Now that we’re all listening to Made In The A.M on repeat and experiencing the depth of the lyrics of the songs – even the upbeat ones – it’s not hard to tell that Made In The A.M is most definitely the perfect way for Harry, Louis, Liam, and Niall to sit down the pen on the last five years.
It’s the perfect way to sign off on the first set of chapters in what’s sure to be a life long story.
In the last five years we’ve seen Liam, Louis, Niall, Harry, and Zayn grow up; we’ve grown up with them in a way. We’ve all been on this incredible journey together and we’ve all made memories that will last a lifetime. We experienced incredible highs with them, and in turn dramatic lows – one of which had the potential to break One Direction – but in the aftermath we saw Louis, Harry, Liam, and Niall bond closer, rely on each other more, and become stronger.
We’ve grown stronger too – many fans of One Direction credit the boys as a group and as individuals for their strength to carry on, to get through the days, to accept who they are, and to love in spite of everything that may be wrong with this world. We’ve grown to know ourselves and to love each other and to treat everyone we encounter with a little more kindness because that’s what Harry, Louis, Niall, and Liam would do.
Made In The A.M was a heavily anticipated album and the anticipation only grew when the boys confirmed that they would be taking a hiatus after the finished product and end of their busy 2015 schedule. This would be the last set of songs, the last set of surprise runs, high notes, and drawls…it would be the last collection of the boys as we know them now.
The fans wanted an honest and true album, something they could hold onto and the boys didn’t just deliver – they went above and beyond any expectations that we had.
This album isn’t just something you’ll keep in your car for a few weeks before replacing it and only putting it back in when you’ve got the urge to hear a specific song. This is an album you won’t remove from your car at all; a playlist already perfectly assembled that you’ll never have to edit. Made In The A.M is an intimate, honest, and welcomed glance into the lives of Niall, Liam, Harry, and Louis – a personal invitation into their hearts, their minds, and their stories over the last five years; the ones we got to experience with them and the ones they only share with each other.
They invited us in to see a special glimpse into their lives as they are now before they turn the page on this chapter. It’s like reading your favorite novel from a different point of view. This album isn’t for us – it’s to us. Made In The A.M is a gift to the fans. Its an acknowledgement that they’ve seen the way we fiercely support them through the highs and the lows, it’s a nod that we’ve fought for love alongside them and in our own lives, and it’s a thank you for staying.
In a recent interview Harry made a statement that only they know what they’ve been through and it’s probably the most simple – but honest – statement that’s been made about the boys so far. In five indescribable years, we’ve seen a lot from and of Niall, Harry, Louis, and Liam but we don’t know what happens when the stage lights dim, they’ve taken off their jumpers and sneakers, and what really happens when they retire for the night in hotel rooms or homes that never belong to them for more than weeks at a time. We don’t know what happens when the world stops demanding them to be heartthrobs and they get to be who they truly are.
But we will.
That’s what this break is for, and that’s what Made In The A.M is the promise of.
It’s the promise of a return, it’s a glimpse into who they’ve always been – outside of the spotlight – and it’s an glimmer of hope in a time when a lot of us were feeling rather hopeless.
It’s the way they tell us that they’ll be back and upon their return things will be different, life will be greater, and freedom will truly be theirs.
The album starts off with Hey Angel; a song that speaks to a lost loved one, to someone who walked out of your life, or even to a former version of yourself…it’s a hello.
The album wraps up with A.M – which is a temporary goodbye – it’s a song that closes the album and our journey with the boys so far and says this has been fun, this has been a hell of a ride, and this is a good time to reflect on all of our favorite moments, the best memories, the shared tears, laughs, and those secret conversations that wont make sense unless its 3 am and you’re running off of nothing but love and passion for life.
And in the middle? The boys tell us of their love, their fun, the nights they stayed up late doing nothing but being young. They tell us that they’ve made the most out of every opportunity they had and all of it meant that much more because they experienced it with passion. They talk about their deepest love and how it’s shaped them. They talk about loss and how it made them stronger. Harry tells us that we’re important, Liam tells us that we’ve saved them too, Niall tells us he won’t ever forget that we’re the reason they’ve been able to live their dreams and Louis tells us that no matter what they’ve got our backs.
This is the most beautiful, intimate, and special gift the boys could have given us before we let them go for a little while.
“Put me in your heart; go see everything, and come back to me.”
