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As It Was
"As It Was" is a song by English singer-songwriter Harry Styles, released through Erskine and Columbia on 1 April 2022 as the lead single from his third studio album, Harry's House (2022). The song was written by Styles alongside his producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson.
"As It Was" was widely acclaimed by music critics and entered at the top of the UK singles chart, becoming Styles' second solo number-one single, his first being "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 and best-selling single of 2022 in his home country. In the United States, it was his second chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at number one, becoming the longest-running US number one by a UK act and the fourth-longest-running number one in the chart's history. It also spent 38 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 top ten, making it the sixth longest-charting song in the region. It was ranked at number 500 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time on the 2024 revision.
"As It Was" was the best-selling global single of 2022, earning 2.28 billion subscription stream equivalents globally according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Outside the UK and US, the song was a commercial success and topped the charts in 45 countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, and Norway.
Harry Styles announced the title of his third studio album as Harry's House 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", alongside 3 pictures of Styles facing away from the camera in a sequinned, sleeveless red outfit, and set 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 on 30 March, which included an "energetic drum beat" and a "sunny electric guitar riff", and depicted him in a red jumpsuit spinning in circles atop a motorised turntable.
In an interview with Billboard, Kid Harpoon revealed Styles pushed for the track to become the lead single for the album campaign, stating: "It was Harry that pushed that through. He was like, ‘This is the one. I’m telling you.’ But everyone was like, ‘It should be this other one.’"
"As It Was" was the last song written for Styles' third album, Harry's House. The song was recorded at Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer's house in England. In an interview with Consequence of Sound, producer Kid Harpoon stated "We moved all the furniture out and put a drum kit in the TV room. "As It Was" was done in that setup. Harry came in with a riff idea, and we ran with it." In an interview with Hits Radio, Styles said the song was originally written slower before adding synths and drums. He called the original voice note of the slower track "a death march" in an interview with Zane Lowe, although the existence of this version has been disputed by Kid Harpoon. Speaking to Music Week, producer Tyler Johnson stated the track was almost completed in its final form after three or four days with the bridge of the song being written a few days later.
Johnson described the process of writing the single as: "Harry was sitting on the Moog One and I liked what he was playing, so I sat down and played as he started to write the melodies and the lyrics. I said to Harry, 'We need a lead line' and he just came up right away with the 'Dah, dah, dah...' part. He didn't hesitate. Then he started writing the second verse and referring to himself in the third person. So much of this song just came from Harry's heart. And then Tom, with this magical sense of hooks that he has, came up with the idea of doing, 'You know it's not the same...' in the chorus, which I was very impressed with. That turned out to be a very smart move." Styles came up with the idea and melody of the tubular bells included on the track, and plays them on the finished product.
The child's voice which opens the track is Styles' godchild Ruby Winston, daughter of producer Ben Winston. Styles explained the addition in an interview with Capital Breakfast: "She used to try and call me before bedtime every night, and one time it didn't ring or something, so they sent me that. I dug it out when we were in the studio and put it in front of the song for some reason, and I kind of just fell in love with it, so it stuck."
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As It Was
"As It Was" is a song by English singer-songwriter Harry Styles, released through Erskine and Columbia on 1 April 2022 as the lead single from his third studio album, Harry's House (2022). The song was written by Styles alongside his producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson.
"As It Was" was widely acclaimed by music critics and entered at the top of the UK singles chart, becoming Styles' second solo number-one single, his first being "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 and best-selling single of 2022 in his home country. In the United States, it was his second chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100, where it spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at number one, becoming the longest-running US number one by a UK act and the fourth-longest-running number one in the chart's history. It also spent 38 weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 top ten, making it the sixth longest-charting song in the region. It was ranked at number 500 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time on the 2024 revision.
"As It Was" was the best-selling global single of 2022, earning 2.28 billion subscription stream equivalents globally according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Outside the UK and US, the song was a commercial success and topped the charts in 45 countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, and Norway.
Harry Styles announced the title of his third studio album as Harry's House 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", alongside 3 pictures of Styles facing away from the camera in a sequinned, sleeveless red outfit, and set 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 on 30 March, which included an "energetic drum beat" and a "sunny electric guitar riff", and depicted him in a red jumpsuit spinning in circles atop a motorised turntable.
In an interview with Billboard, Kid Harpoon revealed Styles pushed for the track to become the lead single for the album campaign, stating: "It was Harry that pushed that through. He was like, ‘This is the one. I’m telling you.’ But everyone was like, ‘It should be this other one.’"
"As It Was" was the last song written for Styles' third album, Harry's House. The song was recorded at Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rob Stringer's house in England. In an interview with Consequence of Sound, producer Kid Harpoon stated "We moved all the furniture out and put a drum kit in the TV room. "As It Was" was done in that setup. Harry came in with a riff idea, and we ran with it." In an interview with Hits Radio, Styles said the song was originally written slower before adding synths and drums. He called the original voice note of the slower track "a death march" in an interview with Zane Lowe, although the existence of this version has been disputed by Kid Harpoon. Speaking to Music Week, producer Tyler Johnson stated the track was almost completed in its final form after three or four days with the bridge of the song being written a few days later.
Johnson described the process of writing the single as: "Harry was sitting on the Moog One and I liked what he was playing, so I sat down and played as he started to write the melodies and the lyrics. I said to Harry, 'We need a lead line' and he just came up right away with the 'Dah, dah, dah...' part. He didn't hesitate. Then he started writing the second verse and referring to himself in the third person. So much of this song just came from Harry's heart. And then Tom, with this magical sense of hooks that he has, came up with the idea of doing, 'You know it's not the same...' in the chorus, which I was very impressed with. That turned out to be a very smart move." Styles came up with the idea and melody of the tubular bells included on the track, and plays them on the finished product.
The child's voice which opens the track is Styles' godchild Ruby Winston, daughter of producer Ben Winston. Styles explained the addition in an interview with Capital Breakfast: "She used to try and call me before bedtime every night, and one time it didn't ring or something, so they sent me that. I dug it out when we were in the studio and put it in front of the song for some reason, and I kind of just fell in love with it, so it stuck."