Fans Think Harry Styles' "Falling" Is About Cheating & I’m Shook

Harry Styles dropped his new album, Fine Line, on Dec. 13, and it includes many emotional lyrics about falling in and out of love. (Classic.) There’s tons to unpack, but one particular theory about Harry Styles cheating on the song "Falling" has fans on Twitter in a tizzy, thanks to a lyric about Styles' "wandering hands." Some fans have guessed the song could possibly be about Styles’ ex-girlfriend, Camille Rowe, the French-American model and Victoria's Secret angel he reportedly dated from summer 2017 to July 2018, but a request for comment from Styles on that rumor made by Elite Daily was not returned at the time of publish.

The first verse of the song says: “I'm in my bed / And you're not here / And there's no one to blame but the drink and my wandering hands / Forget what I said / It's not what I meant / And I can't take it back, I can't unpack the baggage you left.” These words convey a heartbreaking message, but Styles never makes it clear who exactly the song is about. He also never explicitly mentions infidelity directly. Nevertheless, his breakup with Rowe seems to be top of mind for fans debating on Twitter.

Rowe and Styles were first rumored to be dating in August 2017, after they were spotted together at an event in New York City. A source reportedly told The Sun at the time that Styles seemed “besotted” with Rowe. They were photographed out on another reported date later that month, and he reportedly introduced her to his family around the holidays that year. In January 2018, a source reportedly told The Sun that the couple was still going strong, saying, “Camille’s come along at exactly the right point in Harry’s life. He’s had plenty of fun but seems to be content hanging out with her. They get on great. She’s laid back and cool, plus she’s been really supportive of his career. The relationship is still fairly relaxed, he’s hardly at the stage where they see each other every day." In March 2018, Rowe was reportedly spotted in the audience with Styles’ mother at his Paris concert.

Styles and Rowe reportedly ended things in July 2018. Fans didn’t hear much more about the rumored breakup until August 2019, when Rolling Stone released its cover interview with Styles. Tom Hull, one of Styles’ closest friends, was interviewed for the piece, and provided an insightful take on the reported breakup, saying, “He went through this breakup that had a big impact on him… I turned up on Day One in the studio, and I had these really nice slippers on. His ex-girlfriend that he was really cut up about, she gave them to me as a present — she bought slippers for my whole family. We’re still close friends with her… He looks at me and says, ‘Where’d you get those slippers? They’re nice.’ I had to say, ‘Oh, um, your ex-girlfriend got them for me.’ He said, ‘Whaaaat? How could you wear those?’ He had a whole emotional journey about her, this whole relationship … But I kept saying, 'The best way of dealing with it is to put it in these songs you’re writing.'"

Styles may have done just that. Regardless of whether “Falling” is about Rowe or not, it’s pretty clear that one song on the album features her directly. “Cherry” includes a recorded voicemail message in French that Styles confirmed was from an ex-girlfriend. The song is all about watching a former lover move on with someone new.

Fans won't know for sure whether this theory is true unless Styles decides to speak on it directly, but whatever those lyrics in "Falling" mean, the song conveys a poignant portrait of longing and heartbreak, and it's some of Styles' most moving work yet.