Lyrics of Love
Liam Payne’s 20 Best One Direction Love Songs
When the news of One Direction‘s Liam Payne‘s tragic death broke on October 16, fans of the British musician rallied to social media to express their shock. He was 31 at the time of his passing. Transporting many now-adults into a state of nostalgia as they grieve the untimely loss, they have started to reminisce on Payne’s younger years.
Making an impact with his music, the Wolverhampton-born singer and band member Louis Tomlinson took the initiative to write more of One Direction’s songs in the band’s later years. Proving that he could take on the reins, he stacked up writing credits on the albums Four and Made in the A.M.
Louis Tomlinson took to Instagram to honor his late friend, stating what an “incredible song writer” Payne was. In his heartfelt post, he said that he had “lost a brother,” and revealed that the two had plans to go back to the study to “recreate the writing chemistry” they had previously built up.
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Zayn Malik also released a statement on the social media platform, praising his previous band member for being “qualified in every sense when it came to music. The two had their issues throughout the years but Malik referred to Payne as a brother and that Payne always made sure to know that he was loved.
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One Direction’s unprecedented rise to fame saw them tour around the world. They released five records before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. As part of the group, Payne sold 70 million copies and then embarked on a solo career.
Impressing everyone with his vocals when he first got to the stage of The X Factor at 14 in 2008, the judges felt like he had some growing to do. This redirected him to return two years later when he met Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan. Being in a band, the five-some all took on specific roles. The singer was dubbed “Daddy Payne” by the fans during those early stages.
He was the one who opened up 1D’s hit “What Makes You Beautiful” with the lines, “You’re insecure, don’t know what for. You’re turnin’ heads when you walk through the door. Don’t need makeup to cover up, being the way that you are is enough.” Afterward, fans quickly noticed that he and Styles were the ones who mostly led the group’s tunes.
Later, Styles started taking the upper hand while other parts were equally divided, and Payne began showcasing his songwriting talents. So, if you feel up to listening to music from the early to mid-2010s in the wake of recent news, here’s a list of our favorite 1D hits that Payne helped to create from the get-go, broken down by album.
Up All Night
Up All Night was the band’s debut, still pretty much fully in control by Simon Cowell’s record label Syco and the agency Modest Management Liam Payne only co-wrote three songs. One of them is “Same Mistakes”. Yes, it still hits.
- “Taken”
- “Everything About You”
- “What Makes You Beautiful”
- “Same Mistakes”
Take Me Home
Having had a little more time to roll out Take Me Home, Payne upped his game and worked on five of the 20 songs. Although the single “Little Things” was the ultimate definition of swoonworthy, his track “Last First Kiss” is almost on the same level.
- “Last First Kiss”
- “Back For You”
- “Summer Love”
- “Still the One”
- “Irresistible”
Midnight Memories
With Midnight Memories, he really started to find his own. Payne recognized the kind of music the fans, aka Directioners, were wanting to hear. He helped craft several of the album’s masterpieces.
- “Story of My Life”
- “Diana”
- “Better Than Words”
- “Little White Lies”
FOUR
Sonically taking that same sound to new levels in Four, Payne co-wrote one of the best One Direction tracks, “Night Changes,” which included the devastatingly beautiful passage, “We’re only getting older, baby, and I’ve been thinking about you lately. Does it ever drive you crazy, just how fast the night changes? Everything that you’ve ever dreamed of, disappearing when you wake up, but there’s nothing to be afraid of. Even when the night changes, it will never change me and you.”
- “Night Changes”
- “Fool’s Gold”
- “Steal My Girl”
Made in the A.M.
He was one of the songwriters of “History,” the three-minute hit that summed up the band’s journey and gave the discography a fitting end: “You and me got a whole lot of history. So don’t let it go, we can make some more. We can live forever.”
- “History”
- “Long Way Down”
- “Wolves”
- “End of the Day”
Which One Direction song is your favorite? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
