Stockholm Syndrome

Album: Four (2014)
Charted: 99
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Harry Styles wrote this synth-pop song with Julian Bunetta, John Ryan and Johan Carlsson. Asked on Twitter what his favorite track on 4 is, Harry replied: "Stockholm was a lot of fun to write."
  • Julian Bunetta and John Ryan are frequent 1D collaborators. Harry previously worked with Swedish songwriter and producer Johan Carlsson when they penned (with Savan Kotecha) "A Little Bit of Your Heart" for Ariana Grande.
  • The guys sing here about being tied down in a relationship, but loving it. The hostage metaphor is reflected in the song's title, which is a term dating back to the 1970s referring to the psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and have positive feelings toward their captors.
  • Stockholm syndrome takes its name from a 1973 robbery of the Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg in the Swedish capital. During the six day stand-off, the hostages formed a remarkable bond with their captors, even defending them after they were freed from their ordeal. Both Blink-182 and Muse have also released songs named after the term.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Millie Jackson

Millie JacksonSongwriter Interviews

Outrageously gifted and just plain outrageous, Millie is an R&B and Rap innovator.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17

Martyn Ware of Heaven 17Songwriter Interviews

Martyn talks about producing Tina Turner, some Heaven 17 hits, and his work with the British Electric Foundation.

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In Songs

Sending Out An SOS - Distress Signals In SongsSong Writing

Songs where something goes horribly wrong (literally or metaphorically), and help is needed right away.

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.