Before anything, let’s make sure you’re in the right place.
This article discusses the Sign of the Times lyrics meaning as sung by Harry Styles
It is not about the Prince song Sign o’ the Times. Notice the different spelling.
That song is also great, but its lyrics are a bit more obvious.
The meaning behind Styles’ lyrics is not readily apparent.
So what is their meaning?
Keep reading to find out. We will tell you exactly what Mr. Styles is singing about, as explained by the man himself.
Table of Contents
Sign Of The Times Lyrics And Meaning
Sign of the Times was the debut solo single by British singer Harry Styles. It appeared on his self-titled debut studio album.
The former One Direction star’s first album went straight to number one in the UK and US charts and was one of the world’s top ten best-selling albums of the year.
The album’s lead single was Sign of the Times. It topped the UK Singles Chart and reached number four in the United States. The song received further acclaim when Rolling Stone placed it at number 428 on its ‘The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ list in 2021.
Harry Styles has spoken about the meaning behind the lyrics to his debut solo single, revealing in interviews that they were inspired by the sad plight of a mother being informed by doctors that she will die soon after giving birth. Let’s take a look.
Sign Of The Times Lyrics
Verse 1
Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times
Welcome to the final show
I hope you’re wearing your best clothes
You can’t bribe the door on your way to the sky
You look pretty good down here
But you ain’t really good
Pre-Chorus
We never learn, we’ve been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
We never learn, we’ve been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
Chorus
Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times
We gotta get away from here
We gotta get away from here
Just stop your crying, it’ll be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here
Verse 2
Just stop your crying, have the time of your life
Breaking through the atmosphere
Things look pretty good from here
Remember everything will be alright
We can meet again somewhere
Somewhere far away from here
Pre-Chorus
We never learn, we’ve been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
We never learn, we’ve been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
Chorus
Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times
We gotta get away from here
We gotta get away from here
Stop your crying, baby, it’ll be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here
Pre-Chorus
We never learn, we’ve been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
We never learn, we’ve been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets, the bullets?
Bridge
We don’t talk enough
We should open up
Before it’s all too much
Will we ever learn?
We’ve been here before
It’s just what we know
Outro
Stop your crying, baby, it’s a sign of the times
We gotta get away
We got to get away, we got to get away
We got to get away, we got to get away
We got to, we got to, away
We got to, we got to, away
We got to, we got to, away
Sign Of The Times Meaning
The guitar-driven power ballad was written by Harry Styles with producer Jeff Bhasker, and Styles has been asked about the songs influences during interviews following its success.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, Styles explained that Sign of the Times “…is written from a point of view as if a mother was giving birth to a child and there’s a complication. The mother is told, ‘The child is fine, but you’re not going to make it.’ The mother has five minutes to tell the child, ‘Go forth and conquer.'”
Upon listening to the song’s lyrics, this influence is not immediately apparent. But upon closer inspection of the chorus, it becomes clearer:
Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times
We gotta get away from here
We gotta get away from here
Just stop your crying, it’ll be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here
The lyric “They told me that the end is near” clearly hints at the woman telling her child that the doctors have informed her of the complications.
In the verse following the first chorus, we can hear the woman encouraging her child to, as Harry Styles himself put it, “go forth and conquer,” despite starting life with such a traumatic experience as losing its mother.
Just stop your crying, have the time of your life
Breaking through the atmosphere
And things are pretty good from here
Remember everything will be alright
We can meet again somewhere
Somewhere far away from here
Overall, the poignant lyrics depict a dying mother leaving a message for her soon-to-be-born child, informing the child that it needs to push on and live its best life, despite the difficult beginning.
The lyric: “We never learn; we’ve been here before. Why are we always stuck and running from the bullets?” is her way of telling the child that this isn’t the first time they’re facing a hard time, and it’s not going to be the last time either. It’s just a part of life.
Additional Questions
Next, we will answer two common questions related to the Sign of the Times lyrics meaning. If you have additional questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments below.
Is Harry Styles Sign of the Times a remake of the Prince song?
Harry Styles’ Sign of the Times is not a cover of the Prince song but a different song entirely. The two songs share the same name, but that’s where the similarities end.
Although Prince fans chastised Harry, Sheena Easton, who co-starred with Prince on U Got the Look, insisted that the Purple Maestro would have approved.
Is One Direction disbanded now?
The band has been on an indefinite hiatus since January 2016, which has allowed all its members to pursue other projects.
Sign Of The Times Lyrics Meaning: Final Thoughts
Harry Styles‘ Sign of the Times lyrics meaning has to do with a mother leaving a message for her unborn child, knowing she will die during childbirth. As such, it also carries a wider meaning about the struggles of life.
That does make it similar to the similarly titled Prince song, which lists a bunch of different tragic situations to illustrate the general bad state of the world. In the end, both are great songs, though obviously very different.
Another song that lists many historical people and events comes from Billy Joel. Read our article on the lyrics and meaning of We Didn’t Start The Fire, to learn about that song.
It seems to me that it is about a failed relationship Harry had. All the lyrics can relate to what he went through. The confusing thing is the meaning of “Bullet”. I don’t see anything of a mother or a baby.
I agree, I never would have guessed that meaning myself. But it comes straight from Harry himself, in a Rolling Stone interview.