She

There’s a lot more to this song than what meets the eye. The extended music solos, the far-away vocals, and the emphasis of the music and the lyrics over the sound of singer’s voice are subtly uncharacteristic elements of Harry Styles’ music. There are a lot of ways this song can be interpreted but this is how I personally understand it:

Let’s look at the first stanza:

“Nine in the morning The man drops his kids off at school And he's thinking of you Like all of us do Sends his assistant for coffee in the afternoon Around 1:32 Like he knows what to do”

Right away the narrator introduces the duality of the subject’s life. With that one powerful line (“and he’s thinking of you…”) the conflict is casually mentioned, almost like a second thought. The rest of this stanza just establishes the small details of his life that gives us a picture of why the coexistence of his desire for this other person could drastically disrupt his life. For example, we can assume that this man is socially successful. He has a high enough position in his career that he can afford an assistant to do menial tasks for him. He has more than one child that he dutifully takes care of. The mention of time stamps here (“nine in the morning” and “1:32”) as well as the fact that his assistant “knows what to do” further show that his life is dictated by routine and order - in other words, he is secure.

The part of this verse where it says “like all of us do” sticks out almost as much as the line before it. It suddenly draws the narrative out of 3rd person into first person, because the narrator wants the audience to understand that there is an overall significance very early on in this seemingly normal story. The message applies to all of “us” as we will see.

Chorus:

“She (she) She lives in daydreams with me (she) She's the first one that I see And I don't know why I don't know who she is (she, she)”

Here, the speaker switches from a narrator’s voice to the man’s first person voice. We are literally breaking away from an overview of his life to his inner thoughts. The object of the man’s desire is made more tangible now that we know that it is a woman - “She”. The first three lines further establish that this person is always on his mind. We know that he finds comfort in her because she is present in his “daydreams”.

The last two lines of the chorus imply that this woman may not even be an actual person. He doesn’t know why, where, or who she is. There are three ways “she” can be interpreted: 1. She is a woman that he is having an affair with, wether she is one person or multiple, 2. She is the woman he secretly desires to be or the personification of his sexuality, and 3. She represents an escape into the care-free life he could have had. Whether “she” is sexual, personal, or spiritual freedom, the concept represents the thrill and surreality that a different life could offer him.

“He takes a boat out Imagines just sailing away (away, away) And not telling his mates (not telling his mates) He wouldn't know what to say (wouldn't know what to say, to say)”

This verse shows how the man’s responsibilities and the structure of his life make it impossible for him to pursue his secret desires. He’s considering leaving everything behind, but he knows he can’t because he has people (“his mates”) to answer to. And he knows his explanation would not be accepted.

Chorus again

“Lives for the memory A woman who's just in his head (just in his head) And she sleeps in his bed (his bed) While he plays pretend (pretend) So pretend (pretend)”

Here again, the narrator tells us that the man is living a double life. While he pretends to be a happy husband/father/worker every day, he simultaneously suppresses his true identity/desires. But he cannot deny how he feels, which is why he saves his desires for his thoughts and bed, both of which are private places a person can feel secure in.

The chorus repeats two more times before the song ends with a long, dreamy guitar solo that leaves the audience without a resolution to this man’s dilemma.

Styles was probably inspired by his own experiences when writing this song. Everyone knows that Harry Styles was launched on to the world stage at a very young age because of One Direction’s global success. We’ve heard from the other ex members that they had trouble figuring themselves out during that time because they were so young and they were under a lot of pressure from their management and the world.

But aside from the details of his personal life, Styles makes it clear throughout the song that self discovery is a human experience. An average working man and a famous pop singer can relate to the same internal conflict while being worlds apart.

That’s my interpretation :)