahead for Happy Together was discovered on the same day (July 14, 2018) that Louis made his Twitter video, announcing he would be a 2018 X Factor judge, and specifically mentioning that this would, in no way, interfere with his musical career. What an interesting, transparently sad way to announce a judging gig.

What an interesting coincidence, as well, that Louis’ very first solo interview was with Dan Wootton, back in 2017, specifically for the purpose of denying Larry— a fact that Wootton heavily promoted. This took precedence over the discussion of Louis’ solo music, his album, his tour, One Direction dirt, his personal history— of anything else, really.

Denying Larry is something that Harry Styles has never done. Not once in 13 years. (Interesting, as well, that Harry had to do an interview with Wootton for the release of HS1, but neither audio nor video were ever released.)

What an interesting coincidence that when offered the chance, during the Cooper Lawrence interview for Sweet Creature, Harry clumsily tried to play both sides instead of denying Larry. He couldn’t bring himself to say the words. It took him six full years to explicitly dedicate it to his sister. Six years! Baiting his fans is far more important to Harry than Gemma ever will be lol.

What an interesting coincidence that Jeremy O. Harris tagged Harry in the infamous Euphoria episode depicting Larry fanfiction, which made Louis angry enough to tweet about his lack of consent, yet Harry stayed silent. Throwing Larry, and by extension Louis Tomlinson, as fresh meat for Harry’s fetishizing, fantasizing, mostly heterosexual female fans was, and is, a major HS marketing strategy.

I think about Harry’s new-found “best friend” Mitch Rowland, the pizza-parlour story sticking around long enough for Harry’s fans to forget he had 1D bandmates, about Harry’s never mentioning 1D except as “the band,” his mocking tone calling Zayn “Ringo.” “They’re not here, are they?” he had said smugly, triumphantly on SNL, “I am.”

I think about Harry’s statement that making his first album in Jamaica was the “happiest” he had ever been in his career. About Sir Paul McCartney “interviewing” Harry in 2016 (for Another Man) as if Harry were already in the pantheon of legends.

In 2023, Harry’s 1D bandmates are supposed to be gone and buried because they are no competition whatsoever for his natural genius, the entertainment supernova, the quadruple threat to music and movies and stage and television, this one-man theme park, a soulful poet and universal gift to womankind. One Direction was supposed to be just a back story for Harry, the way NSYNC was for Justin Timberlake (the parallels), or The Police for Sting, or Fleetwood Mac for Stevie Nicks (same management tricks).

[And yet, despite the industry shutting him out, despite BBC Radio pretending he doesn’t exist, or Billboard’s misleading headlines, or Greg James saying fans bring tomatoes to throw at his concerts, or Roman Kemp making fun of Louis and 1D, despite Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and many other media outlets never reviewing an album that debuted No. 1 in the UK and No. 5 in the USA, despite all of that, Louis Tomlinson has survived. He’s made it. He is an industry presence. He’s thriving, with indie artists and bands appreciating his generosity and genuine support. Louis’ opinions and person are respected. Fans pay attention to what he has to say. Critics can no longer ignore his actual value. His judgment has weight. He has gravitas, personality, intelligence, creative talent. And most important to the music industry— Louis brings with him a big fanbase, and the potential for impressive revenue.]

In retrospect, the contortions Harry went through to be an entertainment juggernaut are both gristly and amusing. His chosen personal friends: James Corden, Ellen Degeneres, Kim Kardashian, Rande Gerber, Irving and Shelly Azoff, Lizzo, Jann Wenner so influential in rock journalism— embody a list of the most entitled, narcissistic, abusive traits of the Hollywood rich, but Harry, famously, habitually, lamentably— stays silent. He sides with the abusers and colonizers, because that’s where the money and fame are.

Has it been worth it for him? Harry is certainly one of the most famous entertainers in the world at the moment, surrounded by hype, desired by millions, someone every media outlet wants to interview. His career is lava hot, yet in the midst of this glory, Harry’s story is built on a core of brutality and cruelty, underhanded behavior, an amoral, depthless hunger for fame, transparent sexism and misogyny, a willingness to smear colleagues and partners on his way to the top, good old classism, a talent for politicking and sucking up to power, and an unblinking drive to steamroll everything and everyone in his way. And his worshipful, gullible, obsessive fanbase often imitate Harry Styles’ ethos. His H/Larrie fans have persistently tried to snuff out solo Louis fans and paint Harry as a victim. Multiple Tumblr, Twitter, IG Harrie accounts follow Louis’ every move and stalk solo Louies and Larries by the second. They attacked Liam Payne to an extent that made him feel suicidal. Harry is still young, but has the face and body language of a middle-aged industry player. How long can he be sustained by negative, rather than positive, motivators for his work? How much is enough for him? For a person who craves to be loved (his TPWK motto is aimed mostly at himself), how long can Harry Styles be satisfied with a manufactured, datamined, inauthentic, pretentious façade of a life, where his every thought and action are aimed toward marketing?

