Harry Styles’s “Kiwi,” A Rock Star's Coming of Age Song

Written on June 30, 2017

 Since 2010, the world knew Harry Styles as ⅕ of the pop group One Direction. The band’s image resembled something of a modern-day commercial version of The Beatles— well groomed young lads who exhibited witty humor during interviews and stole the hearts of young girls worldwide. As of May 12, 2017, the 23-year-old musician transformed into someone entirely different after the release of his first solo album under Erskine Records (his personal label) in tandem with Columbia. His self-titled record drew heavy inspiration from classic rock heroes, showcasing Styles’s longing for acceptance by them (specifically his idol, Mick Jagger). 

While his songs just skim the surface of the pool of classic rock’n’roll, Styles deserves credit for doing something very few mainstream artists attempt to do— continue the legacy of classic rock in the modern-day. The other ⅘ of One Direction released nauseating pop songs, while Styles’s album prophesizes his plan to reshape his career into something more soulful. “Sweet Creature” sounds like an ode to “Blackbird” by The Beatles, and the album’s only single possesses the same name as a Prince album, “Sign of the Times.” Each track on this record supports promise of a budding artist— specifically “Kiwi.” 

“Kiwi” serves as a great impression of what Styles aspires for. Landing as #7 on the 10-track album, “Kiwi—” the shortest song on the record— contains the majority of the album’s young and fiery energy, shocking and confusing its adolescent audience merely 25 seconds in. With its outrageous lyrics and questionable allusions, it exemplifies his youth in his age and career.

In reference to “Kiwi,” one of the first songs written for the album, Styles told BBC Radio 1, "This kind of started out as a joke, and then now it's one of my favourite songs." The joke-turned-big-hit contains a vibrancy that could only come from an artist’s passion. Styles’s jubilance about a solo album and excitement exploring his abilities overpower the song and drags us into a ballad we didn’t expect to hear. 

The title “Kiwi” just adds to the mystery and weirdness of the song. People often refer to New Zealanders as kiwis, meaning the song could represent a real retelling of a former engagement he entertained in that country (whose flag he tattooed on his arm). But then again, Styles never took the song seriously in the first place, so why should we interpret the title as anything more than a random decision? Either way, the lyrics sound like a conversation he held with a close friend a few mornings after a one night stand— be it intentional or not. An amateur rockstar trying to navigate his way around his new female encounter, “Kiwi” presents Styles as little more than a young kid who pursued the wrong type of girl simply because he didn’t know any better.

Verse one introduces the song’s protagonist: a “pretty face on a pretty neck” who can hold her liquor and an intelligent conversation at the same time. She lures in all the men, including Styles who finds himself getting blindly entranced, until he explains in the bridge that she causes him to go insane— but he likes it. As Styles throws this crazy nonsense at us, we see him trying to piece things together in his mind. Syncopated drums and guitar respond to Styles, backing him up and enhancing what he says— like a close pal responding to his story. This pattern appears in the first and second verse, with complete synchronization during the refrains— guitars wailing, drums pounding, bass hitting, the occasional backup vocals, and Styles falling into a deep, deep hole. The instrumentation in the bridge gives off a playful vibe, leading us into the utter catastrophe the refrain presents. “It’s getting crazy, I think I’m losing it, I think I’m losing it,” he repeats until reaching the refrain where he thinks she said “I’m having your baby, it’s none of your business.” 

Paternity rumors flood the tabloids daily. Two of Styles’s former bandmates very recently ventured into fatherhood with women whom they engaged in short-term relationships with. With Styles’s clean relationship track record and public praise for protected sex, chances of this song standing in as a truthful recounting appear slim, but the possibility of Styles poking fun at these rumors and using the generic storyline of a rockstar involving himself with a star-studded one night stand after something more sounds more plausible. The song captivates his angst as a young and attractive artist constantly in the public eye for more than half a decade, while also expressing his awareness of how messy (if he refuses caution) this industry could get. While on the rise, his fame— and those who come with it— scares him. 

The mystery woman means nothing more than a “silhouette” with a “Holland Tunnel for a nose, always backed up.” Styles even compares her behaviour towards him to that of a prostitute— yet he can’t stay away. He made a rookie mistake by falling for a girl like this. Styles proves his rock star title by embracing lustful party girls, but his lack of control and excessive worry shows him as a newcomer. We watch him spiral and eventually erupt by the third verse. His voice comes down a bit and matches with finger-picking bass that creeps around us, imitating the way she drapes herself all over him. This time, he fails to put a bridge before the refrain. He no longer “thinks” about deteriorating because he already lost it. Instead of the bridge, Styles greets us with an eruption— all the instruments scream at once. 

We expect classic rockers to use erotic and explicit lyrics. What “Kiwi” implies would not phase counterculture audiences in the 60s/70s, but the masses would never accept it. Today’s pop audience listens to songs with raunchy meanings consistently. Artists such as Ariana Grande, Nick Jonas, and Nicki Minaj invade popular radio with exceedingly sexual content. Styles’s adolescent audience doesn’t care about what he says because they can’t ignore the truth— the song sounds incredible. A similar reaction swept across Rolling Stone’s fans with the release of “Brown Sugar” in 1971. When Styles fans heard “Kiwi,” they got a rush of anticipation from the beautifully played offbeats, the all-or-nothing instrumentation in the refrain, and Styles’s exceptional vocals. Even now, many plays later, the song never loses you— constantly grabbing you back after it cuts a bit of slack.

“Kiwi” shows Styles diverging from his pristine pop image; an obscene recitation of a fling with a girl who, in the end, seems more rock’n’roll than the rockstar himself. She can handle herself and he fails to do so. The song showcases a version of Styles trying to figure out the ways of this drug infused life where everyone wears a mask, preventing him from seeing their true intentions. As he matures, his music will do so with him, as seen with artists like Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen. But for now Styles expresses his fresh enthusiasm through songs of thunderous refrains and explicit lyrics.