Many cultures regard the lotus flower as a symbol of purity and rebirth. When grown, the lotus flower typically demonstrates a remarkable steadfastness as it has the amazing ability to grow from the most uncertain conditions. The flower is seen as a symbol of strength and of a shining light in midst of hardship and testing situations.

Harry Styles: The Debut Album artistically displays a plethora of soft pinks, speckled flower petals floating in rosy water, and a mop of wet hair curling and clinging to inked skin. Most notably the album showcases a delicate silver lotus flower necklace, resting between two shoulder blades.  

Coming off of a well-deserved year and a half sabbatical, Harry Styles has stunned the world with his new single “Sign Of The Times.” The single’s album art is a dark red background posing as a stark contrast to the light airy colors on the album cover. It’s a track that features raspy crooning vocals and intensely calming piano melodies, along with a meaning that is unique to each listener’s interpretation. The track rings with its similarities to the resounding “Brit Pop.” Being a Cheshire native himself, Harry expressed his influences to Nick Grimshaw on a BBC Radio 1 interview, “I think it’s hard to not have influences from what you grew up listening to.”

To be completely honest, before hearing “Sign Of The Times” I was hoping that it would be a largely political song. I had hoped that it would make some type of grand sweeping statement about the state of the world and the unhappiness and distress that is currently plaguing it. I hoped it would perhaps start some type of new conversation and bring attention to the issues at hand. Upon hearing the song itself I was shocked to hear it full with Harry’s vocals alone, fully showcasing his voice. I wasn’t surprised by the song direction at the same time because the song just felt so utterly Harry. The line, “You can’t bribe the door on the way to the sky,” immediately stuck out to me as I interpreted it to mean that death in itself is the great equalizer, but also that one’s actions on earth ultimately determine their fate and whether or not they’re able to enter into the afterlife or “the sky.” You can’t “bribe the door” and weasel your way into anything that you’re not worthy of. That in itself reflects on the current political status in America, but also many other places around the world. It seems that now common human decency is becoming rare. To me the line, “We’ll never learn we’ve been here before” displays the fact that the issues regarding racism, homophobia, and sexism (to name a few) are recurring in different mediums and different ways. Harry goes on to ask, “Will we ever learn, we’ve been here before?” in the bridge and that in itself is powerful enough to make anyone wonder whether or not “the end is near.”

Having been a massive fan of One Direction since late 2011, I have watched each boy go through many stages. Some of the eras even mirrored my own as I stumbled my way through middle and high school, trying to figure out who I am and who I want to be. Writing this as a senior in high school I can fully acknowledge the fact that the boy band and the relationships I made because of them have shaped me into the individual that I am today. Harry has always been one of my biggest role models because of his extremely kind hearted nature. I remember nervously picking out school supplies for my first day of ninth grade in Office Depot. One Direction had been doing an incredible anti-bullying campaign and released a plethora of binders and folders and anything else that would be needed in the classroom. Harry’s slogan had simply been, “it costs nothing to be nice,” and to this day I’ve carried that with me to the utmost degree.

As he’s grown from the curly haired 17-year old that was part of the band when I first discovered them–to the shamelessly confident 23-year-old, he’s only grown brighter and brighter. It sounds incredibly corny, but I am genuinely so proud of him for his growth as an individual. He’s inspired me to embrace myself and the uniqueness of me as a person and to love who I am. I know I speak for more than myself when I say that his influence will continue to shape me as a person.

What hits home for me as I watch each boy break off and do their own thing is how utterly constrained they were in the boyband. Each boy (man?) has gone off to do solo work within music and each one is so incredibly different. It makes me wonder how badly their artistic integrity was challenged as they worked under rushed conditions and constraining deadlines. This time of new music is so incredibly exciting as each member has been releasing them at their own pace and, more importantly, their own style.