In retrospect, Harry has achieved everything he set out to achieve, and seems very happy with the bed he made for himself. One can argue that nothing is consequential in the world of some celebrities except fame, wealth, and power. We know so little about their motivations other than a tiny fraction of the outcomes of their actions. But we do see this fraction, and the fractions add up over time, no matter the data scrubbing and the Google search manipulations and the second-to-second Columbia Records datamining. One Direction is old history, which also means there are lots of fans who have been here forever, and 1D fans do not forget.

Whatever history has in store for Harry, it can never change Harry himself. Throughout his solo career, Harry has made a habit of passing off other people’s work as his own, conflating personal and business relationships, and siding with oppression and greed. That is a truth— good or bad— he’ll have to live with.

[foxes-that-run]

Holy Ground

Taylor has described Holy Ground as reminiscing on a past relationship, which the final is. The draft lyrics in the Lover Journal do not refer to it as a past relationship however, that was added later. The album arrangement of Holy Ground is upbeat, fast tempo, with State of Grace it was part of the anthemic opening of the Red Tour. In the 2019 BBC Live Lounge which was recorded in NY Taylor played it slow and sad:

Red Secret Message "When you came to the show in SD"

The Secret Message for Holy Ground is "When you came to the show in SD." Which may be Saint-Denis, the district and canal in Paris very close to Le Zenith which Taylor played on 17 March 2011.

They had the opportunity to meet when One Direction and Taylor were both in LA in 25-30 January 2011. This may be the referred to "first glance". Begin again shows them texting each other. From then until the 16 March they toured different countries.

One Direction had a 3 day weekend 16 - 19 March. Harry left Brighton the morning of 17 March. Taylor was in Paris on the 16, 17 and 18 March. Taylor then went to Madrid and Harry re-appeared at the O2 on 19 March. Thank you @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim for these links.

This was the first show on the Speak Now Tour that Taylor played Fearless and Train's "Soul Sister" in a mash up, which appeared on/off for the rest of the tour. Soul Sister was Harry's X-Factor audition song.

They were then both in London and on Wednesday 23 March Taylor wore a white dress similar to the cover of Begin Again. Taylor was in London many times for the rest of the year

What about San Diego?

People have theorised that SD is her show in San Diego on 20 October 2011, suggestion Joe Jonas attended, however he was in Paris on that date. One Direction did have time off then though.

Why Paris? Paris features in the music videos for Begin Again, Everything has Changed, Falling, Paris Lyric video and the Love on Tour Images for What Makes you Beautiful.

What Taylor said about the song

In the Red album talk Taylor said she wrote the song about a past relationship and appreciated the relationship for what it was. Of note, she pauses *a lot*, like 6 times in 10 seconds, and pinches her hands, in the part where she says it was a past relationship.

Taylor said she wrote Holy Ground after seeing the muse in February 2012. In January, she had been 'holidaying' in London (having spent months there the year before) being papped walking alone. She left London the same day as One Direction, 27 January, ahead of Harry's 18th birthday 1 February 2012. See 2011 timeline. More thanks to @cntfightmydemonsthyknowhowtoswim

She speaks with no pauses once she talks about the production. She mentioned Jeff Bhasker, who worked on the song and went on to be one of Harry's main collaborators.

On 3 February, the day after Harry's 22 Tweet Taylor Liked a Tumblr post of Holy Ground Lyrics also.

Lover Journal

Taylor also shared a Lover Journal (book 3) entry for March 16 2011, where in Paris, she said "My life is so beautiful right now. Every once in a while I have to remind myself to breathe and take in the view", later a Lyric in Paris and something Harry said on the Jonathan Ross show 16 November 2013.

The original lyrics to Holy Ground are on the next page (dated "February 2012", and not yet complete) with Love Story on the adjacent page. These February 2012 Lyrics are quite different, "Back when" and the last verses with "dust on every page" are missing, it is reminiscing, but not after a break up. It is likely the song was further developed when recorded mid-year and their relationship changed.

Live Performances

Holy Ground was on the Red Tour setlist and then only played a handful of times:

30 June 2015 - 1989 Surprise Song in Dublin, followed a Clean speech:

Everyone here tonight has [...] things that haunt them. [...]. Memories you wish you didn’t have. Memories you wish you could forget. [...] whether you lost someone you never thought you’d lose or you lost yourself. Or you fell in love with a person or a habit that was bad for you, and you couldn’t quit. [...].

22 October 2016 - her only live show of 15 songs that year, played between Style and an Enchanted/Wildest Dreams mashup. Harry and Taylor had been in New York.

