One Direction Wiki
Register
Advertisement
“History”
Tumblr o1kwn5XHc21r0cdiuo1 540
Information
Album

Made in the A.M.

Released

November 6, 2015

Format

Digital download

Recorded

2015

Length

3:07

Writers

Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Julian Bunetta, Wayne Hector, Ed Drewett and John Ryan

Producer

Julian Bunetta, John Ryan

"History" is the thirteenth track on Made in the A.M. It was released exclusively on November 6, 2015, in the lead up to the album's November 13th release. On December 14, 2015, it was confirmed as the album's third single.

It was the band's final single before their hiatus began.

Background[]

Liam Payne described the song as a "modern version of You've Got A Friend In Me", the famous Toy Story theme song. He said the song "is mainly about the fans and what they’ve done; I think it was important that they were a part of it, to close the album."[1] Louis echoed the sentiment, stating "the whole context of the song [is] the idea that we've gone through this as a band together and we've gone through this with the fans. That feels quite personal."[2]

Niall and songwriter Julian Bunetta revealed they asked fans to record the chorus along with them to give the song a "crowd" effect.[3]

Lyrics[]

[Harry]
You've got to help me, I'm losing my mind
Keep getting the feeling you wanna leave this all behind
Thought we were going strong
I thought we were holding on
Aren't we?

[Niall]
No, they don't teach you this in school
Now my heart's breaking and I don't know what to do
Thought we were going strong
Thought we were holding on
Aren't we?

[All]
You and me got a whole lot of history (oh)
We could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen
You and me got a whole lot of history (oh)
So don't let it go, we can make some more, we can live forever

[Liam]
All of the rumors, all of the fights
But we always find a way to make it out alive
Thought we were going strong
Thought we were holding on
Aren't we?

[All]
You and me got a whole lot of history (oh)
We could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen
You and me got a whole lot of history (oh)
So don't let it go, we can make some more, we can live forever

[Louis]
Mini bars, expensive cars, hotel rooms, and new tattoos
And the good champagne, and private planes, but they don't mean anything
'Cause the truth is out, I realize that without you here life is just a lie
This is not the end
This is not the end
We can make it, you know it, you know

[All]
You and me got a whole lot of history (oh)
We could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen
You and me got a whole lot of history (oh)
So don't let it go, we can make some more, we can live forever

You and me got a whole lot of history (oh)
We could be the greatest team that the world has ever seen
You and me got a whole lot of history (oh)
So don't let it go, we can make some more, we can live forever

[Harry]
So don't let me go
So don't let me go

[All]
We can live forever

[Liam]
Baby don't you know
Baby don't you know

[All]
We can live forever (oh)

Reviews[]

Entertainment Weekly said the track was a "hand-clapping, all-together-now celebration of all the band has been through and accomplished alongside their fans."[4]

Chart Success[]

"History" peaked at #6 on the BBCRI Official Singles Chart and #5 on the UK & Ireland iTunes Charts. It reached the top ten in Scotland and Italy and reached #29 in Australia. On March 1, 2016, BPI Music announced the single had gone gold and by June, it had gone platinum upon selling 600,000 copies. It is their fourth single to go platinum after "What Makes You Beautiful", "Steal My Girl" and "Story of My Life".

Promotion[]

The song became available for download on iTunes and Spotify on November 6, 2015. Niall and Louis tweeted with fans about the song and the hashtag #1DHistory trended worldwide. History entered the Billboard Trending Charts at #1.[5]

Music Video[]

Music Video Information
One_Direction_-_History_(Official_Video) Released January 26, 2016
Length 3:15
Director Ben and Gabe Turner
Production Co Fulwell 73
Choreographer
Filmed 2015
Location Los Angeles
VEVO views 446,027,002 (as of November 8, 2023)

The "History" music video was released unannounced on January 26, 2016. It features footage of the band's journey to success, intercut with scenes of the members singing the lyrics.

On February 1, 2016, Ben Winston revealed in an interview with MTV that the video was not supposed to end with each band member leaving in different directions, stating, "Well actually, I see that a bit too much has been read into that one. I think too much has been read into that ending where they walk off in different directions. Because actually, they do run back together at the end. But I don’t know why… Gabe, why did we cut that last shot where they run back together at the end?". Co-director Gabe Turner responded "It just didn’t look that great. But there certainly wasn’t any… it wasn’t supposed to be them walking off, it was just kind of like an, “OK, see you in a bit, guys!”[6] There appeared to be possible ongoing tension about the edited scene, with Turner later tweeting Winston on February 13th: "You're right, you did film it..[the ending]. That was my error. I should have done it, then it would have been good enough to stay."[7]

The "History" video was Vevo certified after it surpassed 100 million views on March 8, 2016, less than 2 months after release. It is One Direction's 16th video to achieve certification.[8]

The video received the 2017 BRIT Award for Best British Video.

Live performances[]

References[]

Advertisement