Millions of fans around the world have been waiting in suspense, and their hopes and dreams have finally come true only to be crushed.
Since their last show in Sheffield, England in October 2015, the various members of the extremely popular British boyband One Direction have taken steps to expand their own solo careers. Recently, member Harry Styles has released his first hit single, “Sign of the Times,” from his new self-titled album.
“Sign of the Times” starts with a quiet, softer feeling, with only him and the piano, and builds up eventually to add drums, guitar, and bass. The song goes between piano, drums, and Styles to the more upbeat sections that give it a more rock and roll sound.
Styles hyped up the excitement leading up into its release by uploading a music video for the single, which featured him singing on different cliffsides and “flying” through the air. Going for a more dramatic feel, the earlier release of pictures by media outlets of the production company using a stunt double dummy that was flown around by a helicopter became a meme among friends. The doll was later made realistic with CGI effects, but Styles was also strapped in and lifted by the helicopter.
However, fans became so obsessed with the creepy dummy resembling the artist that they went on to make memes about just how creepy it was. The real photos and screenshots from the music video itself also were photoshopped to make him fly on a broom, become Mary Poppins, and many other variations including a comparison to Spongebob Squarepants from his movie when he was hanging from the Krusty Krab ceiling in the purple cape and high heeled boots.
“Sign of the Times” almost resembles “Space Oddity,” by David Bowie, in some ways, most of all with the famous guitar that makes it transition into the next section. While they are from two completely different eras and have very different messages overall, the transitioning from each section of the song is very similar, and several others agree. While some see it as a tribute to the late rock icon, others see this as Styles ripping Bowie off to launch his solo career.
To add on to the controversy, fans are being kept from seeing Styles live for not being an official member of his sort of “fan club.” His venues, compared to large stadiums from his One Direction days, are much smaller in hopes to make the relationship between him and the fans more personal and intimate than before. He’s going from playing in places like Madison Square Garden in New York City to The Masonic in San Francisco. Many did not know that they had to sign up and are even more upset to discover that by the time they found out about this, it was too late to become a member.
However, despite signing up and getting their ticket access code, fans were being blocked out of the Ticketmaster website and told by the company that all of his shows around the world were sold out at the same time they were released. Millions everywhere have responded on social media, outraged at the ticket selling site but also at the artist. Some comments have been worse than others, mostly more memes about the timing of sales and when they were supposedly sold out, but they all to some extent have been ripping apart the artist.
Styles took to Twitter on May 5, the same day tickets were released for purchase, saying that he is overwhelmed. To the fans who couldn’t obtain tickets, he stated “I’ll come back around next year if you’ll have me.”