"As It Was" is a song by British singer

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

, released through Erskine and Columbia on 1 April 2022 as the lead single from his third studio album, ''

Harry's House ''Harry's House'' is the third studio album by English singer and songwriter Harry Styles, released on 20 May 2022 by Columbia Records and Erskine. The album was largely written and recorded during 2020 and 2021 and has been noted as Styles' ...

'' (2022). The song was written by Styles alongside the song's producers

Kid Harpoon Thomas Edward Percy Hull (born 20 April 1982), known professionally as Kid Harpoon, is an English singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Career Already a fixture at local venues in his hometown of Chatham, Kid Harpoon first emerge ...

and Tyler Johnson. "As It Was" received positive reviews from critics and entered at the top of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming Styles's second number-one single after " Sign of the Times" in April 2017. "As It Was" spent ten weeks at the top of the UK Singles Chart, becoming the longest-running number-one single of 2022 in his home country. Also his second number one single in the US, the song spent 15 weeks atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the longest-running US number one by a UK act and the fourth-longest-running number one in the chart's history. "As It Was" topped the charts in 35 countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and Sweden.

Background

Harry Styles announced the title of his third studio album as ''

'' on 23 March 2022, unveiling its artwork, a 40-second trailer and the album's release date as 20 May 2022. Five days later, he announced the title of its lead single as "As It Was", along with pictures of him in a "sequined, sleeveless red outfit" and its release date as 1 April 2022. Simultaneously, posters bearing the lyrics "It's not the same as it was" and a picture of Styles sitting on a big ball appeared in various cities. He released a teaser of the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

on 30 March, which included an "energetic

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" and a "sunny

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gui ...

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

", and depicted him in a red jumpsuit spinning in circles atop a motorised turntable.

Lyrics and composition

Music critics described the song as a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

-driven

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

track, a noticeable shift from Styles's

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

-oriented sounds. Chris Willman of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' noted that it takes heavy inspiration from

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

and

A-ha A-ha (usually stylised as ''a-''h''a''; ) is a Norwegian synth-pop band formed in Oslo in 1982. Founded by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars and vocals), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards, guitars and vocals), and Morten Harket (lead vocals), the band ...

, while also suggesting that it adopted a style similar to

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...

's 2019 single "

Blinding Lights "Blinding Lights" is a song by Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on November 29, 2019, through XO and Republic Records, as the second single from his fourth studio album, '' After Hours'' (2020). The song was written and produced by ...

". EUPHORIA. Magazine felt that Styles was inspired by

James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost par ...

's 2018 single " Pink Lemonade", adding that the two songs sound "eerily similar". Lyrically, "As It Was" is rooted in personal transitions and depicts a feeling of loss and loneliness.

Critical reception

"As It Was" received critical acclaim. ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''s Rhian Daly gave the song five out of five stars, describing it as "not a million miles away from where ''Fine Line'' left off, but hardly retreading old ground." According to Daly, the track suggests ''Harry's House'' will solidify Styles "as one of the current pop landscapes' greats". Beau Beaumont-Thomas of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' also rated the song five stars and called it "one of his very best", writing, "Many will pore over the gossipy, self-referential lyrics, but Styles's song is for everyone: an effervescent, high-tempo hit to have you clicking your heels." In his review for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'',

Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at ''Blen ...

regarded "As It Was" as one of Styles's most "emotionally powerful" songs, calling it a "daring change-up" and a "straight-from-the-heart cry that's also an irresistible dance-floor challenge." Sahar Ghadirian of '' Clash'' magazine deemed it a "powerhouse" and Styles "at his most vulnerable". Ghadirian appreciated the "dream fusion" of synth-pop with electro rock and commented that the bells end the song on "a euphoric high". Thania Garcia of ''

'' magazine described the song as being " new wave-inspired". ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' reviewer Jochan Embley meanwhile found the track inferior to the singer's previous singles "

Watermelon Sugar "Watermelon Sugar" is a song by English singer Harry Styles from his second studio album '' Fine Line'' (2019), included as the album's second track. Styles wrote the song with Mitch Rowland and the song's producers, Tyler Johnson and Kid Ha ...

