In the days leading up to the release of their fifth album, Made In the A.M., the lads of One Direction: Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne, decided to promo their newest record by releasing a new track each day before the release date (November 13, 2015) to those who pre-ordered the album. As an avid Directioner, I clearly pre-ordered the album the day it was announced and therefore woke Monday morning to the gift of a new track and a delicious one at that.
Monday, November 9, 2015: Track 05 – “End of the Day”
Just to get it out of the way, I need to talk about Tomlinson’s high note on this track because WOW. Just, well done Boo Bear. You’ve left all us Louis girls in a puddle on the floor so I hope you’re happy with your little hedgehog self, Tommo.
This song has a very chilled out vibe. You can consider it a love song with the opening line of, “I told her that I loved her/was not sure if she heard/the roof was pretty windy/ and she didn’t say a word/ party dying downstairs/ had nothing left to do/ just me, her, and the moon.”
The hook of the song reinforces the love letter vibe and is what makes it truly incredible to me, “All I know at the end of the day/is you want what you want/ and you say what you say/ and you follow your heart/ even though it will break/sometimes/ All I know at the end of the day/ is you love who you love/ there ain’t no other way/ if there is something to learn from a million mistakes/ you’re the one that I want/ at the end of the day.” Just says it all. A line like “You love who you love/ there just ain’t no other way,” gets your inner Larry swooning, doesn’t it? Well, Liam helped on writing this one, my children, so the Larry leaps are a little far fetched but I’m still down to make them if you are.
Tuesday, November 10, 2015: Track 11- “Love You Goodbye”
Tuesday morning and I have to sit in my 9:40 with the chords of the Lad’s latest release of Love You Goodbye. The boys are singing me the break up song that I’ve never needed, (forever alone) with lines like “My heart’s already breaking/ baby go on/ twist the knife,” and “One more taste of your lips/ just to bring me back/ to the places we’ve been/ and the nights we’ve had/ because if this is it/ then at least we can end it right.”
I about drove my roommates crazy repetition, “Oh hey hey hey, why you wearing that to walk out of my life?” and nothing else because a couple hours can only get me half a hook and really that’s the first line of the epic break down in the middle of the song. (Sorry, homies) It’s a really beautiful song about breaking it off for the best not because you don’t love each other anymore and that’s probably what makes the song that much more sad. Tomlinson and writers put in a lot of heart on this one. This is definitely one of my favs from the album (don’t hold me to this, its just so HARD to chose)
Wednesday, November 12, 2015 – Track 13 – “History”
“You and me got a whole lot of history/we could be the greatest thing/ that the world has ever seen/ you and me got a whole lot of history/ so don’t let it go/ we can make some more/ we could live forever.”
Alrighty, lads, you’re breaking my heart. I may be making some leaps with Tomlinson and Payne’s track here but I’m pretty positive this track is dedicated to us. The fans, those of us who have been with them through thick and thin, it’s a ballad to say “hey we’re not done here,” The beginning line mirroring that of their song from their third album, Midnight Memories, Strong’s “So baby hold on to my heart/ I need you to keep me from falling a part/ I’ll always hold on/ because you make me strong,” with the opening lines of History echoing, “You got to help me/ I’m losing my mind/ keep getting the feeling/ you want to leave this all behind/ thought we were going strong/ thought we were holding/ aren’t we?”
With the departure of the band’s fifth member of the band, many rumors have surfaced that the band is going to split. The band’s decision to take a well deserved year off, after five long years of touring, writing, recording, and producing five albums and four world tours (the last two having been stadium tours and the second selling out arenas around the world) only fortifies these rumors for most. But if the albums lead single, “Drag Me Down” and, now, “History,” has told us anything, it’s that these lads are nowhere near being done with us, just tired. Which is good because we aren’t ready to let them go just yet. I think we can all chant along with Louis in the break down of this one, “This is not the end/ this is not the end/ we can make it/ you know it/ you know it/ you know.”
Thursday left us with no single, but less than twenty-four hours until the full list of tracks available for consumption. So with the blessing of One Direction being a British/ Irish band we didn’t have to wait until midnight to hear it, but with all my roommates out for the night, I was left to curl up in my dark room and listen to it in it’s full glory without disturbance.
Track 01: “Hey Angel”
This track just sounds cool. It starts out like the intro to you’re favorite television series with some cool guitar and a little harmonizing melodies. We get a great hook, “Hey Angel/ tell me do you ever try to come to the other side? Hey Angel/ Tell me/ Do you ever cry when we waste away our lives? Oh I wish I could be more like you/ do you wish you could be more like me?”
Track 02: “Drag Me Down”
I’ve spoken on the song before, but I just really love it. When I first heard the single I was convinced it had to be dedicated to their mother’s with lyrics like, “If I didn’t have you/ there would be nothing left/ the shell of a man who could never be his best/ if I didn’t have you I’d never see the sun/ you taught me how to be someone/All my life you stood by me/ When no one else was ever behind me/ All these lights/ They can’t blind me/ With your love nobody can drag me down.”
It wasn’t until my mom after hearing me speculate on the meaning behind the song that she said that it was for us. They boys wrote this song to thank the fans for being there through it all. The lyrics croon right to the fans who know that Zayn’s departure from the band was devastating for the boys, for the fans, for the band, but that we keep them a float. I cried when my mom said that. Their first single as a foursome and this gem is what they have for us. I swear these boys will be the death of me.
Track 3: “Perfect”
This isn’t me being a smart a**, but this track is actually perfect. Who doesn’t love a good ‘booty call’ song. Made in the A.M. has a few but this one is sweet. It lets the boys breath and let out some of the frustrations of being famous and not having the time or energy to fully commit themselves to a relationship but still being teenage lads and having those romantic needs. I don’t know. I just love this song. They use the word ‘rendezvous’ and who doesn’t love that word.