22 May 2018 - Reputation Surprise Song in Seattle, first show after their anniversary.

29 August 2019 - BBC Live Lounge recorded in NY (above) one of 6 songs. Harry was in London, on the 19th he lost the Rose Ring.

27 May 2023 - Eras Surprise Song, NJ, in a green dress with False God. "I feel pretty good about this song for tonight, it's called Holy Ground". It also replaced EHC in the recorded Red intro when the Joe Break up was announced in April 2023.

Lyrics

I was reminiscing just the other day While having coffee all alone, and Lord, it took me away Back to a first glance feeling on New York time Back when you fit my poems like a perfect rhyme

The first verse includes drinking coffee alone, coffee being a theme. Here Taylor drinks coffee alone, similar to Is it over now? “let's fast forward to 300 takeout coffees later" it is post-break up. This is in the original lyrics, but separated by distance.

The second half remembers a brief meeting and includes that Taylor and her muse travel a lot and share a love of poetry and rhyme.

The original lyrics differ here, importantly "back when" is missing, the relationship was still current and Taylor felt completed by the person. It was "Back to the first glance feeling on new time, you were the last word filling out the end of the rhyme"

Took off faster than a green light, go Yeah, you skip the conversation when you already know I left a note on the door with a joke we'd made And that was the first day

This second verse hits themes in Haylor songs of how quickly they fit:

Lover "Have I known you for 20 seconds or 20 Years"

Labyrinth "Never trust it if it rises fast / It can't last"

Message In A Bottle: But time moves faster, replaying your laughter, disaster

You Are In Love: Time moved too fast, you play it back

Coney Island: The fast times, the bright lights, the merry go

Also skipping conversation is a theme of not communicating

The note on the door is visualised as a piece of paper on a hotel door in the lyric video. It reminds me of The Very First Night's "Didn't read the note on the Polaroid picture". This lyric also reminds me of Begin Again "I think it's strange that you think I'm funny, 'cause He never did"

And darling, it was good Never looking down And right there where we stood Was holy ground

The Chorus is the end of the February 2012 lyrics. "Holy" ground has always confused me, but I think the clue is in the secret message, it was "Saint" Denis.

Down is in a lot of songs, this is just some:

Come Back... Be Here "And now that I can put this down"

IKYWT "'Til you put me down, oh"

Style "And when we go crashing down, we come back every time"

IWYW "We're a crooked love in a straight line down"

Wonderland "Took a wrong turn and we / Fell down a rabbit hole."

Spinning like a girl in a brand new dress We had this big wide city all to ourselves We blocked the noise with the sound of 'I need you' And for the first time I had something to lose

tee hee Dress: "Only bought this dress so you could take it off"

Question…?: Good girl, sad boy, big city, wrong choices

Need is in:

Come Back… Be Here: I guess you’re in New York today, I don’t wanna need you this way

This Love: When you’re young you just run but you come back to what you need

New Romantics: We need love, but all we want is danger

End Game: I’m one call away whenever you need me

Don’t Blame Me: Shaking, pacing, I just need you

Need "Oh, It's a need, it's a need I would go anywhere that you lead"

And I guess we fell apart in the usual way And the story's got dust on every page But sometimes I wonder how you think about it now And I see your face in every crowd

This verse is clear the relationship has ended, but was added after February 2012. Fell apart is also in:

The Very First Night: Back then we didn’t know we were built to fall apart

Out Of The Woods: "We were built to fall apart, then fall back together"

Taylor has also made the story/page reference is a theme in many songs

New Year’s Day: "Don’t read the last page, but I stay"

Death By A Thousand Cuts: "But if the story’s over, why am I still writing pages?"

Paris: "Privacy sign on the door and on my page and on the whole world"

Tonight I'm gonna dance For all that we've been through But I don't wanna dance If I'm not dancing with you

There is a lot of dancing in Haylor songs:

22: Everything will be all right if we just keep dancing like we’re 22

The Very First Night: Danced in the kitchen, chased me down through the hallway

Out Of The Woods: To move the furniture so we could dance, baby, like we stood a chance

You Are In Love: You two are dancing in a snow globe 'round and 'round

Dancing With Our Hands Tied: If I could dance with you again

Cardigan: I knew you, dancing in your Levi’s, drunk under a streetlight

Cowboy Like Me: And you asked me to dance, but I said, “Dancing is a dangerous game”

Maroon: And I chose you, the one I was dancing with in New York, no shoes

Glitch: I thought we had no chance and that’s romance, let’s dance

and bonus Dancing, after this she learned to Dance alone:

Shake It Off: I’m dancing on my own, I make the moves up as I go

New Romantics: We are too busy dancing to get knocked off our feet

[mitjalovse]

Some probable retirements feel like this thanks to the passage of time. For instance, Madonna never had a longer hiatus than the current one. Yes, Madame X should've been followed up by now, yet I'm sure the pandemic might be one of the reasons for the lack of that and the fact she entered the greatest hits era of her career, where she doesn't need another album. Moreover, she's currently battling a perception of her without actually being listened to. I mean, Madame X is not her best work at all, though for someone at her stature? Much better than anticipated. Had she said the disc might be her last, no one would've been upset. Sure, she didn't make her Blackstar, but Madame X might've been a great finish for a really intriguing pop opus.

