Liam Payne, a former member of the preeminent 2010s boy band One Direction, died on October 16 at the age of 31. In his short and fairly troubled post-1D career, he never fully slotted into his own lane the way fellow band members Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik did. He released one EP (First Time) and one album (LP1) and scored one top 10 radio hit, “Strip That Down,” which spent 28 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, but he never achieved the full potential of his substantial talents as a soloist.
As a member of One Direction, though, Payne was the glue that bound the operation of hastily thrown-together teenagers. Payne was cut from The X-Factor in 2008 and grouped into a band when he auditioned again in 2010; that band, which became One Direction, placed third in the competition but nevertheless exploded into international success. Over the next five years, the beloved boy band became a phenomenon that spanned five best-selling albums and one of the highest-grossing concert movies of all time (One Direction: This Is Us). In the early days of the band, as the group was flung into the utter chaos of mega-fame, Payne was affectionately nicknamed “Daddy Direction” for being the sensible, responsible voice of reason amongst his more mischievous bandmates.
Payne functioned as an anchor for One Direction beyond his personality. Coming into the group, he was the most technically proficient vocalist; he once called himself the “first verse man” because of how often their early tracks began with his voice. His impressive range saw him take over many of the more challenging live parts after Malik departed in 2015. And as the group progressed, so did Payne’s talents as a writer and producer. He began to collaborate most often with Tomlinson (a partnership Tomlinson was interested in continuing to explore even in their solo careers, though they never got the chance to work together again after One Direction split). Payne was ultimately credited as a co-writer on more than half of the songs on the group’s final two albums. “Learning how to write [songs] is the best way of ensuring your career has longevity and that you have control over it,” he told The Sun in 2014 (via CapitalFM).
One Direction’s brief but prolific career charts the evolution of Payne’s abilities, from the perfunctory pop of 2011’s Up All Night to the mature, eclectic collection of tunes on 2015’s Made In The A.M. He honed his skills as a lyricist and even tried his hand at remixing and producing songs in that time. If he had more of it, Payne surely would have found his voice as a solo artist, whether that be as a singer, writer, or producer. Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see the artist he could have become. But in these 60 minutes of One Direction tracks, we can always return to the artist he was. It’s the soundtrack of Liam Payne’s coming of age and the coming of age of millions of fans throughout the world.
"Everything About You" and "Same Mistakes"
One Direction wasn’t given the opportunity to write many of their own songs on their debut album Up All Night. (N.B.: All the songs listed here feature other co-writers besides Payne and his bandmates, but we’ll note Payne’s contributions specifically in the interest of expediency.) Their early writing exercises were done together as a fivesome, including “Everything About You” and “Same Mistakes.” The former is an upbeat dance-pop track that fits well with an album of lightly house music-inspired tracks. “Same Mistakes” isn’t a full ballad, but it is a bit more down-tempo and dramatic. Synthy production aside, “Same Mistakes” is possibly the most mature-sounding song on Up All Night and a good sign of the songwriting growth that would come later. “Don’t look back/But if we don’t look back/We’re only learning then/How to make all the same mis/Same mistakes again,” Payne sings on the bridge.
"Back For You" and "Still The One"
The group’s second album, Take Me Home, saw the boys begin to stretch their songwriting abilities. It’s pure, poppy delight all the way through, and though none of the members are credited on the album’s singles (“Live While We’re Young,” “Kiss You,” and “Little Things”), the tracks they did write for come pretty damn close to being single-worthy. For example, there’s “Back For You,” on which Payne shares a credit (along with Tomlinson, Styles, and Horan); it’s got a head-bopping beat with simple, solid lyrics that follow what would become a classic 1D formula (“I’m a famous pop star, but I’m loyal to the girl I love”). Similarly, there’s “Still The One,” a bonus track from the limited “Yearbook Edition” of the album which counts Payne, Tomlinson, and Styles among its co-writers. Payne’s harmonies brighten the peppy, propulsive tune through to the chanting bridge, “Hey, you, you’re still the one!”