" and " Adore You", but wrote that Styles and his collaborators "still know how to make an instantly enjoyable tune". Olivia Horn of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' was less impressed and bemoaned that the song "winds down without any real payoff", citing the circuitousness of the lyrics as "a frequent shortcoming in Styles' songwriting."

Commercial performance

"As It Was" was an immediate success; it earned the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

title for the most streamed track on Spotify within 24 hours by a male artist, and broke the

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Apple M ...

streaming record for most first-day streams for a 2022 release. The song also opened atop the ''Billboard'' Global 200 with the greatest global streaming week of 2022, becoming Styles's first number-one on the tally. In the United Kingdom, "As It Was" became Styles's second solo number-one on the singles chart, debuting with the biggest sales and streaming weeks of any single in 2022. It spent ten weeks at number one on the UK singles chart, becoming the longest-running number one of the year in the UK. It became the most-streamed track (149.6 million streams), most physically purchased (12,000 units), most digitally downloaded (47,000 units) and overall, best-selling (1.3 million equivalent units) track in the UK in 2022, . "As It Was" entered at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming Styles' second number-one single after "

" (2019). The song garnered the most single-day streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

in the United States, surpassing

Olivia Rodrigo Olivia Isabel Rodrigo (born February 20, 2003) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She gained recognition in the late 2010s with her lead roles on the Disney television programs ''Bizaardvark'' and '' High School Musical: The Music ...

's "

Drivers License A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...

" (2021). After the single's debut at No. 1, "As It Was" fell out of the No. 1 position and returned multiple times between April and September 2022; when it returned to No. 1 for the week ending 3 September 2022, it became the first song ever to have five separate runs in the top position. "As It Was" spent 15 weeks atop the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the longest-running US number one by a UK act, the longest-running No. 1 with no accompanying artists (i.e. a solo-billed song) and the fourth longest running number-one in the charts history. "As It Was" spent 18 weeks at number one on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

and peaked at number one in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland. "As It Was" ranked as the most popular song on

and the second most popular song on

in 2022.

Music video

The music video for "As It Was" was released alongside the song. In the clip, Styles joins dancer Mathilde Lin on a turning platform and performs choreography in the

Barbican A barbican (from fro, barbacane) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer fortifications, defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe ...

to release negative emotions. The video was filmed in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

: apart from the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

, it was also filmed at Lindley Hall near the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

, and the penguin pool at

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...

. It was directed by

Tanu Muino Tetyana Robertivna Muinyo ( uk, Тетяна Робертівна Муїньо; born 7 December 1989), better known as Tanu Muino ( uk, Таня Муїньо, es, Tanu Muiño) is a Ukrainian music video director, designer, stylist, photographe ...

, who stated that directing for Styles was "a bucket list dream come true" but, on the second day of shooting, Muino's home country of Ukraine was invaded by Russia, rendering the process a "bittersweet" experience; nevertheless, Muino and her team from Ukraine "poured so much love into this video and you can see it on screen. It will be a music video I will never forget and now I can happily retire." On YouTube, the video has received over 337 million views and 6.1 million likes as of October 2022.

Awards and nominations

Live performance

Styles performed "As It Was" for the first time at the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (commonly called the Coachella Festival or simply Coachella) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. ...

on 15 April and 22 April.

Credits and personnel

– vocals, songwriting, bells *

– songwriting, production, bass, guitar, drum machine, drums, electric guitar, synthesizer * Tyler Johnson – songwriting, production, drum machine, piano, synthesizer * Doug Showalter – electric guitar, percussion * Mitch Rowland – drums * Jeremy Hatcher – programming, recording *

Randy Merrill Randy Merrill is an American mastering engineer who has worked with international artists including DAY6, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Maroon 5, Harry Styles, One Direction, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Beck, Liam Gallagher, Jonas Brothers, Muse, Cage the ...

– mastering *

Spike Stent Mark "Spike" Stent (born 3 August 1965) is an English record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with many international artists including Madonna, Marshmello, U2, Beyoncé, Björk, Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen, Grimes, Ed Sh ...

– mixing * Katie May – assistant engineering * Luke Gibbs – assistant engineering * Adele Phillips – assistant engineering * Josh Caulder – assistant engineering * Joe Dougherty – assistant engineering * Matt Wolach – assistant engineering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References