When Styles unveiled his album's tracklist on April 28, fans couldn't stop theorizing about the song "Matilda." They wondered whether the song had any connection to the 1988 children's novel of the same name by Roald Dahl.
Styles finally addressed the speculation in his May 20 interview with NPR. He said the song actually has a double meaning, and while it was inspired by a personal experience, the track could also be interpreted to be about Dahl's "Matilda."
"It was kind of like okay, we'll disguise it as speaking to Matilda now that she's all grown up, who's been mistreated by her family, how would you speak to her?" Styles explained, adding that the song could be about moving on from a traumatic experience. "I think people have so much guilt with things that they don't necessarily need to have guilt with. It's your right to protect the space around you and be protective of yourself and look after yourself."