The breakdown of the song is so good, especially in the music video, with Harry simply lying on an ottoman crooning away, “And if you like cameras flashing every time we go out/ if you’re looking for someone to write your breakup songs about/ then baby I’m perfect/ baby were perfect.”
And yeah, this lyric, song, album, and band are all perfect so aces, guys.
Track 4: “Infinity”
This buzz track released with the date of the album release still holds a special place in my heart. It’s a gorgeous breakup song, which is something the boys don’t write often. It’s just really well written and their voices are all incredible, and I really like this song. I’ve definitely been singing this one in the shower for the last six weeks, “How many nights does it take to count the stars/ That’s the time it would take to fix my heart/ oh baby I was there for you/ all I ever wanted was the truth/ How many nights have you wished someone would stay/ Lied awake only hoping their okay/ I’ve never counted all of mine/ If I tried I know it would feel like infinity.”
Track 6: “If I could Fly”
This song is absolutely breath taking. This simple. Its just a piano and their voices. It’s a slow, love song co-written with Harry Styles named after only the opening lyric. The hook stating, “For you’re eyes only/ I show you my heart/ For when you’re lonely/ And forget who you are/ I’m missing half of me/ When we’re apart/ Now you know me/ For you’re eyes only.” And a gorgeous line of, “ I can feel you’re heart in mine,” and “I hope you don’t run from me.”
Track 7: “Long Way Down”
“Point of no return/ And now its just too late to turn it around/ I try to forgive you/ But I struggle ‘cause I don’t know how/ We built it up so high and now I’m falling / It’s a long way down (from here).”
I personally think that this is a song about their career in the band. It feels very geared toward them going from being a five-some to a foursome. Their whole dynamic being shaken, the idea of continuing on being questioned. It’s talking about how easily they could have fallen. How the situation made them realize that they had a long way to fall, but they’re still on the top to see that it’s a long way down.
Track 8: “Never Enough”
Okay, I’ll admit it; I’m not the biggest fan of this song. Wow, that was more difficult that I thought it would be. No, but one a more serious not, it’s just so different from any other song so far on the album. Its kind of really fun, it makes me smile because it’s silly. There is a kind of tribal grunting and 80s rock screaming in the back track during the chorus. It’s just, its something. Although, I did feel the same way about Change Your Ticket on Four so I’m sure the more that I listen to it, it’ll grow on me. Plus, if anyone asks me how many times can I really listen to the new album I can chant “Too much is never enough/ It’s never enough”
Track 9: “Olivia”
This song makes me feel like I’m doing a little foot-shuffling dance. It’s cute. I just wish my name were Olivia. So I can have the boys singing to me whenever I want, “I live for you/ I long for you, Olivia” the music feels very familiar, comfortable, and just whimsical.
Track 10: “What a Feeling”
The music of this on makes me think of a really great 80s pop song. I’m in love with the line, “What a feeling to be a king beside you somehow/ I wish I could be there now”
Track 12: “I Want to Write You a Song”
This is another like If I could Fly, its simple and pretty. It’s just a little guitar softly plucking in the background to support pure talented voices. And wow, if you can’t appreciate Louis Tomlinson’s voice in this song, then I’m not quite sure what you’re doing with your life but I sentence you to ten Hail Mary’s and listening to this song until you get a better attitude.
Anyone who thinks that One Direction can’t actually sing please refer to I want to write you a song because you’re just wrong and you’re not welcome here.
Track 14- “Temporary Fix”
Okay so remember when I referenced one-night stands earlier. Well here we are. It’s beautifully done to rival that of No Control from Four (although like much of that album it needs more Louis) Harry stating, “Now we’re taking off/ now we’re taking it off tonight,” the chorus, “All you need to know is that you can call me/ when you feel like I’m you’re good time/ I’ll be you’re temporary fix/ You can own me/ We can call this what you like” and Louis chanting “We can roll in the darkness/ Let me touch you where your heart is,” really says it all. Get it, lads.
Track 15: “Walking in the Wind”
I love this track. First listen had me in tears. “We had some good times didn’t we/ We had some good tricks up our sleeves/ Goodbyes are bitter sweet/ But its not the end/ I will see your face again/ You will find me/ in places that we’ve never been/ For reasons we don’t understand/ Walking in the wind.” (I need to state the count of “Its not the end’s” in this album is at 1D II Rumors 0.)
Track 16: “Wolves”
I get a nice 1950s vibe with the opening music. Its so mature and pretty. (God, Louis’s voice is just angelic in the first verse.) And the chorus is so catchy. “In the middle of the night/ when the wolves come out/ Heading straight for your heart/like a bullet in the dark/ One by one I try to take them down/ But they run and hide/ aint going down without a fight/ I hear them calling for you”
I think its just the animalistic love fighting to get out and be shown. It’s supposed to be hidden but its always scratching just under the surface.
Track 17: A.M.
Okay so the album’s namesake doesn’t disappoint. I love this song. I’m going to go ahead and say that I think that this is one of the best songs that I have ever heard. It made me cry like a baby because I love One Direction a lot, it was one A.M. and it’s just that good.
“Won’t you stay ‘til the A.M./ all my favorite conversations always made in the A.M./ Cause we don’t know what we’re saying/ We’re just swimming round our glasses/ and talking out our asses/ like were all gonna make it.”
I know that twenty years from now I’ll hear this song and think back to this house, with these friends and “You know I’m always coming back to this place/ You know I’m always gonna look for your face.”
With the album out and just a few short weeks of promotion to look forward to I think we can go ahead and share a round of applause for the One Direction boys. Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson you have really out done yourselves on your best album yet. Enjoy your well-deserved break and we’ll be here to greet you louder than ever in 2017. All the love, xx.