For your eyes only, I show you my heart
For when you’re lonely, forget who you are
I’m missing half of me…when we’re apart
Now you know me
For your eyes only…
Some people say that if you love something you should let it go; not hold on too tight, and those people may be right. However if love is real, pure, and true – why not surround yourself with it? Why not envelop yourself in it? Why not reside in a place with a person who makes you feel like the world and everything in it only exists because the two of you found each other?
Harry has absolutely outdone himself in writing If I Could Fly.
Harry has used this song to say to fans, himself, and someone close to his heart that he’s experienced love; the weight of it, the light of it, the truth of it – both good and bad – and he’s betting everything on it being true.
The vulnerability in the lyrics speak from the heart of someone who has realized that they’re completely enveloped in not just the idea of the perfect lover, but the soul of the person they’re meant to spend the rest of their life with. There is something beautiful about allowing yourself to truly love the person that was designed for you without fear – and Harry has nailed that emotion.
It’s rare that life brings us a gift as true as a soulmate; one that touches us without the use of a finger, one that speaks to us without saying a word, one that loves us in spite of ourselves.
Some people desperately cling to false hope that parades around disguised as love while others feel the true weight of what real love is and run scared.
Harry proves with every new lyric of If I Could Fly that he’s not once missed the value of a moment when love is real – he’s not once left love unprepared, uncared for, or unappreciated.
Harry indulges every aspect of love, and Louis, Liam, and Niall do too.
They sing with their souls in If I Could Fly – not their voices – and that’s what makes this song commemorable.
For a young man who’s been linked in the media with more women than we can keep up with for shorter amount of times than it takes to properly boil water – these lyrics seem to be speaking on a long lasting, overcoming, true real love.
It seems like Harry knows a thing, or twelve, about that.
From the moment Louis and Harry ‘met’ at their x-factor auditions – even though fate brought their paths to cross before then without them even realizing it – their bond was undeniable and grew to be unbreakable. The two of them can be seen in videos, gifs, and photos being unaware of anyone else in the room and unable to keep their hands off of one another. Some people called it an immediate friendship, some people called them brothers, while others called it love.
While the dynamic of their relationship has clearly stayed strong through the years, the public image of it has been damaged. This has been blamed on everything from the fans warping an image of two best friends, to a top secret fall out between two lads, to a break up between lovers that caused irreparable damage.
We don’t believe one bit of all that; and If I Could Fly is a brush off to anyone who does.
One thing that’s remained constant through the years of silence was the way that no matter what – they found a way to support one another and in turn draw strength at the same time. There are things like “next to you” and lyric changes, gifs that show Harry approaching Louis before he’s reminded to step away. Quotes like “I advise them not to whisper to each other until they’re off stage” and “I’m being forced into it” on Harry’s twitter page.
There are stolen glances, hand gestures, silly giggles and sign language that help two boys communicate who’ve been forbidden to use their words. While none of those things guarantee a secret relationship between Louis and Harry it’s not necessary to use any of them as proof or evidence anyway.
What speaks highly of an important connection between Harry and Louis without even saying a word is how soft they are with one another. It’s almost like Louis is the most precious gem in the world to Harry, and to Louis – Harry is the thing he protects above all else.
It’s the way they exist effortlessly next to one another; how when Harry bobs Louis sways, it’s when Louis grazes against Harry he does so with the gentleness you use handling flower petals, and the way when Harry sees Louis his smile changes from a grin to an explosion of love, light, and happiness beautifully across his face.
It’s the way two boys have inked their bodies when their voices were stolen, it’s the way they’ve got the same dreams and same nightmares. It’s the way Harry wrote an entire song about being able to fly and coming right back home to the person who helps it all make sense. It’s the way Louis wrote a song about making any place in this world feel like home. It’s the way that they’ve seen desperate lows and incredible highs and decided that regardless of what end of the spectrum they find themselves on – it’s only worth it if they’re there together.
“and pain gets hard…”
“…but now you’re here and I don’t feel a thing”
For Fans who believe Louis and Harry have been together for years – there is also a sense of understanding that these years have been beautiful while also being painful. There were times the boys were separated when they longed to be together, times they wanted to hold hands and had to settle for almost hidden touches halfway behind interview tables. There were days they woke up and desired nothing more than to love openly; and they were denied that privilege.
What a perfect song for Harry to write – at the end of the past 5 years that they’ve spent doing what they love and chasing dreams while at the same time having to keep some of them hidden – and use it to say I’m here, I’m open, I’m defenseless, and I’m yours.
In a world where absolutely nothing was private or off limits for the lads, where any “love” they experienced was riddled with camera flashes and media outlets reporting outrageous stories full of untruth. Where they were monitored in terms of words, actions, and relationships – Harry and Louis have a special place, a designated time, and a love that exists only for them.
In a time where Harry was shoved in front of cameras on of the arm of the next “it” girl, his name and face on the front of magazines linked to any pretty model-to-be with a pulse, and when he lived the most publicized life imaginable in terms of his “rock star” style romances – he managed to write a song that talks about the importance of vulnerability, support, understanding, and privacy.
Harry wrote a song about love being made stronger by the only things Louis and Harry have kept for themselves. He wrote a song about giving the truest parts of himself to the one person who he’d give up everything for. Harry wrote a love song, a devotion song, a soulmate song about the one person who’s truly never left his side.
Pay attention, I hope that you listen
cause I let my guard down.
Right now I’m completely defenseless…
For your eyes only.
“For your eyes only
I show you my heart
When you’re lonely
Forget who you are
I’m missing half of me
When we’re apart
Now you know me
For your eyes only.”