"Night Changes" is a song recorded by English-Irish

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gro ...

. It was written by the band alongside

Jamie Scott Jamie Scott (born James Christopher Needle; 12 February 1984) is an Ivor Novello Award winning English singer, songwriter and producer. Career Songwriting As a writer and producer Scott has sold over 100 million albums, 50 million singles, ha ...

, Julian Bunetta and John Ryan, while the production was handled by Bunetta and Ryan. The song was released on 14 November 2014 as the second and final single from their fourth studio album '' Four''. It also marked the last single with member

Zayn Malik Zain Javadd Malik ( ; born 12 January 1993), known mononymously as Zayn, is an English pop and R&B singer. Zayn auditioned as a solo contestant for the British music competition television series ''The X Factor'' in 2010. After being eliminate ...

. A moderate commercial success, the track is one of the band's most critically acclaimed, receiving praise for contemplating the fleeting nature of life with depth and maturity.

Background and release

"Night Changes" was revealed as the album's second single in an interview with radio host

Scott Mills Scott Robert Mills (born 28 March 1973) is an English radio DJ, television presenter and occasional actor. He is best known for presenting the '' Scott Mills'' show on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2022 and since then, on BBC Radio 2. Mills has also ...

. The track was released on 14 November 2014, three days before the album's release.

Composition and lyrics

Developing on the themes of " Live While We're Young" and " Story of My Life", the song explores the rapid passage of time, seizing the moment in life, and gaining love along the way. The harmonies in the chorus, backed by rounds of "Oohs", give the song added depth and a "big contemplative feel." The song runs for 3 minutes and 47 seconds and begins in the key of

A-flat major A-flat major (or the key of A-flat) is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has four flats. The A-flat major scale is: : Its relative minor is F minor. Its parallel minor, A-flat m ...

. 2 minutes and 28 seconds into the song, the key changes to

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: : Many transposing i ...

. The song samples the song, "Changes" by David Bowie.

Music video

The official music video was released on 21 November 2014 and directed by Ben Winston. This was One Direction's last video with Zayn Malik, as he departed from the band on 25 March 2015. Liam Payne's real-life girlfriend Sophia Smith was involved in the shoot, but did not appear on-screen. The video is a point of view of going on a date with all 5 members of One Direction. The five dates take place in five different locations: a date with Zayn at an Italian restaurant (which apparently he owns as he greets cooks in the back and introduces his date to a waiter), a drive through the countryside with Louis in his vintage car, a night in playing

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situation where a speci ...

and

Jenga Jenga is a game of physical skill created by British board game designer and author Leslie Scott and marketed by Hasbro. Players take turns removing one block at a time from a tower constructed of 54 blocks. Each block removed is then placed on ...

with Niall at his house next to a fireplace, ice skating with Harry and at a carnival with Liam. As their dates progress, they end up becoming disastrous. Zayn's date's ex-boyfriend comes in, yells at her, then dumps water and spaghetti on Zayn, which prompts the date to leave Zayn as he looks on in disbelief. Harry spots another couple doing a very complicated trick on the ice rink and attempts to do it with his date, only for both of them to fall and get injured. Liam and his date go on one of the rides in the carnival, but Liam becomes nauseated while on the ride and throws up in his date's hat as they exit. Niall tends to his fireplace, but the sleeve of his shirt catches fire and he grabs a towel to put out the fire, only to accidentally tip over a jug that spills juice on his date's dress. Louis gets pulled over by the police and tries to joke with the policeman, which results in him getting arrested, and the date watches as Louis is being driven away from her in the back of the police car.

Track listing

*Digital EP #"Night Changes" – 3:40 #"Night Changes" – 3:40 #"Steal My Girl" – 3:46 *CD single #"Night Changes" – 3:40 #"Night Changes" – 3:40

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2014 songs 2014 singles One Direction songs Syco Music singles Columbia Records singles Pop ballads Songs about nights Songs written by Julian Bunetta Songs written by Jamie Scott Songs written by John Ryan (musician) Songs written by Louis Tomlinson Songs written by Niall Horan Songs written by Zayn Malik Songs written by Harry Styles Songs written by Liam Payne 2010s ballads