What Harry Styles' Watermelon Sugar Lyrics Actually Mean
Harry Styles may have released his hit song "Watermelon Sugar" back in 2019, but there's no doubt that the feel-good track is still making waves today — and even winning some prestigious awards to boot. The English singer nabbed Best Pop Solo Performance for the track at the 2021 Grammy Awards, snagging his first Grammy win in the process. Prior to the ceremony, Styles opened the show with a sultry performance of the popular song.
As many fans of the former One Direction member may know, Styles's "Watermelon Sugar" was a hit single off his second solo album, entitled "Fine Line," which was released in December 2019 (via Rolling Stone). Later accompanied by a colorful, beach-themed music video released in May 2020, the upbeat track went on to become a smash summertime hit — and even rewarded Styles with his first No.1 on the Hot 100, as reported by Billboard.
Still, despite the exploding popularity of the song, there's a lot of mystery behind the true meaning of the summery track — including, of course, the line where Styles sings that he can't live without a "watermelon sugar high." Which leads us to the question: What do the lyrics of "Watermelon Sugar" actually mean?
Watermelon Sugar is filled with subliminal messages
At first glance, "Watermelon Sugar” seems to be an innocent celebration of the joys of summertime, with plenty of references to eating fruit. "Tastes like strawberries on a summer evenin' / And it sounds just like a song," Harry Styles sings (via Genius). "I want more berries and that summer feelin' / It's so wonderful and warm." It turns out, though, that the real meaning of "Watermelon Sugar" may be a lot more NSFW.
Just take a look at the music video, which Styles dedicated to the act of "touching," and that also features sensual shots of the singer being surrounded by bikini-clad beach-goers as they all canoodle and feed each other fruit (via Rolling Stone). But there's also one particularly revealing shot in the video: A woman sitting with a watermelon between her legs, moments after a scene depicting Styles biting into a watermelon slice.
Yup, that's right: Styles's crooning for a "watermelon sugar high" very likely represents his appreciation for oral sex! In fact, the pop star was specifically asked about this steamy interpretation in a 2019 interview with Zane Lowe. "'Watermelon Sugar,' which at this point is out, and everyone's kind of figured out what it's about," Lowe said. "The joys of mutually appreciated oral pleasure." Styles coyly replied with a smile, "Is that what it's about? I don't know." Well, he certainly didn't deny it.
Harry Styles gave a bit more insight into the meaning during a concert
Harry Styles has continued to play coy when asked to delve further into the meaning behind the hit song. Right before launching into "Watermelon Sugar" at a 2021 concert in Nashville (via YouTube), the former boyband star teased, "This song is about ... It doesn't really matter what it's about." Styles continued, "It's about, uh, the sweetness of life."
After singing a few lines, the Grammy winner cheekily added, "It's also about the female orgasm but that's totally different, it's not really relevant," which resulted in deafening cheers. During his "Tiny Desk Concert" for NPR, the year before, Styles revealed that the title of the song was inspired by a novel called "In Watermelon Sugar."
He also notably shared, "It's kind of about that initial I guess euphoria of when you start seeing someone or sleeping with someone or just like being around someone and you have that kind of excitement about them." So it seems we might never know the real meaning behind this chart-topper, as long as Styles has something to say about it.