We can all agree that One Direction rocked the Earth beneath us when the band debuted in 2010 as prepubescent teenagers who charmed everyone with their looks and strong vocals. Without any hesitation, I will admit that I too was swooned by those five cuties. I spent a good 7 years in love with One Direction and spent more time learning facts about them and their lyrics than I did learning at school. Back in the day, I knew everything there was to know and accumulated far too much knowledge about this band than a 12-year-old should.  I’m convinced that the wisdom I gained through my experience as a One Direction fan was the foundation for opening my third eye. There is no other way to explain it, but I have a deep-rooted attachment to One Direction and the era that they created in my life and I don’t think I will ever forget that. Talk about iconic! Anyway, being a One Direction superfan requires knowledge of every song lyric, beat drop, and dance performed by the band, and I can assure you that even after years of not listening to their music, I still remember all the details about their music  (is this even a flex?).

I spent a good couple of hours in my room having a solo dance party to One Direction’s discography to cumulate the ultimate ranking of their songs. As I do with other music, I created a mental criteria for what makes a good song and chose to focus on lyrics, danceability, vocals, and swagger. With that taken into account, here’s my ultimate ranking of every One Direction song ever, any other opinions are wrong <3

Because it’s simply too much to include my innermost thoughts about all 92 songs, I elaborated on my top 5 songs to provide a little more insight as to why my brain enjoys those specific One Direction songs the most.

18

This song comes from my personal favorite album, FOUR, and is easily the most well-crafted and heartwarming piece by the band. I long for the young love described in this song, it’s so pure and tender :'((  (Harry and Zayn transcend in this one)

Happily

Every time this comes on shuffle I audibly gasp—the funky guitar and synchronized clapping? Literally amazing. This song never fails to put me in a lively mood.

What a Feeling

Okay, imagine a boyband covering a Fleetwood Mac song because this one has all the witchy elements of a Fleetwood song. It’s pretty obvious Mr. Harry Styles influenced the production of this one considering he’s a huge fan of Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac. I cannot blame him for that, they really are that good. Anyway, this song always slaps and I pray that it is played at my funeral.

Stockholm Syndrome

I have always wondered why this song is so good and I have yet to understand. Despite the concept being a little out-of-pocket, I will look past that for the reason that this song is so incredibly good. It has smooth vocals and a crazy beat to dance to, so what else could you need?

Over Again

Oddly enough this song gives me Ed Sheeran vibes, and it terrifies me that I have it ranked so high with that consideration. It’s a bit slow and honestly sad, but it is so well crafted I simply could not look past the raw talent in this song. It suits their voices well and literally tears at my heart every time I listen to it. The best part of this entire song is when Harry (kinda) spits bars in the second verse (go white boy go!). The vibes are very similar to Moments from the band’s first album, Up All Night, they love to pull at our heartstrings I guess.

Olivia

I still remember when this song graced the Earth upon the release of the band’s last album, Made in the A.M. The nuance that this song was able to emulate amazes me to this day, it goes absolutely crazy and switches up on you at least 3 times. There’s even a bit in the bridge of the song that is reminiscent of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, specifically the scene in which they enter the candy room—it’s dazzling.

1. 18
2. Happily
3. What a Feeling 
4. Stockholm Syndrome
5. Over Again
6. Olivia 
7. Strong 
8. Long Way Down 
9. Moments 
10. Temporary Fix 
11. Clouds 
12. Wolves 
13. Little White Lies 
14. No Control 
15. Where Do Broken Hearts Go 
16. Alive
17. Fireproof 
18. Girl Almighty 
19. Little Black Dress 
20. I Would
21. Just Can’t Let Her Go (unreleased)
22. Ready to Run 
23. Right Now 
24. A.M. 
25. Walking in the Wind 
26. Once in a Lifetime 
27. Spaces 
28. Change My Mind 
29. Home 
30. Through the Dark
31. If I Could Fly 
32. Fool’s Gold
33. Story of My Life 
34. Why Don’t We Go There
35. Midnight Memories
36. Diana
37. C’mon, C’mon 
38. One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)
39. Illusion 
40. Does He Know? 
41. Rock Me
42. Still the One
43. One Thing
44. Kiss You 
45. Drag Me Down
46. Tell Me a Lie 
47. I Want
48. She’s Not Afraid
49. More Than This
50. Perfect
51. History
52. End of the Day 
53. Something Great
54. They Don’t Know About Us 
55. Night Changes 
56. Irresistible 
57. Don’t Forget Where You Belong 
58. Act My Age 
59. Half a Heart
60. I Want to Write You a Song 
61. Infinity
62. Better Than Words 
63. Never Enough 
64. Love You Goodbye 
65. Best Song Ever
66. Live While We’re Young 
67. Little Things 
68. You & I 
69. I Wish
70. Stand Up 
71. Truly Madly Deeply
72. Same Mistakes 
73. Back For You
74. Heart Attack
75. Up All Night
76. What Makes You Beautiful 
77. Hey Angel
78. Another World 
79. Save You Tonight 
80. Last First Kiss
81. Steal My Girl 
82. Taken 
83. Nobody Compares
84. Magic
85. Stole My Heart
86. Gotta Be You
87. Change Your Ticket
88. Na Na Na
89. Loved You First 
90. Summer Love
91. Everything About You
92. I Should Have Kissed You 

Through my listening process, I realized that all their better songs belonged to later albums such as FOUR and Midnight Memories, an alleged “prime time” as I would say. The pure vibes created in the albums is unmatched and proves the immense talent of the One Direction boys. Even though I love them dearly, their early music pains me and makes it really obvious they were teenage boys (soz, just facts). Regardless, One Direction is a timeless band that I can see myself listening to even in my thirties. I’ll check in with y’all then and we can see if I still know all the words, until then, it is farewell. XOXO