‘Boyfriends’ Was Almost Cut from Harry’s House: Why Did Harry Styles Want to Scrap the Most Emotional Track on the Album – and Who Convinced Him to Keep It?

When Harry Styles released Harry’s House in May 2022, fans were instantly drawn to its joyful pop melodies, retro-funk touches, and sleek production. But buried near the album’s end was something entirely different — a soft, haunting acoustic ballad titled “Boyfriends.”

With its sparse arrangement and brutally honest lyrics, “Boyfriends” felt like an emotional exhale after the album’s bright pace. It was raw, vulnerable, and completely unexpected. But what most fans didn’t know at the time was this: “Boyfriends” almost didn’t make the final cut.

In a surprising revelation from Kid Harpoon (Tom Hull), Harry’s longtime friend and key collaborator, the song went through more than a dozen versions before landing on the final tracklist. And for a long stretch during production, Styles himself was unsure whether to include it at all. “That song had a really long journey,” Kid Harpoon said in an interview with Apple Music. “It was demoed, re-demoed, produced, stripped back, then built up again. It took time for it to land.”

A Song Years in the Making

“Boyfriends” was first teased to the public during Harry’s headlining set at Coachella 2022, a month before the album’s release. Performing under the desert stars, Styles surprised fans by debuting the song live, backed only by his band’s harmonies and an acoustic guitar.

But the journey to that moment took years. In the same Apple Music interview, Styles said that “Boyfriends” was one of the earliest ideas for Harry’s House, but also one of the hardest to finish. “We wrote the first version of that song in 2020,” Styles revealed. “And I think we didn’t really know what it was for a while.”

Together with Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson — another close collaborator — Styles revisited “Boyfriends” multiple times. Some versions were more produced. Others were stripped down. None of them felt quite right until, as Harpoon described, they went back to basics.

The final version is striking in its simplicity: just acoustic guitar, soft background vocals, and Harry’s voice — vulnerable, almost breaking in places.

A Different Kind of Song

Unlike radio-ready singles like “As It Was” or “Late Night Talking,” Boyfriends is a stark departure. It doesn’t follow a conventional pop structure. There’s no chorus hook, no drum beat, and barely any production flourishes. And lyrically, it pulls no punches: “Boyfriends / They think you’re so easy / They take you for granted / They don’t know they’re just misunderstanding you…”

Fans and critics alike interpreted the song as a reflection on emotional neglect in relationships, and many saw it as a commentary on toxic masculinity — a theme Harry has never addressed so directly in his music before.

Yet, it’s not based on a single personal experience. In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music, Styles explained that the song came from observing others, rather than autobiographical pain. “It’s about how so many of my female friends were treated in relationships,” he said. “It’s observational. It’s empathetic. It’s frustrated.”

The Reluctance to Release It

Despite the emotional power of “Boyfriends,” Styles didn’t always feel confident about its place on the album. In several interviews following the release of Harry’s House, both he and Kid Harpoon acknowledged that they struggled to find a home for the song on the tracklist. “We weren’t sure it belonged,” Harpoon said. “It was so different from everything else we were making. It’s slow. It’s soft. It doesn’t have a beat.”

Styles himself echoed those sentiments: “There were times where I thought, maybe it’s too quiet? Maybe it slows the whole thing down too much?” he told Apple Music.

In a fast-paced, streaming-dominated music industry, artists — even ones as successful as Harry Styles — often face pressure to prioritize songs that are radio-friendly or algorithm-optimized. By contrast, “Boyfriends” is the kind of song that takes its time. It doesn’t demand attention; it invites listeners to sit with it.

But ultimately, according to Harpoon, the decision to include it came down to emotional honesty. “We realized it was important. The album needed that moment of reflection,” he said. “It gives the record weight.”

A Coachella Surprise That Changed Everything

Ironically, what helped solidify “Boyfriends” as a key track on Harry’s House was its live debut — long before the studio version was finalized.

At Coachella 2022, Harry performed “Boyfriends” for the very first time, accompanied by harmonies from his band and a stillness that captivated the massive festival crowd. “The energy just shifted,” one attendee told Rolling Stone. “It went from party to pin-drop silence.”

Fan videos of the performance quickly went viral. The stark contrast between Harry’s flamboyant stage presence and the gentle, introspective delivery of “Boyfriends” created a buzz online. Suddenly, everyone was talking about this “mystery ballad” that no one had heard before. “After Coachella, we knew we had to put it on the album,” Harpoon later confirmed in an interview.

Reception and Legacy

Upon the release of Harry’s House, critics praised “Boyfriends” for its emotional clarity. Rolling Stone described it as “devastating in its understatement”, while The Guardian called it a “brilliantly subtle takedown of romantic disappointment.”

It wasn’t released as a single, but it became a fan favorite, especially among those who connected with its honest portrayal of emotional vulnerability. On platforms like TikTok and X (formerly Twitter), fans shared personal stories tied to the lyrics.

“This song made me leave my boyfriend,” one fan posted.
“It’s like he saw every bad relationship I’ve ever had,” another wrote.

In live shows that followed, “Boyfriends” became a recurring emotional highlight, often played solo or with minimal accompaniment. Styles even performed it at the Grammys rehearsal and BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, further reinforcing its quiet strength.

No Regrets

Looking back, neither Styles nor Harpoon regret including the song. In fact, they’ve suggested that it might be one of the most important tracks Harry has released — not because of its commercial potential, but because of its message. “It’s not about chart positions,” Harpoon said. “It’s about honesty. And ‘Boyfriends’ is one of the most honest things we’ve ever made together.”

For Styles, whose solo career has been marked by reinvention and artistic growth, “Boyfriends” represents a moment of deep connection with his audience — especially those who may not often see their experiences reflected in pop music. “If it helped someone feel seen, that’s enough,” he said in a later interview.

Conclusion: From Almost-Cut to Core Classic

In the end, “Boyfriends” became something far more than a late-stage acoustic track. It became a mirror for listeners. A moment of truth in an otherwise polished pop record. A song that almost disappeared, but instead became essential.

And while the world might never hear all the earlier versions — the demos, the false starts, the rewrites — what we got in the end was the version Harry was finally ready to share.

One of silence. Of sadness. Of truth.