I miss One Direction. There, I said it. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know all about the drama, conspiracies, and the trials and tribulations that the five (err – four) guys went through during their time as one of the biggest, most successful boybands the world has ever seen. That doesn’t mean that I don’t occasionally watch The X Factor Video Diaries and The Adventurous Adventures of One Direction on YouTube just to get in my feels, fall deep into the pits of middle school nostalgia, and reminisce on the exhilaration that was ‘One Direction Infection.’
The thing is, the world has yet the escape the lovely musical talents of the band, being as all five former members have become notable solo artists. Years later and they’re all still doing the most; from sold-out tours to SNL gigs to chart-topping albums – and that’s just Harry Styles!
Being as it is impossible to not love at least something that 1D or their subsequent members have released onto the music scene over the past decade, I decided to rank every single One Direction song of all time. Yes, this includes bonus tracks and Target limited edition songs that everyone deserves to hear at least once in their lifetime. No, this does not include songs they performed during their time on The X Factor, even though their cover of Elton John’s “Your Song” is forever ingrained in my memory as one of their best performances.
(Of course, this is in my personal opinion, but as a dedicated Directioner and self-proclaimed superfan of the band and boys alike, I would say this list is quite trustworthy Not to mention that I really do love every one of these songs with my whole heart, even in 2020, and would do just about anything to see them live again, whether it be in a packed stadium or in a packed Zoom conference… I don’t even care, I just love them and want a reunion, big or small.)
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Temporary Fix- If you’re wondering why this song has taken the No. 1 spot on my ranking of One Direction songs, I’ll tell you. “Temporary Fix” is a lyrically mature, guitar driven bop co-written by Niall Horan himself. You can rock out in your car to it, dance around your room to it, and I know for a fact that if they ever performed it live, the pit would have surely opened up.
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Right Now
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If I Could Fly
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Fool’s Gold
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Olivia
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Ready to Run
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Happily
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A.M.
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They Don’t Know About Us
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Irresistible
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Where Do Broken Hearts Go?
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Something Great
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Alive- The cultural reset we needed. That is all.
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End of the Day
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Love You Goodbye
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Night Changes- If you’re looking for a 1D song that you can play on loop and never get tired of, this is it. “Night Changes” is quite possibly one of the greatest music videos the fivesome ever made and one of the only songs my mom will outwardly admit to being a fan of. It’s sweet, relatable, and swoon-worthy wrapped up in one.
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I Would
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Truly, Madly, Deeply
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Story of My Life
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Strong
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Through the Dark
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Half a Heart
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Little Black Dress
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18- Nobody will ever understand how absolutely torn up I am that I didn’t meet my soulmate and fall madly in love when I was 18 years old and can no longer play this gem of a song at my wedding.
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No Control
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She’s Not Afraid
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More Than This
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Taken
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Na Na Na- This unreleased bonus track became a fan-favorite without ever really hitting the airwaves. It has millions of views on YouTube, having only been heard through concert videos and studio leaks, since it only hit streaming services for the first time this past fall. Some former directioners who had never heard the track before were quickly obsessed, feeling themselves getting dragged back into the fangirl life by this seemingly ancient (2011) bop.
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What a Feeling
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Same Mistakes
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Fireproof
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Why Don’t We Go There
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I Want
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Spaces
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Tell Me A Lie- Arguably the most underrated song of One Direction’s debut album, Up All Night, “Tell Me A Lie” is the most flawless combination of angsty teenage boy lyrics and bubblegum pop melodies …AKA boyband perfection. I mean, with Kelly Clarkson as a songwriter, you really can’t go wrong.
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Perfect
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Best Song Ever
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Stockholm Syndrome
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Long Way Down
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What Makes You Beautiful- This song holds a special place in everyone’s heart. You couldn’t escape it wherever you went. And you definitely couldn’t escape the band’s quickly growing fandom. Whether you were a hardcore stan or not, WMYB kicked off a cultural phenomenon.
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Wolves- I feel like I was the only person who appreciated this song the moment it came out, because all of my friends thought it was an unmemorable skip before I came along and proved them otherwise. I also always see people online who say that they’re just realizing now, in 2020, that this song, from 2015, is actually a bop – which it is! Nobody wanted to listen to me for the past five years though, so I’m angry. “Wolves” is a timeless masterpiece and that conversation is only just getting started.
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Never Enough
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Girl Almighty
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Up All Night
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Last First Kiss
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Diana
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Hey Angel- The Holy Trinity: “Hey Angel” by One Direction, “Only Angel” by Harry Styles, and “New Angel” by Niall Horan.
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Does He Know?
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Little White Lies
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I Wish
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Better Than Words
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Over Again
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Stand Up
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Moments
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Midnight Memories
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Walking In the Wind
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Summer Love- While I love and respect the number of daydreams and fanfictions that this song spawned, it’s a little repetitive and a bit slow – literally and figuratively. Although, I have to say that my heart beats a little faster when it comes on, because I, too, adore the idea of a magical, whirlwind summer romance.
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C’mon C’mon- While making this list and ranking these songs I realized that this might actually deserve to be higher on this list, but it really just depends on my mood. Sometimes I want to rock out to it, sometimes it’s too much of a teeny-bopper throwback. I love it nonetheless. Zayn’s high note in this song will always be the peak of his time in One Direction, even more so than his high note in “You and I.” Don’t believe me? Watch this video for proof.
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You and I
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History
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Back for You
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Don’t Forget Where You Belong
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Heart Attack
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One Way Or Another (Teenage Kicks)
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Change My Mind
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Everything About You
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Drag Me Down
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I Want To Write You A Song
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Rock Me
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Little Things- When this song came out, the world stopped. Well, my world, at least. It seemed to be the über-romantic, meaningful, relatable, ‘just what a girl needs to hear’ type of song. You had Ed Sheeran’s lyrics mixed in with his acoustics and five dreamy pop-vocalists crooning (what seemed to be) straight to your heart. It’s sweet and honest, but 1) set standards way too high and 2) didn’t seem authentic to One Direction. Ed Sheeran was all over that song, and while that isn’t a bad thing, it definitely doesn’t lend to it aging well in One Direction’s catalog.
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Live While We’re Young
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Still the One
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Magic- Another bonus track that deserved to see the light of day…. BRB while I make 48 TikToks dancing to this piece of absolute pop perfection!
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Loved You First
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Nobody Compares
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Kiss You
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Infinity
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Gotta Be You
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I Should’ve Kissed You
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One Thing
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Clouds
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Stole My Heart
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Save You Tonight
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Act My Age- *Sigh* That pirate song from that trio dancing in their living room meme… you know the one.
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Change Your Ticket
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Steal My Girl
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Home
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Another World
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Illusion
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Once in a Lifetime- Don’t ask me why I have yet to listen to this song all the way through, but I haven’t. Something about this track has me shut it off before I get halfway through the first chorus every single time. If you’re a fan, I am so glad. It’s probably a very good banger that I have been protesting for some six years or so. I’m stubborn, what can I say?