If we’re comparing singles, the Ed Sheeran-penned “Little Things” has nothing on “Irresistible,” the lovely, acoustic-forward love song that was for some reason relegated to a bonus track on the Take Me Home Target exclusive edition. Both songs are about the things that make a lover attractive, but this song is more swoon-worthy and less outright offensive than “Little Things” was. “Irresistible” has shades of The Beatles’ “Something” in its ultimately generic description of a lover; “It’s in all the things and other things that make you who you are” is a silly sentiment on the surface, and yet it gets at that indefinable “something” that brings two people together. This is another track that includes all five members of the band as co-writers, but it’s lyrically way more cohesive than something like Midnight Memories’ “Story Of My Life” and demonstrates the boys’ growth better than perhaps any other song on Take Me Home.
"Midnight Memories"
Another mark of growth is that the band’s third album got its name from a track co-written by Payne and Tomlinson. Here, the duo’s songwriting partnership began to coalesce, and the title track reflects the experiences they had over the last three years: “Straight off the plane to a new hotel/Just touched down, you could never tell,” the track begins. “Midnight Memories” features another classic 1D hallmark (playfully interpolating classic tunes—”Best Song Ever” has a “Baba O’Reilly”-esque intro, while this song will get “Pour Some Sugar On Me” stuck in your head). The 2013 album was a huge leap in maturity and leaned into a more rock edge, and it became clear that Payne and his bandmates were as interested in making music they thought was good and cool as they were in being famous pop stars.
Payne and Tomlinson are also credited as co-writers on these two album stand-outs, and while their titles may be amusingly similar, the songs themselves are very different. “Little Black Dress” is one of the sexiest songs in One Direction’s discography, a formal experiment in metonymy suited to a rock star. “Little White Lies” is pretty sexy, too, about the cat-and-mouse game of early flirtation. Payne gets some great vocal moments with the ad-libs on the final chorus where the group sings, “You’ve been taking up my mind/with your little white lies.”
"Through The Dark"
“Through The Dark,” another Payne/Tomlinson co-writing credit, is the most acoustic-based track on Midnight Memories. Musically and lyrically, it’s a comforting and uplifting song with a real sweetness at its core. Not unlike ABBA’s “Chiquitita,” “Through The Dark” offers reassurance that the singer will be there to support their loved ones through the toughest times, even when that person can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel for themselves. Like in the early days, Payne anchors the song by singing solo on the first verse: “You tell me that you’re hurt and you’re in pain/And I can see your head is held in shame/But I just wanna see you smile again/See you smile again.”
"Steal My Girl - Big Payno & Afterhrs Pool Party Remix"
With their fourth album (appropriately titled Four), the Tomlinson/Payne collabo earned the distinction of getting writing credits on a lead single. “Steal My Girl” is a ton of fun on its own, but the Japanese edition of the album featured an extra treat—a remix of the song by “Big Payno,” a.k.a. Liam Payne. Later grouped on to the band’s remixes EP, the “Pool Party Remix” completely transforms the pop song into a sexy, moody dance track that injects way more funk than any other 1D song. Payne remixed a few One Direction songs (and a track for his child’s mother, Cheryl Cole), but this serves as an early indication of the sounds he would explore as a solo artist and a producer.
"Ready To Run"
Payne’s influence is all over Four, on which he’s credited as the co-writer of 10 of the 16 tracks (including the bonuses on “The Ultimate Edition”). “Ready To Run” is another escapist fantasy about love setting someone free. It feels like the older sibling of “Story Of My Life,” sharing a lot of the same elements (acoustic verses, a soaring Zayn Malik vocal, and a sense of melodrama). Among the many genre experiments on Four, this tune is a bit more modest, but it’s a perfectly enjoyable, perfectly constructed pop song. It also fits another 1D category, one that strikes a tender chord given Payne and Tomlinson’s partnership. This one is “love songs that can just as easily be interpreted as being about the band’s friendship”: “There’s a future in my life I can’t foresee/Unless, of course, I stay on course and keep you next to me/There will always be the kind that criticize/But I know, yes, I know we’ll be alright.”
