Peak
6
Weeks
32
Score
5,823
Chart Year
2013
Three days before the music video was uploaded, three teasers were posted, once each day. Band members Zayn Malik and Liam Payne also posted a picture from the video, with Malik posting a picture with his sister.[13][14] The set for the “Story of My Life” music video took five entire days to build. The director of the music video Ben Winston and his crew hung up a combination of 6000 to 7000 pictures that show an evolution of each of the members of One Direction over the years. This music video allows the Directioners (i.e., fans) to dive a little bit deeper into the lives of the members. The fans are used to seeing them in the public eye. “Story of My Life” allows them to connect with each of the members on a more personal and intimate level by looking back at their childhood memories.[15] A screenshot of the Behind The Scenes of the music video Story of My Life showing the set composed of thousands of pictures of each member of the band. (From Left to Right), Ben Winston (Director), Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Harry Styles. The video was directed by Ben Winston, who also directed the video for their previous single "Best Song Ever". The video was accidentally published and leaked by Vevo two days earlier when they were supposed to upload the second teaser for the music video, but it was immediately removed.[16] It was then officially uploaded on 3 November 2013. The video features some the band's family members: Zayn's sister, Harry's mother, Liam's parents and sisters, Niall Horan's brother and Louis' grandparents (two of whom are now deceased). It starts in a dark room with the band developing photos. Afterwards, certain family photos for each member are shown, and the photos morph into the same family members doing a current recreation of the photos.[17] Photos included in the video consist of: Zayn, aged 7, with his little sister; Louis, aged 8, with his grandparents; Harry, aged 4, with his mother; Niall, aged 4, with his brother being aged 10 when the photo was taken; Liam, aged 10, with his family.
This guitar-led ballad finds One Direction singing of a girl who broke their hearts. It was co-written by Jamie Scott, who also co-penned the Up All Night tracks, "More Than This" and "Stole My Heart" as well as the Take Me Home tunes "C'mon C'mon" and "She's Not Afraid." The British singer-songwriter's other credits include Enrique Iglesias' "Heartbeat", Michael Kiwanuka's "Home Again" and Matt Cardle's "Loving You." Niall Horan recalled the first time Scott played them the song during an interview with UK radio station Capital FM. "We were in Nottingham on tour when we were touring the UK back in February and March," he recalled, "and we just came into a room one day and he was like, 'I've got this song that I've written and I want to play [it for] you.' And we just fell in love with it the second we heard it." The One Direction guys contributed to the lyrics whilst "Best Song Ever" collaborators John Ryan and Julian Bunetta produced the tune. Scott recalled to MTV News that as soon as 1D heard his demo, "they freaked out and finished the song with us. It's always good to have their kind of input on lyrics and stuff just to make sure they're really singing what they're singing about." The song is more folk-orientated than most of One Direction's previous offerings, but Scott told MTV News the quintet have the talent to pull it off. "It's not that hard a thing to do because the boys have really good voices, they've all got very different voices. Harry [Styles'] rasp is something that you can always lean towards... All the boys have such a great sound themselves," he said. "For instance the demo that we played the boys sounds a lot more folky than it does now. That's what amazing about their voices [when they record it] straight away it sounds like them." With five vocalists, One Direction was well-suited for the huge chorus in this song, which is the focal point. The song opens with a guitar figure that continues under the first verse. There is a big change in intensity going from the verse to the chorus, and a cymbal swell acts as a transition. After the first chorus, the drumbeat continues through the second verse. After the second chorus, the song breaks down with just acoustic guitar and vocal ("And I'll be waiting for this time..."), which serves as the bridge. After the third chorus, the song resolves with the music coming out, leaving the last line - the title of the song - bare. Report this ad The music video was directed by Ben Winston, who also helmed the clip for One Direction's previous single "Best Song Ever." The visual features the guys gazing at old family photographs and literally re-living the memories hey contain. We get to see: Zayn's sister, Niall's brother, Liam's parents and sisters Harry's mother and Louis' grandparents. The latter is an especially poignant scene as two of the folks in the picture are no longer with us, and in a moving moment, they fade and disappear before the recreation takes place. This is the only track on Midnight Memories to be co-written by all five One Directioners, however all but two songs on the album bears the name of at least a single band member in the credits. Jamie Scott told UK newspaper The Guardian in 2016 this is the song he is most proud of writing. He explained the reason was, "Because we changed the game for them. In the history of all boybands, they are usually on the way down [by the third album]. With that song I feel like we lifted them to another level."
Written in these walls are the stories that I can't explain I leave my heart open but it stays right here empty for days She told me in the morning she don't feel the same about us in her bones It seems to me that when I die, these words will be written on my stone And I'll be gone, gone tonight The ground beneath my feet is open wide The way that I been holdin' on too tight With nothin' in between The story of my life, I take her home I drive all night to keep her warm And time is frozen (the story of, the story of) The story of my life, I give her hope I spend her love until she's broke inside The story of my life (the story of, the story of) Written on these walls are the colors that I can't change Leave my heart open, but it stays right here in its cage I know that in the morning, I'll see us in the light up on the hill Although I am broken, my heart is untamed still And I'll be gone, gone tonight The fire beneath my feet is burnin' bright The way that I've been holdin' on so tight With nothin' in between The story of my life, I take her home I drive all night to keep her warm And time is frozen (the story of, the story of) The story of my life, I give her hope I spend her love until she's broke inside The story of my life (the story of, the story of) And I've been waiting for this time to come around But, baby, runnin' after you is like chasin' the clouds The story of my life, I take her home I drive all night to keep her warm And time is frozen The story of my life, I give her hope (give her hope) I spend her love until she's broke inside The story of my life (the story of) The story of my life The story of my life (the story of, the story of) The story of my life
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nov 16, 2013 | 6 | 120 |
| 2 | Nov 23, 2013 | 11 | 115 |
| 3 | Nov 30, 2013 | 13 | 113 |
| 4 | Dec 7, 2013 | 13 | 113 |
| 5 | Dec 14, 2013 | 8 | 118 |
| 6 | Dec 21, 2013 | 11 | 115 |
| 7 | Dec 28, 2013 | 10 | 116 |
| 8 | Jan 4, 2014 | 10 | 116 |
| 9 | Jan 11, 2014 | 9 | 117 |
| 10 | Jan 18, 2014 | 12 | 114 |
| 11 | Jan 25, 2014 | 10 | 116 |
| 12 | Feb 1, 2014 | 9 | 117 |
| 13 | Feb 8, 2014 | 12 | 114 |
| 14 | Feb 15, 2014 | 14 | 112 |
| 15 | Feb 22, 2014 | 13 | 113 |
| 16 | Mar 1, 2014 | 12 | 114 |
| 17 | Mar 8, 2014 | 12 | 114 |
| 18 | Mar 15, 2014 | 12 | 114 |
| 19 | Mar 22, 2014 | 14 | 112 |
| 20 | Mar 29, 2014 | 16 | 110 |