Here, Harry Styles reflects on a friendship with a girl that he ruined before he could take it to the next level. He recalls fond memories, including a golf swing, a trampoline, red wine, ginger ale, and spilling beer on her friend. Sadly, Harry disrespected his female friend by pushing to make their relationship more intimate. He regrets how their friendship ended, but wants her to know he's still thinking about her.

Styles starts off the song by calling the girl a "little freak" (meaning someone young who can do dirty things) and a "Jezebel" (a shameless, licentious woman). These are likely references to the way she turned the pop star on. He then refers to her sitting "high atop the kitchen counter" and "green," images of someone still youthful and naïve, implying she was unaware of the effect she had on Styles.

During the Harry's House: One Night Only in New York concert, Styles revealed that he wrote "Little Freak" in a hotel room in Tokyo with his regular songwriting partner Kid Harpoon in the late 2010s. He added it was one of his all-time favorite music-making experiences: "Just two friends in a hotel room doing not what you think two friends in a hotel room might be doing."