"Clouds"
On another record, “Clouds” would’ve made a great album opener. It’s a huge, anthemic song that seems designed to usher you in: “Here we go again/Another go-round for all of my friends/Another non-stop, will it ever end?” Instead, this is Four‘s closing number. There are some One Direction songs that trend toward word salad; in this one, there’s not much lyrical connection between the verses and the chorus. But it sounds great, and the band offers some hard-edged vocals on the chorus that remind you these guys could have just as easily met roughhousing in a university dorm as on a television talent show. There’s a youthful confidence and exuberance that elevates it beyond a typical album cut.
"No Control"
Let’s backpedal on Four for just a few minutes, because Payne’s co-written “No Control” might be the best—at the very least the most fun—track in all of One Direction’s discography. Speaking of university roughhousing, this song very obviously has the stamp of early-20s dude on it. It’s utterly horny and full of innuendo, a total rock star smash of an album cut that was so popular it charted in three countries despite never being a single. 1D fans love “No Control” so much there was a fan campaign to make it a single, which the band later honored by making a faux music video during James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke.”
"End Of The Day"
Made In The A.M. was One Direction’s final album and the only one they released as a foursome sans Zayn Malik. Payne once again took a leading role in co-writing the record, including the amusing little ditty “End Of The Day.” This is another track that leans toward word salad, but it’s a humorous bestowal of wisdom from some 20-something famous dudes. Plus, Payne gets the best verse: “She said the night was over, I said it’s forever/Twenty minutes later, wound up in the hospital/The priest thinks it’s the devil, my mum thinks it’s the flu/But, girl, it’s only you.”
"What A Feeling"
One Direction’s final album experiments a lot with new sounds, but “What A Feeling” is a complete departure unlike anything the group had ever released. It’s gained its own cult following, and Payne counted it as one of his favorites. The smooth, Fleetwood Mac-esque groove was a perfect fit for the four-member band and ended up being oddly prescient for the musical direction that Styles and Horan would explore as solo artists. But neither of them are credited as writers on this one—it’s Payne and Tomlinson who helped craft this surprising, sultry track.
"History"
Following Malik’s departure, the remaining members of One Direction were well aware that they were likely taking a break from the group after releasing their next album. “History” was clearly crafted as an unofficial goodbye, which became official when it was released as the band’s final single. The lyrics are reflective of the uncertainty the boys had as to whether they would ever reform the band (later, it became clear that the “hiatus” was permanent) and the destabilization they felt when Malik quit. Nevertheless, the nostalgia-tinged tune is also optimistic, promising that “this is not the end,” and “we can live forever.” It’s not the best 1D song or the greatest example of the Payne/Tomlinson writing partnership, but it holds a very special place in the hearts of 1D fans.
"Love You Goodbye"
“Love You Goodbye” is the only official track in One Direction’s discography where Payne is credited not only as a writer but also a producer (alongside 1D’s frequent producer and co-writer Julian Bunetta, who was recently one of the writers on Sabrina Carpenter’s Short ‘N’ Sweet). Fitting the wistful, nostalgic themes that pervade Made In The A.M., it’s a slight, simple song about the difficulty of a relationship coming to a close. It’s more explicitly romantic than the goodbye of “History,” but you can still hear the deterioration of the band in lyrics like “Unforgettable together, held the whole world in our hands/Unexplainable, a love that only we could understand.” A painful reminder that sometimes goodbyes come too soon, it’s as fitting an ending to the One Direction chapter as any other, even as it showcases the many talents Payne brought to the table. As he sings to open the song, “It’s inevitable, everything that’s good comes to an end.”
Join the discussion...
GET A.V.CLUB RIGHT IN YOUR INBOX
Pop culture obsessives writing for the pop culture obsessed.
