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.
For the Hozier song, see Wasteland, Baby!"As It Was"
1 April 2022
2021
Henson (Hollywood)
- 2:47
- Erskine
- Columbia
- Harry Styles
- Thomas Hull
- Tyler Johnson
- Kid Harpoon
- 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.
"As It Was" was the best-selling global single of 2022, earning 2.28 billion subscription streams equivalents globally according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Outside the UK and US, the song was a huge commercial success and topped the charts in 45 countries, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden, and Norway.
Background[edit]
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.[1][2] 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.[3][4][5] 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.[6] 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.[7]
Lyric and composition[edit]
Music critics described the song as a guitar-driven synth-pop and new wave track, a noticeable shift from Styles's rock-oriented sounds.[8][9][10][11][12] Chris Willman of Variety noted it takes heavy inspiration from Depeche Mode and a-ha, while also suggesting it adopted a style similar to the Weeknd's 2019 single "Blinding Lights".[9] EUPHORIA magazine felt that Styles was inspired by James Bay's 2018 single "Pink Lemonade", adding that the two songs sound "eerily similar".[13] Lyrically, "As It Was" is rooted in personal transitions and depicts a feeling of loss and loneliness.[14]
Commercial performance[edit]
"As It Was" was an immediate success; it earned the Guinness World Records title for the most streamed track on Spotify within 24 hours by a male artist, and broke the Apple Music streaming record for most first-day streams for a 2022 release.[48][49] 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.[50]
In the UK, "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.[51] It spent ten weeks at number one on the UK singles chart, becoming the longest-running number one of the year in the UK.[52] 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 of October 2022.[53]
"As It Was" entered at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Styles' second number-one single after "Watermelon Sugar" (2019).[54] The song garnered the most single-day streams on Spotify in the United States, surpassing Olivia Rodrigo's "Drivers License" (2021).[55] 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.[56] "As It Was" spent 15 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the longest-running US number one by a UK act, the second longest-running No. 1 with no accompanying artists (i.e. a solo-billed song) and the fourth longest running number-one in the chart's history.[57][58]
"As It Was" spent 18 weeks at number one on the Canadian Hot 100[59] and peaked at number one in Australia,[60] Austria,[61] Belgium,[62] Croatia,[63] Denmark,[64] Germany,[65] Greece,[66] Ireland,[67] Israel,[68] Lithuania,[69] the Netherlands,[70] New Zealand,[71] Slovakia,[72] Sweden,[73] and Switzerland.[74]
Globally, "As It Was" was the best-selling global single of 2022, earning 2.28 billion subscription streams equivalents globally according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).[75] It was also the fifth best-selling global single of 2023 with 1.46 billion subscription streams equivalents.[76] "As It Was" ranked as the most popular song on Spotify and the second most popular song on Apple Music in 2022.[77]
Music video[edit]
The music video for "As It Was" was released alongside the song.[78] In the clip, Styles joins dancer Mathilde Lin on a turning platform and performs choreography by Yoann Bourgeois[79] in the Barbican to release negative emotions.[8] The video was filmed in London: apart from the Barbican Centre, it was also filmed at Lindley Hall near the Houses of Parliament, and the penguin pool at London Zoo.[80] It was directed by Tanu Muino, 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." Nevertheless, Muino continued her filmmaking work afterwards.[78] On YouTube, the video has received over 670 million views and 7.8 million likes as of January 2024.[81]
Live performance[edit]
Styles performed "As It Was" for the first time at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 15 April and 22 April 2022.[106]