The sign of the times is that we are entering Harry Styles' time.
Welcome to the church of Harry Styles.
On Friday, the One Direction alum became the fourth One Direction singer to officially embark on his solo career. And after Zayn Malik's R&B stylings, Louis Tomlinson's EDM endeavor and Niall Horan's solemn acoustic medley of lost love, the direction the 23-year-old singer is taking is a bona fide rock anthem.
MORE: Listen to Harry Styles' Debut Solo Single 'Sign of the Times'
"Sign of the Times" hits the ears as a reverent study of classic rock balladry (that, dare we say, gives off some light David Bowie vibes), patiently growing from piano crooning to soaring vocals over bombastic riffs and a melancholy guitar solo line.
Styles took a risk here. He could have done a safe, radio-ready pop song -- or worse, botched the execution of this effort with a hacky, stadium rock imitation of the legends he pays homage to on "A Sign of the Times." But the singer-songwriter sounds confident here, coming out with perhaps the most sure-footed effort yet of the divergent Directioners.
And people are taking notice.
Styles' former bandmates, Niall Horan and Liam Payne, took to Twitter to offer praise to their friend and collaborator.
"Love it, H," Horan tweeted, upon the single's release.
"@Harry_Styles proud of you H. Glad you're getting to do your own thing," Payne wrote.
MORE: Harry Styles Makes Big Screen Debut in 'Dunkirk'
The Late Late Show executive producer Ben Winston implored his followers to check out the song, tweeting, "If you haven't listened to 'Sign of the Times' yet, do. It's bloody great."
But the best reactions, obviously, had to be from Styles' fans.
In response to the positive reaction to the song, Styles tweeted, simply, "Thanks for having me. Love you. H."
That love is reciprocated, Harry! You have our hearts, and most definitely, our ears.
Check out the lyrics to "Sign of the Times" below:
Just stop your crying
It's a sign of the times
Welcome to the final show
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
If we never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets
The bullets
We never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets
The bullets
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 will be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here
Just stop 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
If we never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets
The bullets
We never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets
The bullets
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
Baby it will be alright
They told me that the end is near
We gotta get away from here
If we never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets
The bullets
We never learn, we been here before
Why are we always stuck and running from
The bullets
The bullets
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
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
We got to, we got to
We got to, we got to
OK, we officially cannot get enough of this song!
And we should be expecting big things from the video too -- given that Syles dangled from a helicopter while filming it!
Watch the video below for more.