[wellthatwasaletdown]

why does he desparently want us to believe he has this vested interest in the arts and is sophisticated and soft and progressive and uniquely fashion forward? be who you are, styles.//

In my opinion I feel Harry is such a people pleaser - meets Ben Winston - picks up Jewish culture, meets - Tom Atkin - suddenly he is a wannabe photographer, meets Jeff- he is interested in a very "Pleasing" business matter, meets Harry Lambert - is wannabe fashionista, meets Jeff Bhaskar - *becomes Jeff Bhasker- flashback to that article - Charles Bukwoski is cool*, meets Nick Grimshaw - and is suddenly a connoisseur of all things sushi, meets David Hockney- interested in art, meets Alessandro - no one can wear "Gucci" better than me, HAHAHA😂, meets Kardashians - becomes fake as fuck like them, all that woke "TPWK" shit. meets Olivia - both their standards match, becomes a wannabe feminist, meets stringer - like "two peas in a pod" Money comes first.

.

[sourpussyanthan]

[silverfoxlou]

So in 2017, when he was first working on what I'm assuming is the lost LT1 album he talked about how songwriters that would have loved to have worked with One Direction (which includes working with Louis because he was the main songwriter) weren't willing to work with him as a solo artist.

But this was the summer of 2017... before Back To You had come out. Well before all the blacklisting would have been clear and his "lack of commercial appeal" was apparent. So what was it that stopped the songwriters and producers from working with Louis? Did he really have a bad reputation within these circles? Or were there incentives to not work with him?

(That same quote included how it wouldn't have been the same for Harry. Which also ties into what he said recently about how Harry's solo success bothered him at first. It's normal to wonder why it's easier for your peers than it is for you especially since Louis was the actual driving force behind what made One Direction as successful as it was. Also hilarious to think about when we have the story of how Harry played Jeff Bhasker The White Stripes instead of his own demos, but I digress.)

And with that in mind, what he's been saying about Walls being more challenging to make than FITF makes sense. Not only did he have to figure out what kind of solo music he could and wanted to make (without alienating the fans) but he also had to deal with people not wanting to work with him and he understood that. Which says a lot about his confidence at the time.

Fast forward to writing FITF and it's clear something changed. One could be that he wasn't really trying to reach out to big pop songwriters/producers... but instead more rock/indie artists/producers. But how did he get his foot in the door? Because at the time he had really only released a mostly pop album and hadn't toured yet either. And it's not like he had great commercial success or a good critical reception. Did someone vouch for him? Was it the Noel Gallagher writing credit on Walls? Was it a link through Charlie Lightening and Liam Gallagher (whom Louis wouldn't have met at the time - they apparently met for the first time in July in Australia...). Paul Arthurs (also of Oasis) seemed to take a liking to Louis during lockdown, as did Tim Burgess. Rob Harvey reached out to Louis through Charlie (not confirmed - but in the track by track Louis said it was cool when Rob Harvey wanted to write with him). It's possible some of the connections were through BMG (Nicholas Reschber was through Felix Howard) and Matt Vines (Theo Hutchraft I'm assuming was through Matt). Could it all have been (kill me for even suggesting this) through BMG? But the rest? How did he connect to the people who make him feel like he's finally found his place in music?

Which then also makes a bit more sense with his repeated insistence that he wasn't making music for its potential commercial success - but just because he wanted to make music he really loved. The people now willing to work with him all also seem to just love making music (his story of going to the pub and just talking about music with the same passion he'd talk to his friends to about football and all of their posts when the album came out/he got the #1 album). So him repeating that constantly could have been part resignation because his team sucks ass and don't dare aim for better, and part actually just wanting to make good music with people who also understood his vision.

[didhewinkback]

What you said about the jezebel lyric is kind of how I feel about the "she said love me like you paid me" line in daydreaming. I guess it's pretty tame and a little different from what you were saying but whenever I hear that line I start to think that his thought process was simply "what's the most creative way I can write 'fuck me like a whore'" lol a lot of hs3 just felt very one-dimensional in its depiction of women (another reason why I need him to axe Kid Harpoon. expeditiously.) But yes bring back Jeff Bhasker and Amy Allen!!

yeah i feel like fine line as an album was a huge step forward lyrically and for me hs3 was a big step back w some songs which was def frustratingggggggg as hell. high high hopes for hs4 !