One Direction called their fourth studio album four. But the 2014 release also marked the end of the road (old boy band reference) for Zayn Malik.
For the next album, the quintet was recorded as a quartet. It is fitting that “Night Changes” is the last One Direction single to feature Malik. He quit at the age of 22 and later explained to radio host Zane Lowe: “I didn’t really want to be there, like in the band.” “I just needed time to breathe,” he added.
The movie Night Changes describes a different kind of evolution. A band that doesn’t require membership in one of the best-selling boy bands in history.
Going for something
Liam Payne and Malik sing the opening verse. A mom sees her daughter growing up too fast. Maybe she doesn’t like what the dress “shows”, but maybe it has something to do with nostalgia and how parents always see their children as children – no matter how old they are.
Going out tonight changes into something red
Her mom doesn’t like that kind of dress
Everything she’s never owned before, she’s showing off.
Driving really fast, with the moon in her hair
She’s heading towards something she won’t forget
No regrets is all she really wants
The changes that happen in one night are a metaphor for the accumulated changes in life. You won’t realize you’ve aged until enough time has passed to show the wear and tear of joy, heartbreak, anxiety, and awkward but tender entanglements.
We’re just getting older, baby.
And I’ve been thinking about that lately
Does it drive you crazy?
How fast does the night change?
Everything you’ve ever dreamed of
disappear when you wake up
But there’s nothing to be afraid of
Even when the night changes
It will never change you and me.
Five Bad Dates
One Direction – written by Payne, Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson – “Night Changes” with the band’s producers Jamie Scott, Julian Boneta and John Ryan.
The music video follows five dates with each member of the group. However, the dates all go horribly wrong. Malik has a plate of spaghetti thrown at him, Payne vomits in a gallery, Horan goes up in flames, Tomlinson is arrested, and Stiles is bitten at an ice skating rink.
Growing up is messy. Boys sing a coming-of-age song about giving up young love for heartbeats, cigarettes, and moonlit skin. However, more often than not, one crosses the threshold of adulthood.
During tonight’s chase, suspicion swirls around her head
He’s waiting, hiding behind a cigarette
The heart is beating so hard, it doesn’t want to stop
She moves so fast, the moon shines on her skin
She’s falling, and she doesn’t know it yet
No regrets is all she really wants
Days of our life
“Night Changes” looks wistfully at how quickly time passes. Although the song’s glossy production gives the whole thing a lifelong cinematic feel, the music video from a standpoint offers something closer to reality.
The slapstick treatment is at its highest until you feel the growing anxiety of romanticism and the fading of youth.
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Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images