Heartfelt meaning behind Harry Styles’ new track ‘Carla’s song’

Who is Carla?

Made up of 12 tracks, Harry's new album showcases a more mature version of the One Direction heartthrob we remember, looking almost romantically scruffy. From his lead single Aperture to Coming Up and Roses, Harry's new album is already winning over fans.

However, there is one question on everyone's mind after carefully listening to their way through the discography: Who is Carla?

Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally. ends with ‘Carla’s Song.'

For many fans, this comes as no surprise, as Styles is no stranger to name-dropping in his songs, with Matilda, Cherry, and even One Direction’s Olivia as examples. Fans have long been used to digging to uncover the identities of these mysterious muses. But Carla’s story might be a little different.

Everyone can hold their horses, as Carla is not a lover.

Harry went on to address the closing track with Apple Music's Zane Lowe when talking about his new album. As the story has it, Carla is one of his friends.

"Carla kind of just became, in so many ways, the most important part of the record to me," he explained.

Harry said the song “answered so many questions” he had about his reasons for making music and added that it reminded him that “there was a time when you heard a song for the first time that made you want to touch music in some way.”

The singer then recalled a moment when he and his friends, including Carla, were hanging out at someone’s house before heading to an afterparty. Carla mentioned that she had just discovered Paul Simon, and having grown up on Simon & Garfunkel, Harry was already a longtime fan.

"When I lived in a pub a little bit when I was younger, there was like a four-CD changer that I think the Bridge Over Troubled Water record was in the whole time I lived there," Harry shared.

Harry decided to then play Bridge Over Troubled Water for Carla, and it ended up being a life-changing moment for both of them.

"Watching her listen to it, having never heard that song, felt like I was just watching someone see or something, or discover magic," Harry recalled.

"There was something in that moment that reminded me of, by making music, what you’re investing in, and it’s songs that go so beyond our lifetime."

The opening lyrics to Carla's song read: "There is a bridge that leads to troubled waters/ If you know, then you know/ If you don’t, then you don’t/ It’s heavenly from your head to your toes/ Saw the light and the gold that you discover."

Harry said he went on to play Kathy's Song for Carla, which he explained was his personal favourite song from Simon & Garfunkel, and ultimately the inspiration for the title of Carla's Song.

Harry shared with Lowe that the moment helped him reconnect with the true purpose of music: "Maybe someone hears a song of yours and goes, 'This song’s going to be in my life forever'. That is kind of it. Like, that is enough. And I don’t ask for any more than that, really."

Harry finally explained one lyric in particular - 'You’ve been a baby sleeping on a candy bar.’

"You see a baby try ice cream for the first time, and the sweetness or something," he explained, "but it’s always been there. It’s always been around. It’s always existed, and it always will exist. Hasn’t been in your life, and the baby eats the ice cream for the first time, their eyes just light up."