cherry and fine line are sister songs and i think their similarities/differences represent harry’s growth throughout the album regarding the breakup. a thread

structurally and musically these songs are really similar i think, but they differ with the lyrics and the overall tone/meaning. throughout the album we see harry’s journey of processing and moving on from a breakup. cherry is the beginning, fine line is the end, and the +

differences between the songs show this growth. this is going to be kinda messy sorry bear with me

layered vocals: in cherry it’s her voice with “coucou”, in fine line it’s his voice with “we’ll be alright”. the repetition of these phrases show his mindset shift. in cherry, he’s still thinking and obsessing over the relationship and it’s her voice that has this almost +

intrusive presence throughout the song. in fine line, though, he’s become more independent as he’s moved on from the relationship and the phrase echoing through his mind is so much more optimistic and positive.

buildup at the end: i’m no music expert so i’m not going to describe this perfectly, but at the end of both songs the vocals and instrumental begins to rise. in cherry, his screams gradually increase in volume and passion, as well as musically becoming higher, but ends +

disappointingly whereas in contrast, the chorus of fine line builds to an actual crescendo to when he sings “we’ll be alright”. in cherry he’s still failing to move on at all so we don’t get any sense of triumph.

cherry focuses on the past while fine line is about the future, which shows his shifting mindset. the definitive lyric of cherry is “don’t you call him what you used to call me,” because he’s preoccupied with the past relationship and what used to happen. he’s seeking that +

comfort still. however, in fine line the definite lyrics are “we’ll be a fine line, we’ll be alright”, which refer to the future. instead of looking at what did happen, he’s looking ahead at what will happen. he’s moved on.

also i just want to point out the way cherry is in general so much more negative than fine line because he’s still in that very dark place. it’s all about regret, longing, and bitterness. fine line is the opposite, he’s still mourning the relationship a little bit but +

overall it’s a celebration of what happened and an optimistic look towards the future. there’s no hope in cherry, but fine line is all about hope.

one more thing: cherry sounds happy while fine line is a more balanced melancholy sound. cherry is early on in the journey and he hasn’t processed anything yet so he can’t truly move on and be lighthearted about it all at this point despite how much he tries. it ends up +

contrasting nearly awkwardly with the lyrics. it’s obvious he’s putting on a facade with the cute little acoustic melody. fine line is much more honest about feeling low, however it still has moments of genuine happiness. the sound matches with the lyrics.

hope this made sense tbh anyway there’s a reason both of these are harry’s favourites on the album they’re so well written and beautiful songs