Why “Fine Line” Is One Of The Most Important Albums In My Life A Year After Its Release

Posted On December 11, 2020

Samantha Colleran, December 2020

Sunday marks the one year anniversary of Harry Styles’ Fine Line, an album that not only ended 2019 and the 10s decade with an impressive bang, but an album that has gotten me through so much in the short time I’ve been able to own it.

I’m a person who needs to listen to an album from top to bottom completely alone, especially when it’s an artist that I love as much as Harry. I remember my leg bouncing like crazy, anxiously awaiting the clock to strike midnight, time dragging on forever and ever as I waited for it to officially be December 13. And then, it happened. The album was out, I pressed play, and was launched into the world of Fine Line with the familiar high hat clicks of “Golden” from the Love On Tour trailer that had been released prior to the album drop. I don’t remember what each song made me feel specifically because I was so overwhelmed with emotion, I just remember the overall feeling of happiness, pride, and a little bit of (positive) anxiety anticipating each new track that filled my headphones. 

Writing about this album makes me incredibly emotional, oftentimes for reasons I can’t comprehend or explain. There are times I think I’ve listened to Fine Line so much, that I’m numb to the feeling of each song. Then I listen again, and I’m proven completely wrong. In fact, the more I listen, the harder and deeper I fall in love with the album as a whole. Depending on my mood, these songs can make me feel totally different emotions. I find myself stopping whatever I’m doing when “Fine Line” comes on and allowing myself to just listen and get lost in the music. Sometimes it brings tears to my eyes, sometimes it doesn’t, but it always takes over my whole body and feels like a physical experience. I find myself repeating the lyric “hold it, focus” from “Golden” often, especially when I’m doing a task that I know for a fact I can’t bring myself to focus on unless I have some sort of anchor. 

This album is truly perfect for any and every life event. Driving, dancing, crying, vibing. Laying on the floor under fuzzy blankets with Gracie and letting “Falling” fill the space between us, blasting “Treat People With Kindness” with our friend Hannah when we need a little bit of a boost to our day. When days drag on or feel boring, Fine Line makes them brighter, even the sadder songs make the days feel easier to get through. 

When I need to smile I’ll open a YouTube tab on my laptop and watch the live version of “Adore You”, my lips curving into an inevitable smile when Harry whips out his ridiculous yet incredibly endearing dance moves. I love seeing Harry in his element when singing “Lights Up” with us, the fans. His eyes flutter shut and he gets lost in the sound, the lyrics feel like they take on a whole new meaning as each note falls effortlessly past his lips. Sometimes, when he sings that final “Do you know who you are?” he’ll say “I do now”, and it proves just how special this song is to him and why he decided to lead us into Fine Line with this single choice. Seeing him perform “Watermelon Sugar” on SNL after only listening to it once is a moment I’ll never forget; watching his nerves unravel as he brings his all, completely owning the stage and allowing the audience to get wrapped up in his new sound. 

I remember every single note change, every little noise, every background note that you may not be in tune with on your first couple of listens. The striking of a match and a candle being blown out in “To Be So Lonely”, the backwards “Sunflower” in the intro of “Sunflower, Vol. 6”. I’ve listened to “Cherry” so much I trick people into thinking I actually know what the French voicemail is saying. I whistle “Canyon Moon” while I’m doing my schoolwork sometimes without even realizing it. I catch myself humming the iconic “She” guitar solo when I’m scrolling aimlessly through my phone. This album is ingrained in every aspect of my life, and I genuinely would not want it any other way.

I’ve cried to this album, I’ve silently jammed out on the third floor of the Oneonta Milne Library in my own little cubicle, I’ve danced around, driven with the windows down, laid in my bed at 3 am when I can’t sleep and let Fine Line ring through my headphones while the rest of the world felt like it was at a standstill. I’ve had so many experiences with this album, and I can’t wait to make a million more memories and associate them with the incredible twelve tracks that have shaped every single day of my life since it came out.

Harry, I know you will never, ever read this, but I thank you with every fiber of my being for this album. You announced Fine Line at a time where I needed something to look forward to, mere minutes after I came back from a health center visit when I was really sick during my first semester and felt like actual crap. It was quite literally the light at the end of the tunnel of my first finals week, it was the soundtrack for my bus ride home for Christmas break (6+ hours of Fine Line on repeat, there’s nothing better), and has continued to be the soundtrack of my life for months on end. The success of Fine Line continues to amaze me, and I’m buzzing with excitement just thinking of getting to scream the words that have made each passing day a little easier to get through in October 2021 at MSG, my second home. 

Fine Line brings out emotions in me I didn’t even know I was capable of feeling, which is scary to think about. However, the lyrics and vulnerability expressed throughout the album has made me realize it’s okay to embrace what I’m feeling. For taking the time to write these songs, for being so open, for not holding back creatively, thank you Harry. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Happy anniversary Fine Line. 

If you would like to read my thoughts on each Fine Line track more in depth, you can head over to my very first post on this blog where I ranked every song in Harry’s discography! Let me know your favorite track from the album or your favorite memory associated with this album if you have one!