Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. is finally here – and it’s made Harry Styles’s three-year hiatus completely worth it.
Made of 12 tracks and headed up by his lead single ‘Aperture,’ Harry’s new album brings a more mature version of the former One Direction star: moustached, muted, and thoughtful. From ‘Coming Up Roses’ to ’Season 2 Weightless’, Harry’s new tracks are already proving a hit with fans (which is great news given he’s taking it on tour and filming a Netflix special…)
Although, the album has raised one question: Who on earth is Carla?
Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. ends with ‘Carla’s Song.’ Of course, Harry’s no stranger to a name drop in lyrics (cue ‘Matilda’, ‘Cherry’, and the throwback of One Direction’s ‘Olivia’), but he doesn’t always explain exactly who they are. Carla, however, is the exception.
So, who is Carla from ‘Carla’s Song’?
No, it’s not a lover.
Harry addressed the closing track when he sat down with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe to discuss his new album, and revealed who Carla is. Turns out, she’s one of his many, many friends.
‘Carla kind of just became, in so many ways, the most important part of the record to me,’ he explained.
Now, Harry currently doesn’t appear to follow anyone on Instagram called Carla. This could be because she doesn’t have Instagram, or perhaps Harry is hoping to protect her from any media attention. Either way, we know she’s one of his close pals.
What is the meaning of ‘Carla’s Song’?
Saying the song ‘answered so many questions’ he had about why he makes music, Harry shared that it reminded him that ‘there was a time when you heard a song for the first time that made you want to touch music, in some way.’
Harry recalled a moment when he and his group of friends – including our titular muse Carla – were hanging out at someone’s house before an afterparty. Carla mentioned that she had just discovered Paul Simon, and having grown up listening to Simon & Garfunkel, Harry was already a big fan. ‘When I lived in a pub a little bit when I was younger, there was like a four-CD changer that I think the “Bridge Over Troubled Water” record was in the whole time I lived there,’ Harry shared.
He decided to play Carla ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ thinking she might enjoy it. It ended up being a life-changing moment for the both of them.
‘Watching her listen to it, having never heard that song, felt like I was just watching someone see or something, or discover magic,’ Harry said. ‘There was something in that moment that reminded me of, by making music, what you’re investing in, and it’s songs that go so beyond our lifetime.’
In Carla’s song, our opening lyrics read, ‘There is a bridge that leads to troubled waters/ If you know, then you know/ If you don’t, then you don’t/ It’s heavenly from your head to your toes/ Saw the light and the gold that you discover.’
Harry then went on to play ‘Kathy’s Song’ for Carla – which he noted was his personal favourite song from Simon & Garfunkel, and the inspiration for the title of ‘Carla’s Song.’
Explaining to Lowe that that moment helped remind him of the purpose of music, Harry said, ‘Maybe someone hears a song of yours and goes, “This song’s going to be in my life forever.” That is kind of it. Like, that is enough. And I don’t ask for any more than that, really.’
During his chat with Apple music, Harry also explained one lyric in particular – ‘You’ve been a baby sleeping on a candy bar.’
‘You see a baby try ice cream for the first time, and the sweetness or something,’ he said, ‘but it’s always been there. It’s always been around. It’s always existed and it always will exist. Hasn’t been in your life, and the baby eats the ice cream for the first time, their eyes just light up.’
What are the lyrics to ‘Carla’s Song’?
There is a bridge that leads to troubled water
If you know, then you know
If you don’t, then you don’t, that’s heavenly
From your head to your toes
Saw the light in the gold that you discovered
Through your eyes, in awe, melodies like the tide
It’s all waiting there for you
It’s all waiting there for you
Can you hear that voice
Delivering the news?
It’s all waiting there for you
Ignorance or innocence
Call it what you wanna
You’ve been a baby sleeping upon a candy bar
Till your eyes open on the changing summer light
It’s all waiting there for you
Can you hear that voice
Delivering the news?
It’s all waiting there for you
It’s all waiting there for you
Call it what you wanna
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, you can hear it anytime
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, I don’t have to read your mind
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, you can hear it anytime
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, I don’t have to read your mind
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, you can hear it anytime
It’s all waiting there for you
It’s all waiting there for you
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, I don’t have to read your mind
(I don’t have to read your mind)
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, you can hear it anytime
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, I don’t have to read your mind (It’s all waiting there for you)
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, you can hear it anytime
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, I don’t have to read your mind (It’s all waiting there)
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, you can hear it anytime (It’s all waiting there for you)
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, I don’t have to read your mind
I know what you like, I know what you’ll really like
I know what you like, you can hear it anytime
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Charlotte Roberts is a writer at Grazia UK, specialising in SEO. She spends her days covering everything celebrity, culture, and entertainment – from film review roundups to cast explainers.
